'Black Dot' Unicode Bug Crashes iOS Messages in iOS 11.3 and Later

[Peiffer]

A malicious message dubbed the 'Black Dot' message has started doing the rounds on iOS following circulation on Android devices, one that takes advantage of a bug in Unicode to crash Apple's Messages app on iPhones and iPads running iOS 11.3 and the beta releases of iOS 11.4.

Revealed by EverythingApplePro on YouTube, the message consists of a black dot emoji and a hand pointing to it, sent through the Messages app to another user. The malicious message is capable of crashing Messages once opened, with the issue persisting even if the user forcibly closes the app and re-opens it.

The flaw is similar to another malicious message that recently affected Android users in WhatsApp. A specially-crafted message inviting people to tap on the black dot would crash WhatsApp, but crucially only causing the crash if the symbol is tapped, rather than immediately locking up Messages as found in the iOS version.

'Black Dot' Unicode Bug Crashes iOS Messages in iOS 11.3 and Later

Both are seemingly based on the same Unicode text bug, involving a string of thousands of hidden characters, usually used for functions like telling the application if the following text reads from left-to-right or right-to-left, for example. Using thousands of these conflicting characters in succession tasks the processor and consumes vast amounts of memory in the process, in turn causing the crash.

While it is referred to as the "Black Dot" message, the bug actually has nothing to do with the emoji used in the message.

'Black Dot' Unicode Bug Crashes iOS Messages in iOS 11.3 and Later

Current workarounds consist of navigating away from the screen displaying the message so it doesn't appear when the app launches. One technique for affected iPhones involves forcing the app to close then using 3D Touch to create a new message, while it is also possible to delete the message from another iOS device connected to the same iCloud account.

Apple has yet to issue a fix for this issue, but one is expected to arrive soon. You can try these tricks to fix the bug: How to Fix Black Dot Crashing Bug in iOS Messages App?

The latest bug is reminiscent of a 2015 flaw in Unicode that could cause an iPhone to crash upon receiving a specific message. A single line of Arabic script was found to consume resources when iOS tried to render it in a notification, but at the same time didn't cause issues when received as part of a normal Messages conversation, indicating it to be an issue with the iOS notifications system itself.

Earlier this year, another "text bomb" was found to exploit an unoptimized rendering process for OpenGraph page titles to create an excessively long tag, causing Messages and other apps to crash in both iOS and macOS, and sometimes the operating system itself.

Source: appleinsider

[Peiffer]

Earlier today, a report explained that Apple was among a handful of companies who had applied for government permission to test drone usage beyond current FAA limits. Now, Apple has officially commented on these plans…

Apple Confirms Use of Drones to Improve Apple Maps

A report in 2016 indicated that Apple was planning to use drops to collect data for Apple Maps, and now the company has confirmed that initiative. The company says, however, that its stance on privacy will remain the same throughout its use of drones.

In a statement to Reuters, Apple explains that it is committed to protecting people’s privacy and will blur any and all faces and license plates before publishing drone imagery.

“Apple is committed to protecting people’s privacy, including processing this data to blur faces and license plates prior to publication,” the company said.

Furthermore, the state of North Carolina confirmed that Apple was included in its successful bid to launch a drone pilot testing program. Apple itself adds on to this, saying that it will use drone tests in North Carolina to improve Apple Maps with aerial images.

A spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Transportation, another winner, said Apple Inc is among its partners, and Apple said it plans to use the testing program to improve Apple Maps by capturing aerial images.

By capturing aerial footage with drones, Apple could theoretically have an easier time spotting inconsistencies and other factors that affect the data in Apple Maps.

Ultimately what comes of Apple’s drone testing remains to be seen, but the company would seemingly expand to all parts of the United States (and world, eventually) to use drones to improve Apple Maps, should this initial test be successful.

Source: 9to5mac

[Peiffer]

Apple has today been awarded a patent for technology intended for use in a ‘circular display.’ The patent text specifically references a wristwatch as one application, and one of the illustrations looks very much like a watch …

Apple Wins Patent for Round-faced Apple Watch

The patent itself is for a particular approach to handling the challenges posed by circular displays.

