DISCLAIMER: Neither PhoneGlide nor any of its editors, contributors, and writers are responsible for any damage occurring to your device as a result of reading and following this article.
UPDATE – 07/05/21:
This is why your iPhone crashes when viewing the infamous story
Popular YouTuber Mrwhosetheboss came up with a video on Thursday explaining the ins and outs of the fatal Instagram story and the way it is used to crash or take over your iPhone and yes it even affects Android phones out there. Do watch the video to learn it directly from Arun Maini. He along with security researchers has it decoded for everyone. To perform a force restart on your iPhone, scroll down to read the original article OR refer to the table of contents available above.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE – 01/05/21: Over the years, we have all come across quite a few types of bugs that caused our phones to freeze or crash down completely. The most infamous being the recently discovered (last year) android wallpaper that entirely crippled the OS with the last resort being a full factory reset via recovery menu. Similarly, Apple‘s iPhones touted as featuring the most secure and strong iOS system onboard hasn’t been immune to bugs of this nature for example the text bug of the past, whereupon sending a set of special characters and text to another device renders it unusable.
Speaking of which, on Saturday, one fine early morning we just discovered a fatal Instagram story bug. Upon viewing the dreaded story (which now is a highlight in the profile) immediately crashed our iPhone. An Instagram user that goes by the name @pgtalal has the story put up on their profile for viewing by the general public. The story consists of a line of Arabic text (meaning: Look at the story later) and background music accompanying it to make things convincing. The image below showcases the questionable iPhone crash bug.
Do not view it on your phone!
One of our friends sent us this disastrous Instagram story via DM and just like any unsuspecting user, we opened it only to see our iPhone (2020 SE) freeze for a minute or two before re-springing itself back to life.
In case you open the story and your iPhone ceases or gets locked out, follow the instructions below on how to force restart your device. Please note that the force restart instructions only apply to iPhones running iOS 14 and later. With that said, we believe Apple is aware of this critical bug and is hopefully working on a fix.
Force restart iPhone 8, X, XS, XR, 11, SE (2020) and 12
Press and release the Volume up button, then immediately press and release the Volume down button and quickly press and hold the Side button (Sleep/Wake) button until the Apple logo appears on the screen. Your device will now restart.
Source: Apple 
Source: Apple
Force restart iPhone 7
Press and hold the Volume down and the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo is displayed on the screen.
Source: Apple
Force restart iPhone 6S, SE (2016), and older devices
Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button along with the Home button until the Apple logo is visible on the screen.
Source: Apple