iPhone 7
Indian symbol crashes iPhones' messaging apps -- Representational Image Reuters

Apple's software maintenance team has got a new problem to deal with, an Indian symbol that crashes iPhones and keeps popular apps from working.

Just like the infamous 'ChaiOS' bug that caused iMessage to crash with a single link, this lone Indian Telugu language character is affecting a number of iPhones running iOS 11.2.5. If it appears as part of a message or is pasted manually in the textbox, the native app will crash and continue to close, no matter how long you try.

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The situation gets worse if the character appears as a notification, Italian blog Mobile World, which first reported the bug, noted. In such cases, the entire iOS Springboard or the software running the home screen could end up crashing.

The Verge verified the glitch and also shared a video that showed the affected app closing in a loop. The bug goes beyond Apple's native messaging app and also affects popular third-party apps.

This includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Gmail, and Outlook for iOS, with Skype and Telegram being the only exceptions. A similar problem has also been spotted in Mac and Apple Watch apps.

Apple has confirmed that it is working on a fix and will be releasing it before the next major software updates for iOS, MacOS, and WatchOS becomes available. However, the exact time frame still remains unclear.

Until then, the only apparent way to deal with the bug is to delete the bad symbol in the message box. This, as The Verge says, could be done by asking someone to send a text message on your device and getting into iMessage using that notification. Once you are in, the thread of the bad symbol can be deleted for good. For apps like WhatsApp, Gmail, and Facebook messenger, you can login via web and delete the buggy message.