Two new WhatsApp bugs can crash your smartphone

Two new bugs have been reported on the social media messaging platform WhatsApp that are crashing users’ smartphones when tapped on.

The Facebook-owned social media platform has been reportedly showing two bugs hidden in two forwarded messages that will lead the app or the smartphone to crash once tapped to open.

According to Hindustan Times, the first bug is hidden in a message that reads, “This is very interesting (emoji)…Read more”. When a user taps on the ‘Read More’ option, the app freezes followed by a pop-up alert that WhatsApp isn’t responding. A post on Reddit read that this message also crashes the entire system resulting in the user restarting their phones. The bug is available on both iOS and Android platforms.

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The second bug is more straightforward as it reads, “If you touch the (emoji) black point then your WhatsApp will hang”. There is a black dot beneath the message that crashes the app when tapped on. As per Deccan Chronicle, the bug is reportedly only affecting Android users for now.

Though these bugs apparently do not have any major effects on the app or the phone, however, it is recommended not to click on those messages or any such kind of unusual messages if received.

Moreover, WhatsApp’s parent company Facebook also plans on opening up WhatsApp to advertisers resulting in users to see advertisements on the platform. “As far as advertising is concerned, we’re definitely getting WhatsApp more open,” WhatsApp’s vice president of messaging products, David Marcus told CNBC.