Chosen Solution

Someone I know’s iPhone unfortunately got infected with the bug because someone sent it to them and they got the notification, resulting in the iPhone being shut down. As much as I tried to help, nothing would work. Hard resets/rebooting, plugging into iTunes, nothing. How can this be fixed? Keep in mind, it was not just an app but the entire phone.

The character glitch in iOS was patched in 11.2.6. There was no report of permanently freezing the phone. You may have other problems here. However, I hope you have some information saved to iCloud. Try the following because it will wipe your phone.

  1. download the latest 11.2.6 from here
  2. plug your phone into itunes in a computer and put your phone into DFU mode
  3. say no to downloading the latest update if it asks
  4. if you are on a Mac, hold “Option” and click the restore button. if on a PC, hold SHIFT and click the restore buton
  5. select the file you downloaded in step one and install the new iOS with the character bug fix