Simple text message enough to disable WP messaging

An imperfection in the Windows Mobile OS has recently been discovered. When a user receives a text message or a chat message, the Messaging Hub becomes disabled. This happens with text messages and chat messages on Facebook and Windows Live Messanger. WinRumours shot a video of WP’s flaw in action and uploaded it on YouTube. GSMarena caught a glimpse of the video.

The problem is demoed by WinRumours on a Samsung handset. When a user receives a message, the screen turns off, the phone reboots automatically and the Messaging Hub packs up. The received message itself is inaccessible.  Despite repeated attempts and numerous reboots, the Messaging Hub doesn’t load on the phone. 

Once the Messaging Hub is immobilized, the only way to get it up and running again is by carrying out a hard reset on the handset. Experts from Gsmarena also found that if a live tile from the contact that sends the fatal message is found on the homescreen, the entire phone freezes. The way out in such a case is to restart the phone and remove the tile before it reloads completely. 

This messaging flaw has been tested with Windows Phone 7.5 (builds 7720 and 7740). The only saving grace in the whole mess is that users can safely back up their data, including pictures and videos, before going in for a hard reset of their devices.  

Apparently, the user who noticed this problem is in talks with Microsoft about a solution. Hopefully, Microsoft will solve this problem sooner than later. After all, it cannot afford to have a flaw running around in its new and improved OS, especially now that it is somewhat at par with Android and iOS.