Circulating five-second video causes Apple iPhones to freeze

Posted:
in iPhone
iPhone owners are cautioned to be careful about tapping unsolicited links as a new five-second MP4 video, currently being shared online, is causing devices to freeze not long after it's played.

Image Credit: The Verge
Image Credit: The Verge


The video is corrupt, and appears to be generating a loop which causes iOS 10 to crash, according to The Verge, which tested the glitch on several iPhones running versions of iOS 10.1.x or the iOS 10.2 beta. The issue first came to light on Reddit.

Notably the crash takes about 10 seconds, during which people can do other things on their iPhone as the device gradually slows down. Once an iPhone freezes the only option is to reboot it, though it should work as normal once it recovers.

Apple has yet to announce a fix for the issue.

The company has had to deal with similar issues in the past, such as in 2015, when a text string sent through Messages was able to prevent people from reopening the app, or would crash an iPhone entirely.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 36
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Well that shouldn't happen. 

    They should get on top of that right away. 

    edited November 2016 zroger73argonautroake
  • Reply 2 of 36
    How about letting readers know what is the "problem video"? That's a basic story coverage requirement here.
    mike1coolfactortokyojimudysamoriaroakewatto_cobrapalominejony0
  • Reply 3 of 36
    Well that explains the rude experience I had with my first iPhone crash just a couple of days ago - more specifics would be good at this point. Thanks for the heads up despite its being after the fact.
    bloggerblogargonaut
  • Reply 4 of 36
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    brian greenargonautbrakken
  • Reply 5 of 36
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    dysamoria
  • Reply 6 of 36
    Link?! Or it did not happened.  :)
    gatorguy
  • Reply 7 of 36
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    No, it doesn't tell us anything about their testing procedures. You cannot test for the literally billions of variables when it comes to code. Whatever is happening with this video is obviously rare, since it has never happened before even with tens of millions of users, and obviously it will get resolved with an update ASAP. 
    brian greenmike1fracchiaericthehalfbeeroundaboutnowstanthemannetmagebrakkenwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 36
    arlorarlor Posts: 532member
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s
    I think the "Apple is doomed! /s" joke is played out now. Probably 90% of "Apple is doomed!" posts are now anticipating the critique rather than making it. Chuck Norris jokes have finally died a merciful death in most online games; let's move on. 

    This was an informative post, not just clickbait. No need to perpetuate the flame wars over it.
    afrodristanthemanboopthesnoot
  • Reply 9 of 36
    larryalarrya Posts: 604member
    Seems fine on m
    fracjpellinoAppleZulurandominternetpersoncpsrostanthemannetmagetokyojimuiqatedoquadra 610
  • Reply 10 of 36
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Why the hand wringing? As another poster reminds us, it is impossible to “test” for something like this or the other billions of code interactions. It says nothing about iOS or Apple’s testing. As we all know there are tens of millions of pubic beta testers and tens of thousands of developer betas for every release of iOS. And still things get through. What’s special or “concerning” about that? When Apple releases a macOS update are they expected to test every printer and scanner ever manufactured, every app ever developed, every dongle or hub on Amazon to make sure it works with the new release?
    fracwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 36
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    Not even close to being “worrying.” Why are you trying to blow this up into something it isn’t? The only thing I would like to know is whether this video was “engineered” by some hacker who found a bug or was it a purely random occurrence?
    edited November 2016 mike1fracnetmagewatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 36
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,273member
    Doctor, doctor it hurts when i do this...
    lkruppSpamSandwichbrakken
  • Reply 13 of 36
    If Chuck Norris viewed this video, the server would crash
    jpellinolarryaroundaboutnowviclauyycwatto_cobramacguibeowulfschmidt
  • Reply 14 of 36
    slurpy said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    No, it doesn't tell us anything about their testing procedures. You cannot test for the literally billions of variables when it comes to code. Whatever is happening with this video is obviously rare, since it has never happened before even with tens of millions of users, and obviously it will get resolved with an update ASAP. 

