Apple's HomePod was supposed to help the high-end hardware giant compete with​ Amazon's Echo and Google Home. Instead, soon after the smart speaker was released on February 9th, early adopters began reporting unsightly and sometimes permanent stains on their furniture. As if that weren't an embarrassing enough unforced error, this week an Italian tech blog noticed a pretty massive bug that disables iMessage and third-party messaging apps when users receive a message with a certain character. Here's what's going on.

Pretty Soon After The HomePod Came Out, People Realized It Was Staining Their Furniture

The British review site Pocket-Lint was one of the first to notice the HomePod's staining tendencies.

For our tests we placed the speaker on a solid oak kitchen worktop treated with Danish oil. Within 20 minutes the HomePod had caused a white discoloured ring to appear on the wood that some days later has faded, although still hasn't completely disappeared… For us the mark hasn't disappeared and we'll have to sand and then re-oil our worktop.

[Pocket-Lint]

Some folks on Twitter reported similar effects.

#homepod left rings on my wood furniture in less than 20 minutes of use. Thanks #apple I am glad a paid $400 to make perfect etched circles on my more expensive furniture. Guess I can not move it now to cover up the mark. Evil geniuses you are. #applesupport pic.twitter.com/eZng16barS — Guy San Francisco (@Guyinsf415) February 10, 2018





As Slate pointed out, silicone is known to interact with some wood finishes, but Apple initially didn't even tell people the HomePod contained silicone.

On Apple's website, the product description and tech specifications for the HomePod don't mention the word silicone. If you didn't realize that the HomePod used it — or you weren't aware that it could interact with certain wood finishes — there's no reason why you would ever think to exercise caution in where you positioned the speaker.

[Slate]

Apple's Response Was… Not Ideal

Apple responded on Wednesday with a pretty unapologetic new set of instructions on its website for "where to place HomePod" (as if the problem were consumers putting it in dumb places and not the object itself).

It is not unusual for any speaker with a vibration-damping silicone base to leave mild marks when placed on some wooden surfaces. The marks can be caused by oils diffusing between the silicone base and the table surface, and will often go away after several days when the speaker is removed from the wooden surface. If not, wiping the surface gently with a soft damp or dry cloth may remove the marks. If marks persist, clean the surface with the furniture manufacturer's recommended cleaning process. If you're concerned about this, we recommend placing your HomePod on a different surface.

[Apple]

An Apple rep also suggested refinishing damaged wood, but the Wirecutter wasn't having it.

An Apple representative added over email that, "the marks can improve over several days after the speaker is removed from the wood surface," and if they don't fade on their own, you can "try cleaning the surface with the manufacturer's suggested oiling method" — in other words, go refinish your furniture. This really undermines the design aspect of the HomePod — especially if you were thinking of displaying it on some prized piece of furniture — and it will surely be a sore point for many potential buyers.

[The Wirecutter]

After paying $350 for a supposedly top-of-the-line smart speaker, consumers may not love Apple's glib advice to re-oil their furniture.

also, here's my subtle HomePod ring. please don't tell me to oil my wood pic.twitter.com/4gE452qtUB — Federico Viticci (@viticci) February 14, 2018

There's Also A Newly Reported Bug Crashing Message Apps When They Receive A Specific Indian Character

As if white-ring-gate weren't enough of a gaffe, Apple is also facing reports that iOS 11.2 has a bug that shuts down iMessage and third-party messaging apps when they receive a certain Indian language character. The bug was first reported by the Italian site Mobile World and has been verified by the Verge and others.

The bug itself involves sending an Indian language (Telugu) character to devices, and Apple's iOS Springboard will crash once the message has been received. Messages will no longer open as the app is trying and failing to load the character, and it appears that the only way to regain access to your iMessages is to have another friend send you a message and try to delete the thread that contained the bad character. We've also tested the bug on third-party apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Gmail, and Outlook for iOS and found that these apps can become disabled once a message is received. It might be difficult to fix and delete the problem message for apps like WhatsApp, unless you have web access enabled.

[The Verge]

The Verge's Tom Warren posted a video on Twitter of a phone running iOS 11.2.5 receiving a message containing the character and then repeatedly crashing when Warren tried to open iMessage.

Another iOS bug is crashing iPhones and disabling access to iMessage https://t.co/9do0xyz7k4 pic.twitter.com/15Ripq7PP8 — Tom Warren (@tomwarren) February 15, 2018

Apple's latest public beta, iOS 11.3, is reportedly unaffected by the bug, but Apple hasn't released a patch for 11.2 yet.