The Internet can be quite a malevolent place at times. And there is no shortage of devious pranksters out there with an apparent distaste to the ubiquitous Apple iPhone, it would seem.
The popular smartphone brand from Apple has been the most popularly targeted device when it comes to Internet hoaxes aimed at fooling its users into unwittingly destroying it. Here we list three times an Internet hoax has led to iPhone users messing up their devices.
In 2014, a graphic claiming to introduce a new feature available in iOS8 began to spread across social media. It claimed that Apple Wave would allow its users to charge their phones by putting them in the microwave.
The graphic claimed that Apple Wave was automatically introduced in the iOS8 update and could “interface with your devices radio baseband allowing it to synchronize with microwave frequencies” which would charge the battery. That may sound plausible for the techno-illiterate. For those technically inclined however, it is pure nonsensical, pseudo-jargon drivel.
Now, to be clear, charging your phone in a microwave doesn’t work. What happens in that the radio waves emitted from the microwave will likely fry the circuitry in the phone. Charging is practically impossible since there is no electrical current, but the radio waves will heat up the phone’s lithium battery which will result in overheating and most likely a fire. Your microwave is also likely to get damaged in the process too.
And did people fall for it? Sadly yes. A plethora of YouTube videos and angry tweets hit the Internet from perplexed iPhone users who, needless to say, were irked somewhat.
Perhaps even more ridiculous is the 2013 claim that an update to the iOS software would result in the iPhone becoming waterproof. An impressive and official graphic started to spread on social media that asserted that after an upgrade to the software (to iOS7) the iPhone would be completely waterproof.
The graphic claimed that the phone could detect “sudden changes in thermo-distribution” which would protect the phone’s delicate circuitry.
It was another prank, this time designed to fool iPhone users into dropping their phones into water to see if the upgrade worked. While most users quickly saw the prank for what is was, it appears some didn’t, if this tweet is to be believed…
Whoever said ios7 was waterproof f*** you
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And it was in 2016 when a prank claiming that users could revisit a “classic Macintosh theme” on their iPhone by setting the date back to January 1st 1970 and then restarting the phone.
Whilst this nasty prank may perhaps have been a little more believable than the two above, it was still just as malicious. It essentially exploited a software glitch that would prevent the phone from turning it on if the date was set to that specific date.
Users who set the date back to January 1st 1970 found that their phones would simply not turn on. This was down to a logical coding error regarding how the phone’s software handled the date and time. The consequence was a trip to the repair centre.
Many iPhone users were dismayed to learn that the latest iPhone 7 wasn’t going to include the standard audio jack, forcing many to purchase expensive Bluetooth earphones.
But worry not, a YouTube video asserted. You could easily get the “hidden” audio jack back by taking a 3.5m drillbit to your phone and drilling a hole in your iPhone! The video showed this little operation being performed on such a phone, and voila! It appeared to work!
However the viral video was a hoax and actually just used a little digital trickery to make it appear that the operation was successful. It wasn’t, and for those iPhone users gullible enough to actually take a drill to their phone, the truth became quickly apparent.
And as a bonus entry, we have the 9-Eleven trick. Okay, this didn’t actually mess up the phone, but it was still a prank targeting iPhone users nonetheless.
The prank claimed that iPhone users should say the phrase ‘Nine Eleven’ into Siri and “see what happens.”
Well what happens is that Siri promptly dials out to the emergency services. Pretty embarrassing for people who couldn’t fumble to the Cancel button in time, and probably very annoying for the 9/11 dispatchers as well.
Whether you’re an iPhone users or the user of any other type of phone, these devious pranks should provide ample warning when it comes to taking what you hear on the Internet with a pinch of salt.
