iOS 7 Waterproof Hoax Goes Viral: Lesson Learned

There's little doubt now that the world understands Apple's design language so well that those with the ability to replicate it have more power than they know what to do with. Case in point: a falsified advertisement for iOS 7 that suggests the software update can make an iPhone waterproof. People fell for it, hook, line, and sunken smartphone.

What you're about to see is a large image – you may want to right-click and open it up if you've not already done so. This image was made by a comedy-seeking fan of the Apple way of doing graphic design for presentations of iDevices and software. What they've done is a bang-up job of suggesting iOS 7 will bring waterproofing abilities to your iPhone.

If you did not already realize – there's no software upgrade that can do this for a device that doesn't already have the ability to repel water. That's not a technology that exists. Sources like Buzzfeed and The Telegraph show users on both side of the situation at this point, one of them being the part of the Troll Perpetuator.

If a person sees a joke such as this and decides to further the point, they're taking the side of what's obviously a "troll" – a comment or project aimed at returning a specific, often enflamed reaction (even if the project or comment isn't the initiator's real opinion or belief). The perpetuation of this advertisement, in this case, meant taking to Twitter with comments like "can't wait to drop my iPhone in a lake with iOS 7!"

Of course this eventually lead to people seeming to actually drop their iPhones in water, resulting in – well – you can probably guess what happened next. If you or someone you know upgraded to iOS 7 and dropped your iPhone (or any other iPad or iPod touch) into a glass of water, you're pretty much out of luck. If you know anyone who might be in danger of falling for this prank, please take appropriate action.