How To : iPhone Messages App Keeps Crashing? Here's How to Fix It

If your iPhone is rebooting or your Messages app is permanently crashing, you might be the victim of a recently discovered iOS exploit. This exploit permits pretty much anyone with a smartphone to send you a text message attack that can reboot your iPhone, as well as crash your Messages app.

Apple is working on a patch for the bug, but it won’t be out until the next software update is shoved. Fortunately, there are a few ways to get your iPhone back up and running the way it was right now. Check out the tips below, which also includes a way to keep your iPhone from being hijacked in the future by perverse pranksters.

Fix #1: Use Siri to Reply to the Sender

Use Siri to send a text message to the person that sent you the malicious text message. Just bring up Siri, say "View messages" or "Read unread text messages," then react "Yes" when Siri asks if you would like to reply to the malicious text and send them anything.

Using this method, you’ll be able to not only react to contacts in your phone, but also random phone numbers. Since Apple has yet to release an update, this is their official way of fixing it in the meantime.

As soon as they receive the regular text you sent using Siri, you’ll be able to access Messages. This will also permit the sender of the malicious text to go into their Messages app, since they’re also incapable to access their text messages.

Fix #Two: Send a Picture from the Photos App

From the Photos app, text message a picture or movie to the person that sent you the malicious text message. Once they receive the photo, you and the sender will be able to go back into the Messages app.

Fix #Trio: Send a Regular Text Message

Send a regular text message to the person that sent you the malicious text message. While you won’t be able to access all your messages, sometimes you’ll be able to access the thread of the person that sent the malicious text (or your own thread, if you were the sender). In this case, sending a regular text message to that person will fix your crashing issue, as well as theirs.

Fix #Four: Delete the Message Thread

Delete the thread of the person that sent you the malicious text message, if you’re able to access it. Or delete the entire thread of that you commenced (if you sent the attack to them). This will fix your crashing issue, as well as theirs.

Fix #Five: Use a Jailbreak Tweak

Install Unicode Suppressor from MohammadAG if you’re iPhone is jailbroken. To get it up and running, install the tweak using either iFile or iFunBox. This will fix any Messages issues you have, as well as the rebooting bug, and will protect you from any further attacks. Note that it only works with iOS eight right now.

How to Prevent Your iPhone from Crashing

If none of your shitty friends have done this to you (yet), you can take steps to prevent your iPhone from crashing. One way to do this is by disabling text messages on the lock screen, which you can do by going to Settings -> Notifications -> Messages, then turning off the "Showcase on Lock Screen" setting.

While your iPhone isn’t totally free of issues, it will prevent the malicious text message from crashing your device when it’s locked.

Simply restarting your phone won’t fix any of the issues, so make sure to attempt out any of the methods above, or let us know about any other fixes you might have stumbled upon.

Make sure to go after Apple Hacks over on Facebook and Twitter, or Gadget Hacks over on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, for more Apple tips.

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fourteen Comments

whats the name of your tweak

I know how to fix it 🙂

You need to be jailbroken.

1. Install "Remote messages" from cydia. (you can get it for free with the right repo)
2. decently set it up to ultimately access your Imessages from your computer browser
3. locate the strange message and eliminate it from there
4. done ^^

So I thought this was happening to me today – my message app is crashing just as soon as I open it up. However, I don’t recall receiving any texts of this sort – nor do any of my current contacts have this message displaying in threads (as I’ve checked via the photos trick). So, one of two options remains:

1) Some person I don’t know sent it to me

Two) I’m having a fully different problem

Any way to resolve the issue without having to know who sent the texts? Is there any way to delete messages from the app without having access to the app itself?

Same thing with me, I have no idea who sent it and can’t get into my messages to read who may have. I have attempted every suggestions their is and nothing is fixing the problem

How do you fix this if you have no idea who sent you the text message? I cant get into my messages to see who it was because it keeps crashing.

Attempt asking Siri to "open messages".

This worked for me

Go to settings/messages/history and set on thirty days – click on delete messages

Then switch your time to +30 days or more

Go back to the settings app and attempt to do the seem thing

Attempt to use the messages app again

If iT worked don’t leave behind to set your time back to the actual time

Thank you Kevin I was beginning to get a HEADACHE attempting to fix this!

That worked for me to fix my daughters iPhone, many thanks to Kevin Kaanen 😉 Regards, Dave

7.1.Two ios isn’t affected !

Blessed I found this article!

Leave it to a kid to have the correct solution to a tech problem. This worked good job!

I just sent a message from my contacts and it stationary it.

so im not sure if im writing this in the adequate section , but i just found this site and this was the closest topic i could find to my screenplay. so i woke up yesterday and opened my phone. i noticed a few very odd things that had been done,

1. it was put into airplane mode
2. the brightness setting was now switched to that night yellow-ish tint
3. under two separate contacts texts threads that i have been texting, my wifey and accountant, there were random, letters, numbers, symbols typed in the area that i would be typing but the werent sent.( i saved screenshots of one of them)
4. there were phone calls made and facetimes to those same people and in addition to another contact ive never even contacted. the calls were cancelled within seconds according to the timestamps.
5. there were a few apps opened that i uncommonly use, and for sure hadnt opened that day or anytime recently. there were phone calls made thru the viber app which again i havent used in forever.

i would choose to email directly if you or someone can be of any assistance. i called verizon and they were futile..they said to do a hard reboot and that should prevent it again.. i will prob do that but im freaking out.. and note, i just fired my office manager for embezzling amongst a few other things.and she knows im going to press charges and take her down. prob just one hell of a coincidence, but just thought id put that out there.

*my phone is not jailbroken and nobody has ever had possession of it for any extended period of time where they could jailbreak it.

*honestly, im just getting nowhere swift. and it seems too many switches were madee for it to be a butt dial kind of thing..

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