    Exactly. Further, Apple will issue a fix and the issue will be dealt with. If you were on Android, 80% of users would NEVER get a fix with the rest waiting 30 days (best case for a Nexus/Pixel) to many months.

    People all over are blowing this out of proportion. Probably Android users who are still susceptible to Stagefright from last year, which is far more serious but uses a similar attack vector.
    mike1watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 36
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,153member
    slurpy said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    No, it doesn't tell us anything about their testing procedures. You cannot test for the literally billions of variables when it comes to code. Whatever is happening with this video is obviously rare, since it has never happened before even with tens of millions of users, and obviously it will get resolved with an update ASAP. 

    Exactly. Further, Apple will issue a fix and the issue will be dealt with. If you were on Android, 80% of users would NEVER get a fix with the rest waiting 30 days (best case for a Nexus/Pixel) to many months.

    People all over are blowing this out of proportion. Probably Android users who are still susceptible to Stagefright from last year, which is far more serious but uses a similar attack vector.
    Stagefright? LOL. Yeah, that one certainly has impacted a whole lot of users. How many was that again? Perhaps zero? While I agree with you that the iPhone video glitch is a complete non-issue, yelling "OMG Stagefright!" is too. It's right up there with iOS Xcode Ghost, another "OMG" blown all out of proportion ( tho that one actually did cause harm to a very few users didn't it, unlike Stagefright?)
    edited November 2016 singularity
  • Reply 16 of 36
    larrya said:
    Seems fine on m
     You win this week's internet.   :D
    edited November 2016 palomine
  • Reply 17 of 36
    gatorguy said:
    slurpy said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    No, it doesn't tell us anything about their testing procedures. You cannot test for the literally billions of variables when it comes to code. Whatever is happening with this video is obviously rare, since it has never happened before even with tens of millions of users, and obviously it will get resolved with an update ASAP. 

    Exactly. Further, Apple will issue a fix and the issue will be dealt with. If you were on Android, 80% of users would NEVER get a fix with the rest waiting 30 days (best case for a Nexus/Pixel) to many months.

    People all over are blowing this out of proportion. Probably Android users who are still susceptible to Stagefright from last year, which is far more serious but uses a similar attack vector.
    Stagefright? LOL. Yeah, that one certainly has impacted a whole lot of users. How many was that again? Perhaps zero? While I agree with you that the iPhone video glitch is a complete non-issue, yelling "OMG Stagefright!" is too. It's right up there with iOS Xcode Ghost, another "OMG" blown all out of proportion ( tho that one actually did cause harm to a very few users didn't it, unlike Stagefright?)

    Zero? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

    Waiting for your detailed report for every single Android device on the planet showing that none of them have been affected.

    Android is a shit show for security, and will never match IOS.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 36
    arlor said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s
    I think the "Apple is doomed! /s" joke is played out now. Probably 90% of "Apple is doomed!" posts are now anticipating the critique rather than making it. Chuck Norris jokes have finally died a merciful death in most online games; let's move on. 

    This was an informative post, not just clickbait. No need to perpetuate the flame wars over it.
    Well if it brings down the kernel then there is a possibility you could do something even more harmfull if you figure out whats happening. Install malware or something else.
  • Reply 19 of 36
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,153member
    gatorguy said:
    slurpy said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    No, it doesn't tell us anything about their testing procedures. You cannot test for the literally billions of variables when it comes to code. Whatever is happening with this video is obviously rare, since it has never happened before even with tens of millions of users, and obviously it will get resolved with an update ASAP. 

    Exactly. Further, Apple will issue a fix and the issue will be dealt with. If you were on Android, 80% of users would NEVER get a fix with the rest waiting 30 days (best case for a Nexus/Pixel) to many months.

