Why do people use passcodes?

amazingdm said:

The one where you unlock the phone by swiping then entering a password.

Seriously how annoying would this get? I'd never do that..

I can understand requiring a passcode after an hour or so but not on the immediate setting.

And how scary is that "erase data" boy.. after 10 failed attempts there goes all your contacst and texts and photos etc..

btw, is there a way to backup my contacts and text messages on my pc?

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To prevent anyone from disabling my MobileMe account in case it gets lost or stolen. That way I can locate my phone even if it in the hands of another person.

To keep your wife from scoping your recent calls and texts...

Wait.

Never mind.

My roommate kept changing my Facebook status until I enabled the lock.

its pretty stupid NOT to have a passcode considering all the personal information you store on your phone -.- especially when your phone gets stolen or lost

Couple reasons. I set mine at every 5 minutes btw but
1. Same reason as the first poster, MobileMe= findmyiphone if i lose it or if someone steals it

andd

2. I don't like people going through my stuff, i almost always have my phone on me hence i don't put it on immediate lock, but if i leave my phone around for more than a few minutes, i'd rather not have people looking through my emails or texts for whatever (not that i have anything bad, but some things are personal/private)

rotobadger said:

To keep your wife from scoping your recent calls and texts...

Wait.

Never mind.

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Tiger should have had an iPhone

RealSkyDiver said:

its pretty stupid NOT to have a passcode considering all the personal information you store on your phone -.- especially when your phone gets stolen or lost

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THIS! I sometimes put it on "1 hour" if im at home, but soon as I leave the house BAM I change it to immediate!

I dont wanna lose my phone and then all my personal info,notes,contacts,pics be there for anyone to see.

Plus when friends grab my phone to hold it and see the iphone 4 in all its glory, they cant just rummage through it without my password

amazingdm said:

The one where you unlock the phone by swiping then entering a password.

Seriously how annoying would this get? I'd never do that..

I can understand requiring a passcode after an hour or so but not on the immediate setting.

And how scary is that "erase data" boy.. after 10 failed attempts there goes all your contacst and texts and photos etc..

btw, is there a way to backup my contacts and text messages on my pc?

Click to expand...

I have an app that passcodes individual apps and i like that. Dont need anyone looking at my pictures, ebay account, Paypal, Facebook, photobucket or my settings. However, some like to lock the whole thing. It only takes a couple seconds to unlock it. Not sure why some think taking 2 second to touch 4 numbers is annoying but to each their own.

The app i use works for me.

amazingdm said:

The one where you unlock the phone by swiping then entering a password.

Seriously how annoying would this get? I'd never do that..

I can understand requiring a passcode after an hour or so but not on the immediate setting.

And how scary is that "erase data" boy.. after 10 failed attempts there goes all your contacst and texts and photos etc..

btw, is there a way to backup my contacts and text messages on my pc?

Click to expand...

Every time you sync your phone iTunes backs up all the content. If you get a new phone (or wipe the current one) you can restore the image.

I guess your're new to this whole iPhone thing, huh?

I work at the firestation 10 days a month and when I go on runs I leave it behind and firemen with free time and another firemans phone is a BAD combo.

Vegastouch said:

I have an app that passcodes individual apps and i like that. Dont need anyone looking at my pictures, ebay account, Paypal, Facebook, photobucket or my settings. However, some like to lock the whole thing. It only takes a couple seconds to unlock it. Not sure why some think taking 2 second to touch 4 numbers is annoying but to each their own.

The app i use works for me.

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may i ask you which app you use for this?

Also, the "10 failed attempts then erase iphone" thing isn't immediate. After 4 attempts I think it makes you wait 15 minutes before trying again. After 5 it makes you wait an hour before trying again. I've tried to erase it by entering the wrong code (out of boredom) and you can't do it easily.

So if an honest person were to find your iphone, how would they return it to you if you have a passcode?

Also, if a dishonest person were to find your phone and simply restore it, would that affect your MobileMe?

I work for an airline and we get lost iphones DAILY. Passcoded phones get thrown in a bin and usually get forwarded to our headquarters unclaimed. Non-passcoded phones get returned to their rightful owners 100% of the time.

jyj said:

may i ask you which app you use for this?

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I would like to know this as well............................

yep. also keeps people from getting into your email and other stuff you might have on the phone if it's lost/stolen. This becomes more important if you access your work email.

The point being that in the worst case they just have the phone and that any/all data gets wiped. Since the wise owner backs up their phone regularly, there's no risk of loss of contacts and such. The wise owner also wouldn't forget the passcode so no worries about locking yourself out.

sparrky said:

So if an honest person were to find your iphone, how would they return it to you if you have a passcode?

Also, if a dishonest person were to find your phone and simply restore it, would that affect your MobileMe?

I work for an airline and we get lost iphones DAILY. Passcoded phones get thrown in a bin and usually get forwarded to our headquarters unclaimed. Non-passcoded phones get returned to their rightful owners 100% of the time.

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thats why having mobile me is important, I could track it and also display a message on it saying "call xxxxxxx to return phone to owner" or something like that.

sparrky said:

So if an honest person were to find your iphone, how would they return it to you if you have a passcode?

Also, if a dishonest person were to find your phone and simply restore it, would that affect your MobileMe?

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In the first case, MobileMe allows displaying a message on the screen and sounding a tone (ignoring the silent switch). In the second case, the intent is to disallow access to any data on the phone. The hardware is lost, but it's better to know the data is effectively inaccessible.

maddux2005 said:

thats why having mobile me is important, I could track it and also display a message on it saying "call xxxxxxx to return phone to owner" or something like that.

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exactly.

I use my phone for corp email so my company makes us have a passcode due to having my exchange email on the phone.

My company enforces the pass code on my phone, if I want to receive emails.

amazingdm said:

Personally if someone found my phone I WANT them to see my contacts so they can contact one of them. There are honest people like me out there who do that when they find a missing phone

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Yeah, but some of us have very sensitive information on our phones, such as business emails, etc... you can't take the chance a good person is going to find your phone and call somebody. You have to plan for the worst.