For many iPhone users, the main reason for choosing an Apple phone is not the hardware, but the iOS system. The popularity of iPhones worldwide can largely be attributed to the iOS system. Due to the lack of interoperability between different systems, users accustomed to the iOS system generally do not easily switch to other systems (and vice versa). However, a user-friendly system does not necessarily mean it is perfect. Despite being welcomed by billions of users, the iOS system has encountered numerous issues over the years, including the iOS18 BUG mentioned today, which many people could never have imagined.

Recently, security researchers reported that typing “::” (four characters) into the iOS 18 app library search bar or Spotlight search will cause the iPhone to crash immediately. However, the crash here does not refer to a reboot but rather a reset of the Springboard (the iPhone's home screen). This results in a refresh of the home screen, and entering specific characters does not always lead to the same issue.

Some users have also reported issues such as missing app characters and partial app restarts. There are even reports of similar bugs occurring with iOS 17 when using the same characters. However, the issues typically resolve themselves within a few seconds, indicating that the severity may not be high. While encountering such issues can be frustrating, it seems that the bug requires user input to trigger, meaning it poses no risk to iPhone users who do not enter the specific characters.

To be honest, iOS system engineers bear primary responsibility for such bugs. If iOS 17 was also affected, it indicates that this bug has existed for some time. The question is whether Apple engineers were unaware of it or chose not to fix it due to perceived low risk. Personally, I believe the latter is more likely. Now that the bug has been exposed and confirmed, it should be addressed in the next system update.

This is not the first time that iOS has encountered such issues. In previous years, someone discovered that using a specific Emoji combined with certain characters could also crash the iOS system, and this could happen even without user input, just by receiving the relevant characters. At that time, many netizens used this bug to prank others. It remains to be seen if the current bug will evolve similarly.

Some say they are increasingly disappointed with the current iOS system, but I believe this is unnecessary. Neither iOS nor Android is perfect, and users care more about how quickly issues are resolved by the official channels rather than whether they occur in the first place. Of course, Apple could argue that iOS 18 is still in beta, so encountering issues is normal. Some Apple fans argue that bugs requiring user input do not constitute security vulnerabilities because no one would normally search for content using such characters.

Some speculate that this may be a backdoor left intentionally by Apple for locked SIM unlockers, which is why it may never be fixed.