Pixel arrays often have rectangular shapes. However, rectangular pixel arrays will not fit efficiently within a device having a circular shape. Circular displays can have bottleneck regions in which signal lines become crowded, leading to inefficient use of display area. It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved displays such as circular displays or other displays with curved edges.

The specifics get very technical very fast, so we’ll leave you to read the patent for yourself if you’re interested. What’s of broader interest is whether it signals the company’s interest in a future Apple Watch with a circular display?

We frequently caution that Apple patents all kinds of things that never make it into products. These include product ideas which the company has explored and subsequently rejected, which would be the obvious interpretation here.

However, as Patently Apple notes, that doesn’t appear to be the case.

Considering that Apple filed for this patent 8 months after the original Apple Watch debuted with its rectangular interface and likely years after the original Apple Watch patents for a watch, Apple’s management gave their engineers this project to work on. So this isn’t a rejected design after the fact, it’s a purposeful engineered solution to make a round interface work for Apple Watch should Apple ever decide to bring this to market.

None of which means Apple necessarily plans to make one. Apple may have rejected the idea at a later date, it could be a protective patent to make it harder for other companies to compete, or it could be technology the company plans to use in other devices with curved-edge displays, such as iPhones. But it’s certainly interesting to speculate.

Circular displays are inherently inefficient compared to rectangular ones, in terms of the amount of useful data that can be displayed in a given area – one reason some think Apple would never do it. But round watch faces do still have their fans for aesthetic reasons, so information density isn’t the only factor the company might consider.

Source: 9to5mac

[Peiffer]

Apple technology has been credited multiple times with saving lives and allowing people to be connected in crucial moments. Now, a new story out of Mississippi highlights how a soldier was able to witness his daughter’s birth despite his delayed flight…

Soldier Uses FaceTime to Witness Daughter’s Birth After Flight Delay

According to local news outlet KTVU, Army soldier Brooks Lindsey was in the process of flying from Fort Bliss in El Paso to Dallas and then to Jackson, Mississippi. In Dallas, however, his flight was delayed – which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Brooks’ wife Lindsay outlined the story in a post on Love What Matters, explaining that she originally wasn’t supposed to delivery for another week, but her doctor told her she had to be induced – even though Brooks was still in El Paso.

With his flight delayed, Brooks ended up being able to sit on the ******* floor and witness his daughter Millie’s birth with FaceTime. While the obvious goal was for Brooks to make it back to Jackson, Mississippi to witness the birth in person, the flight delay coupled with Lindsay’s early delivery meant FaceTime had to save the day:

“Without that delay Brooks would have been in the air and unable to FaceTime,” she said. Instead, he watched the birth live on his phone while his mother secretly recorded his reaction from inside the delivery room.

“He picked her up and held her for five minutes and kept saying ‘wow I can’t believe we just had a baby,'” she said.

The video of Brooks watching the delivery on FaceTime was recorded by another traveler at the hotel who explained that she wants to make sure people don’t “forget about our soldiers who serve us every day and the sacrifices they make.”

Source: 9to5mac

[Peiffer]

Gmail on your iPhone can now help you settle a tab with a friend. A quiet update to the iOS app has introduced the ability to send and receive money using Google Pay. As on Android devices, Gmail sends the payment as an attachment -- the recipient only needs an email address to receive their money. The feature might not be as simple on iOS given that you need to download an app to use it, but it's easier than some third-party apps and more widely available than Apple Pay Cash.

The upgraded client adds another handy existing feature: the ability to snooze emails. If there's a message you'd rather deal with in the future, you just have to hit a snooze button to take a break. It remains dangerous (it's all too tempting to punt important messages until it's too late), but it could be crucial if you're nowhere near inbox zero and have more pressing emails vying for your attention.

Source: engadget

[Peiffer]

iOS 11.4 should be released within the next several weeks. With that, Apple could be implementing further security protocols on iOS that prevent devices to be used with a Mac or PC after 7 days of not unlocking the device.

According to security blog Elcomsoft, the latest iOS 11.4 beta includes a new USB Restricted Mode. It notes that this feature was originally introduced in early iOS 11.3 betas, but was later removed in the final release.

"To improve security, for a locked iOS device to communicate with USB accessories you must connect an accessory via lightning connector to the device while unlocked – or enter your device passcode while connected – at least once a week"

Essentially, what is happening is that if an iOS device does not have a successful unlock within a week, whether via biometrics or passcode, the Lightning port on the device will be restricted to a charging only mode.

