Critical bug in iOS 18: Can be deleted with one click
A serious bug has been discovered in Apple's latest software update, iOS 18. This bug causes the Messages app to crash repeatedly and can cause your past messages to be deleted. 
This bug in iOS 18 occurs especially when responding to shared watch faces from an Apple Watch. The ability to share personalized watch faces via WatchOS can create a critical problem when messaging. Specifically, the Messages app consistently crashes when a user tries to reply to a shared watch face. Worse, this bug prevents both parties from using the Messages app.
According to 9to5mac, this critical bug negatively affects the messaging experience of iOS 18 users and has the potential to cause data loss. If you're using iOS 18 and messaging with Apple Watch watch faces, you should pay attention to the sharing and reply processes to avoid this bug. While Apple is expected to fix this issue, it's best to be cautious and make sure to back up your device.
HOW IS THE BUG TRIGGERED?
Apple Watch offers the ability to share watch faces in watchOS and send them to other users via Messages or Mail. However, this feature introduces a serious problem in iOS 18. If a user responds to a shared watch face with the “caption” feature from their device running iOS 18, the app will crash repeatedly.
When this error is triggered, the app closes repeatedly when the user tries to open this conversation in the Messages app. It is also not possible to reply to other messages. This also negatively affects the overall use of the Messages app and causes the app to become completely dysfunctional. 
RESTORING MESSAGES CREATES NEW ERRORS
When the error occurs, it becomes almost impossible to use the Messages app. The workaround for this problem is to delete the conversation in which the error was found. However, this solution may cause you to lose all your message history and unsaved attachments (photos, videos, etc.). Moreover, even if you delete the conversation, restoring it from the “Recently Deleted” section in the Messages app will cause the error to reappear.
WHAT TO DO?
This bug is not only seen in iOS 18, but also in iOS 18.1 beta and other beta versions. Likewise, in iPadOS 18.1 and macOS 15.1 beta, replies to the watch face crash the Messages app. Apple is working on updates to fix this bug, but for now, users should be careful not to trigger it.
The best way to avoid data loss is to avoid replying to shared watch faces with a “caption”. Also, backing up your device regularly and not using iCloud Messages can minimize data loss in the process.
Apple is expected to fix this bug with future software updates. However, until then, it is useful to be careful not to trigger this bug. In particular, it would be safest to avoid such messages instead of responding to shared watch faces until a patch is released.
