Want to crash someone else’s iPhone? Here’s how

You thought your phone was more secure than Fort Knox? Think again

Reporter: Joseph Carey | Sub-editor: Jack Leslie

Apple’s software is being called into question after it was discovered a five-second video would cause users iPhones to crash after playing the MP4 file.

Video’s have emerged showing multiple devices opening the file, playing the file and watching the iPhone slow down and eventually become unusable without a hard reset.

The videos in question show the video being sent across Apple’s iMessage system before being clicked on and crashing the phone in use. The phone will work as normal after a hard reset which comes from holding down both the lock and home buttons until the Apple logo appears on the screen. For iPhone 7 users a hard reset will come from pressing the lock and volume down button.

So far there are no long term consequences that have been reported from viewing the video file.

This isn’t the first time that Apple’s software has fallen on its face — earlier this year there were problems with the browser Safari crashing randomly on iPhones and Mac computers. Until there is a definite fix, be wary of any files you get sent via iMessage, you don’t want to get pranked!

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