Apple released macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Supplemental Update on Tuesday, an update specifically released to fix the Telugu text bug. That bug resulted in apps crashing from an Indian text character sequence, and messaging apps were particularly exposed.
Patch Notes for macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Supplemental Update
The macOS High Sierra 10.13.3 Supplemental Update fixes an issue where using certain character sequences could cause apps to crash. This update is recommended for all users.
The update is a 40.8MB download through the Mac App Store.
So, Bryan, here’s a question…
Today Apple, with an instal base numbered in the millions, rolled out bug fixes for iOS, macOS, tvOS and watchOS, all of which addressed the Telugu text bug.
How many people, amongst that instal base, had heard of Telugu prior to last week?
It would be easy to dismiss all of this activity as much ado about nothing. I’ll wager, not many, and even fewer that it is a Dravidian language, one of the six named classical languages of India (though by no means confined to that country), is spoken in south eastern India, is likely the third most widely spoken language in that country by some estimated 74 million people (and hence a non-trivial fraction of a emerging market), and thus worthy of Apple’s focus.
All of this should help an Western-centric readership appreciate how much a global enterprise Apple have become, and whose centre of market mass is shifting inexorably Eastward.