The video is three seconds long and reportedly stops an iPhone from working, but it can be fixed by completing a hard reset
A video hosted on a Russian-based social network is appearing to cause Apple devices to crash.
Reports suggest that the three-second video, which can be played in Safari, causes iPhones and other Apple devices to slow down and eventually temporarily stop being responsive to any action its user does. The problem can then only be resolved using a hard reset.
An explanation posted online by EverythingApplePro appears to show several versions of Apple’s iOS crashing and becoming unresponsive after the .MP4 video has been played.
The video of the problem shows iPhones beginning to slow down as soon as the video is played before completely freezing and making the iPhone impossible to use. The problem does not seem to be limited to one certain iPhone or version of iOS. In its video, EverythingApplePro demonstrates the iPhone freezing on iOS versions from 5.1 to the latest beta version of iOS 10.
The video itself, which is hosted on VK.com and may not be directly linked to its effect, plays music and shows a person holding what appears to be a piece of paper. For those who have visited or been sent the link and have an unusable phone, the fix is relatively simple: the iPhone must undergo a hard reset. To do this, hold the Home button and the power button at the same time. On the iPhone 7 a hard reset is completed by holding the power button and volume button.
At present, it is unclear whether the video is a software bug or if it could be something more malicious. It is not recommended to test out the video. WIRED has asked Apple to check the bug is official – and not a hoax – and if it plans to fix the issue. We will update this story once a response has been received.
When WIRED tried to access the link to the video it was proving unresponsive; however, 9To5Mac was able to replicate the problem shown in the video, saying “you can take our word for it when we say it really does render your device unusable”.
Whatever the problem is, Apple may be preparing a fix to be released in a later update of its firmware. In iOS 10.0.2 the company fixed a bug in its operating system that stopped its new Lightning EarPods from working. iOS 10 also had a security glitch that made it easier for hackers to steal data.
In iOS 9.3.5, Apple had to fix three major security flaws. An Israel-based “cyber war” company was discovered to be using zero-day exploits to target a human rights activist in an attempt to compromise the data on his iPhone.
Paradocx 