A three-character text message used to create a rainbow flag emoji when sent to an iOS 10.x device can crash it, rendering it useless for a few minutes.
A 12-minute video — embedded below — is not a prank and freezes the phone for a few minutes. Filip Koroy, owner of YouTube channel EverythingApplePro, says, “It is scary – it is like poison for the iPhone. iOS is trying to make a rainbow flag and fails.” Koroy says he was informed by Preston159.com and full details are at the site.
It appears that iOS cannot process the text to emoji rendering and eventually resets the system. It is like a denial of service as multiple messages can “stack” up. It is similar in concept to an Arabic text message in 2015 that caused the iPhone to reboot.
The issue does not hurt the phone – it is an inconvenience. If the message is sent to a modern Android device, it can slow it down but does not cause a crash.
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