    People all over are blowing this out of proportion. Probably Android users who are still susceptible to Stagefright from last year, which is far more serious but uses a similar attack vector.
    Stagefright? LOL. Yeah, that one certainly has impacted a whole lot of users. How many was that again? Perhaps zero? While I agree with you that the iPhone video glitch is a complete non-issue, yelling "OMG Stagefright!" is too. It's right up there with iOS Xcode Ghost, another "OMG" blown all out of proportion ( tho that one actually did cause harm to a very few users didn't it, unlike Stagefright?)

    Zero? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
    Waiting for your report of any Android phones in the wild harmed by Stagefright. Even one of the Billions out there. I stand behind zero. Will you stand behind your apparent stand that more folks suffered harm from Stagefright than from Xcode Ghost? Consider yourself challenged.  Personally I doubt you're up to it. 

    But I'll also side with a tiny part of your otherwise silly (prove zero? Mr Spock you are not) unsupported post. Android may never be as locked down as iOS.
    edited November 2016
  • Reply 20 of 36
    gatorguy said:
    gatorguy said:
    slurpy said:
    Rayz2016 said:
    Wow. A video that forces you to reboot your phone if you play it? Sounds dangerous. Apple doom! /s


    ... Or a mild inconvenience at best. I can tell you about several other glitches that have plagued my
    iphones over the years, including my current 6s, that are as inconvenient, if not more so than this. They aren't "perfect" and yes you're going to have to reboot them because ... glitches. 

    Next time details about the video video might be helpful so we can inform our less tech savy friends what to look out for. But for the record you didn't even include the detail from the verge article that mentions you have to receive it as a link rather than as an actual video file attachement. 


    Well, the glitch itself is an inconvenience, but what it may tell us about Apple's testing procedures could be a bit more worrying. 
    No, it doesn't tell us anything about their testing procedures. You cannot test for the literally billions of variables when it comes to code. Whatever is happening with this video is obviously rare, since it has never happened before even with tens of millions of users, and obviously it will get resolved with an update ASAP. 

    Exactly. Further, Apple will issue a fix and the issue will be dealt with. If you were on Android, 80% of users would NEVER get a fix with the rest waiting 30 days (best case for a Nexus/Pixel) to many months.

    People all over are blowing this out of proportion. Probably Android users who are still susceptible to Stagefright from last year, which is far more serious but uses a similar attack vector.
    Stagefright? LOL. Yeah, that one certainly has impacted a whole lot of users. How many was that again? Perhaps zero? While I agree with you that the iPhone video glitch is a complete non-issue, yelling "OMG Stagefright!" is too. It's right up there with iOS Xcode Ghost, another "OMG" blown all out of proportion ( tho that one actually did cause harm to a very few users didn't it, unlike Stagefright?)

    Zero? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.
    Waiting for your report of any Android phones in the wild harmed by Stagefright. Even one of the Billions out there. I stand behind zero. Will you stand behind your apparent stand that more folks suffered harm from Stagefright than from Xcode Ghost? Consider yourself challenged.  Personally I doubt you're up to it. 

    But I'll also side with a tiny part of your otherwise silly (prove zero? Mr Spock you are not) unsupported post. Android may never be as locked down as iOS.


    You claimed zero, the burden of proof is on you. Or are you going to continue with your usual circular logic?

    The whole idea of malware is to get access to a device WITHOUT THE USER KNOWING. Sort of like all those millions of cheap IoT cameras used to perform a DDoS attack. You think any of those users knew what was going on? It's been this way since the first viruses appeared. You can't do any harm, collect data, send premium MMS or other nefarious things if the users gets a warning on their screen "Thank you for updating to Malware 2.0, enjoy your new software."

    Then again, I think you are right. There's no threat from Stagefright, which is why those billions of Android devices haven;t been patched. There's no need to patch a non-existent threat, is there? Must be why Google dragged their feet on this too. They knew it wasn't an issue.
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