Recently, reports of Sony PlayStation 4 users with system crashes flooded online. When a specific message would be sent to users via the PlayStation messaging service, it would cause a system crash. A temporary workaround suggested by many was to set messaging settings to “Private” to prevent receiving the message.
We've since fixed the issue, and it wasn't bricking consoles, just sending them into a crash loop that can be quickly fixed in under 5 minutes. Delete the message on the PS mobile app, go into Safe Mode, use Option 5, console back to normal. ^DB
— Ask PlayStation UK (@AskPS_UK) October 15, 2018
Sony recently revealed that the bug has been fixed and users should not experience the issue anymore. Users who have been affected by the issue can simply download the PlayStation mobile app and delete the message from their phone. After deleting the message, booting the console into safe mode and choosing Option 5 will fix the console.
While many users reported that their consoles were bricked, Sony revealed that the PlayStation bug was simply causing repeated crashes on a loop. The company has not released an official statement about the bug or the fix and directly addressed the issue internally. Many users hard reset their consoles to fix the issue, but Sony’s official method was much simpler.
Sony is not the first company to face such a bug. Apple also suffered a similar text messaging bug that caused iOS devices to crash when specific characters would be included in a message. The issue was fixed internally.
The PlayStation bug was fixed internally, and you do not need to download any patches to fix your console. Simply follow Sony’s official method to fix the crashes, and you should be good to go. Users who set their messaging preferences to private can now set it back to Friends Only or Public. The news about the PlayStation bug came just days after Sony announced its decision to adopt cross-play after years of denying players the ability to play with their friends on other platforms.
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