“Black Dot” crashes iOS messaging app

An emoji encrypted with a series of hidden codes has been reported to disable and crash the messaging apps of Apple Macs, iPads, and iPhones. Read on to discover how you can address this problem before it does severe damage to your device.

What is going on?
A bug, known as "Black Dot,” is locking the messaging app on Apple devices running iOS 11.3 and 11.4 beta with Apple TVs and Apple Watches also at risk.