WhatsApp users alert! A message can indefinitely crash your app; here is how to identify it

WhatsApp users around the world are facing a new kind of threat. Several users around the world have complained of getting messages that crash the app or freezes it. These messages are usually long and are written using special characters which WhatsApp is not able to decode. The issue has been reported from different parts of the world.  

According to a report by WhatsApp tracker Wabetainfo, the messages contain weird characters that make no sense.  

“A contact might send a message that contains many weird characters. If you read them entirely, they have no sense, but WhatsApp might interpret the message in the wrong way. Sometimes WhatsApp is also unable to render the message totally because its structure is so weird: the combination of these characters creates a situation where WhatsApp isn’t able to process the message, determining an infinite crash,” the report read. 

Since the app can’t read these messages, it can lead to an indefinite crash that would prohibit users from opening the app. If you try to close the app repeatedly and try to open the app, again and again, your WhatsApp would still not function. Although this issue has been reported by several users across the globe, it is prevalent in Brazil. 

These messages are also being sent in the form of virtual cards or vcards.  

“If you open the vcard, you can verify that there might be like 100 associated contacts. Every contact has a very long weird name, that contains a crash code. Sometimes the vcard is also altered, editing/injecting something called Payload that makes the situation worse,” the report stated. 

What should you do? 

If you get one of these messages, you should try to block the contact from WhatsApp Web. Upon blocking the contact, set your group privacy settings to “My Contacts” or “My Contacts except..”.  

Then you should try removing the messaging containing the crash codes from WhatsApp web, if you are able to access the messaging app. However, if nothing works, you can uninstall the app and reinstall it but in this process you might lose your chat history.

“WhatsApp has released and already begun rolling out a patch that addresses this in its latest iOS software update. As with any tech product, we strongly encourage users to keep their WhatsApp app and mobile operating system up to date and download updates whenever they’re available,” a WhatsApp Spokesperson said.