This may be in response to companies such as GrayKey essentially cloning iOS device partitions, backing it up, and then restoring it at a later date after the iPhone has exceeded its passcode attempts. This basically locks the device in a way that it cannot be restored or updated via iTunes after the threshold period is met.

The feature will also not honor iTunes pairing records, meaning if you had a computer that was previously trusted with the device, it won’t matter until the owner unlocks the device with the passcode. The report does mention that it is unsure if methods such as GrayKey still work with iOS 11.4.

"Otherwise, the Lightning port will lock down to charge only mode. The iPhone or iPad will still charge, but it will no longer attempt to establish a data connection. Even the “Trust this computer?” prompt will not be displayed once the device is connected to the computer, and any existing lockdown records (iTunes pairing records) will not be honoured until the user unlocks the device with a passcode."

Prior to iOS 11, an iPhone or iPad that was once trusted via iTunes on a computer was still able to create a new local backup. That way, someone could easily do a DFU restore on the device and have essentially unlimited passcode attempts at the device once restored.

However, Apple took this one step further in iOS 11 with expiring lockdown records, meaning after a lockdown record expired, it could no longer communicate with the iOS device in question, requiring a new pairing prompt.

In iOS 11.3, iTunes pairing records expired after 7 days, and now it looks like Apple is wanting to further lockdown its devices in iOS 11.4 by preventing devices to communicate to iTunes at all without the passcode.

Source: 9to5mac

[Peiffer]

When the personal assistant (or Google search) responded with something other than a regular search result, how often did they respond to the question 100% correctly and completely? The data follows:

As it turns out, there are many different ways to not be 100% correct or complete:

Why Does Siri Seem So Dumb? Which Voice Assistant is Smarter?

The query might have multiple possible answers, such as “how fast does a jaguar go.”

Instead of ignoring a query that it does not understand, the personal assistant may choose to map the query to something it thinks of as “close” to what the user asked for.

The assistant may have provided a partial correct response.
The assistant may have responded with a joke.
Or, it may simply get the answer flat out wrong.

An example of number 2 in the above list is the way that Siri responds to a query such as “awards for Louis Armstrong,” where it responds with a link to a movie about Louis Armstrong. These types of scenarios accounted for a large number of the “not 100% correct” scenarios on Siri.

Which Personal Assistant is the Funniest?
All of the personal assistants tell jokes in response to some questions. Here’s a summary of how many we encountered in our 5,000 query test:

Why Does Siri Seem So Dumb? Which Voice Assistant is Smarter?

Siri is definitely the leader here, but I find it interesting that the Google Assistant on Google Home is quite a bit funnier than Google search. For example, “do I look fat?” with Google search simply gives me a set of web search results, yet with the Google Assistant on Google Home the answer is, “I like you the way you are.”

There are a few jokes in Google search though. For example, if I search “make me a sandwich”, it does give me a set of regular search results, but its verbal response is “Ha, make it yourself.” With Siri, if you ask “what is love?”, you get a response that varies. One time you might get “I’m not going there,” but if you ask it again you may get a different answer. Interestingly, if you ask it a third time, it seems to give you a serious answer to the question, on the off chance that this is what you actually want.

If you ask Cortana “What’s the meaning of life,” it may say “we all shine on, my friend.”With Alexa, a query like “Who is the best rapper?” will net you the answer: “Eminem. Wait! I forgot about Dre.”

Why Does Siri Seem So Dumb? Which Voice Assistant is Smarter?

Summary
Google still has the clear lead in terms of overall smarts with both Google search and the Google Assistant on Google Home. Cortana is pressing quite hard to close the gap, and has made great strides in the last three years. Alexa and Siri both face the limitation of not being able to leverage a full crawl of the web to supplement their knowledge bases. It will be interesting to see how they both address that challenge.

One major area not covered in this test is the overall connectivity of each personal assistant with other apps and services. This is an incredibly important part of rating a personal assistant as well. You can expect all four companies to be pressing hard to connect to as many quality apps and service providers as possible, as this will have a major bearing on how effective they all are.

Source: stonetemple