Why do people use passcodes?

[sparrky]

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

There's an app called Lockdown that does this, but only for jailbroken phones. That's what I use, because I don't want to expose data OR lose my iphone, if at all possible. Best of both worlds - honest person can still return it to you, and dishonest people can't see your private info. And it's free.

 

[maddux2005]

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.

this! its 2010 and we live on planet earth. So unfortunately we DO have to plan for the worst! I would rather lose the hardware and all my personal info not be available to the thief and or finder.

 

[iSaxon]

may i ask you which app you use for this?

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

I'm almost positive that you have to have your phone jailbroken to lock individual apps. Lockdown on Cydia lets you do this. I'm not sure of the name of the app I used to use, but it let me lock the SMS app which was very useful for me. I wish one could lock the SMS app without having to jailbreak...

Edit: haha sparrky you beat me to it...

 

[Alonzo84]

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

They could always use the voice dial feature, which works even if the phone is locked. They could try CALL HOME or something along those lines. The phone will eventually call someone and if they recognize the number, you've found the owner. Of course, this is all dependant on the person finding your phone being familiar with its features.

 

[mantan]

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

I'd like to know as well. One of the features I missed off my old phone was the ability to passcode protect certain applications (like text and email).

My iPhone often gets used as an emergency entertainment device for the kidsd when we are out running around. I'm fine with them playing games, watching movies, listening to music etc. But they don't need to be in my email account or stumbling on a particularly raunchy comment from one of my buddies. (or the awkward moment when one of my neighbors was complaining about his wife in not so flattering terms....)

 

[Vegastouch]

may i ask you which app you use for this?

Its called iprotect. But i just remembered. It is a jailbreak App. Ive had it so long i forgot. Sorry , i should have mentioned that but it is a great app.

It costs $8.99 so i dont know why it isnt in the App store but you can get it for free too if you know how from the jailbreak. There is another but it was at the time $14.99 and they worked the same. Dont know if there are others beside the two i know about because ive just been using this one.

Here is the website www.idevmobile.com for more details and no, i have no association with them. I looked up the site when i went in cydia for the dev's details.

 

[dukebound85]

My issue is with the pass code is you can not get past that time delay if you desire

I mean, what is to stop someone from deliberately entering in multiple WRONG passcodes so that the rightful owner then has to wait 100 hrs for the next attempt?

Is there ANY way around that scenario? Please tell me there is. Until then, no thanks

 

[Vegastouch]

I'm almost positive that you have to have your phone jailbroken to lock individual apps. Lockdown on Cydia lets you do this. I'm not sure of the name of the app I used to use, but it let me lock the SMS app which was very useful for me. I wish one could lock the SMS app without having to jailbreak...

Edit: haha sparrky you beat me to it...

Yeah Lockdown,...... was free but i didnt like it because it was very buggy and a lot of times went back to my homescreen when trying to use it so i went with iprotect because it is very versitile.

Wish it was available to everyone because i think it is great .

 

[aforty]

I have my whole life on my phone. If it ever gets lost or stolen then I can rest assured that after 10 incorrect tries at the passcode, my life will be deleted from the phone.

 

[Hydrocity]

Well I think that spending 1 second of your time to unlock the phone is worth it. Although I do put it on the 5 min timer so I dont have to unlock it multiple times when somebody keeps texting me.

 

[Rajani Isa]

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

I had a friend that like to mess with other peoples phones.

He's more cautious now, but I lack a picture placed to scare him away of personal parts with stitches (another friend did; he broke up with his girlfriend after that night...) so I keep mine locked. The code is easy for me to remember, I don't even have to look at the screen anymore.

As for lost phones? If I knew about it, I'd tried the voice dialing (which can bypass the lock). If that fails, try a) going to an AT&T store, or b) dropping it off at the local police office.

 

[rwilliams]

It would be great if Apple let you lock down individual apps like Mail, Contacts, etc., but for some unknown reason, this feature is still missing.

 

[darknyt]

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.

^ This. All decent corporate environments enforce passcodes, first time I sync to corp exchange server, it enforces the policy.

Agree it doesn't have to be on wake, but at least some decently short interval.

 

[acfusion29]

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.

if they have the intent to steal it, they will likely turn it off. or worse, restore it if they know what they're doing.

My issue is with the pass code is you can not get past that time delay if you desire

I mean, what is to stop someone from deliberately entering in multiple WRONG passcodes so that the rightful owner then has to wait 100 hrs for the next attempt?

Is there ANY way around that scenario? Please tell me there is. Until then, no thanks

i don't think there's a 100 hour wait lol, however.. if one of your friends goes on your phone and locks you out for 15min, you just gotta hook it up to YOUR computer (not just any) and it will reset it.


As for answering the OP's question.

i'm no business man, or anyone important. however, i do have sensitive information saved in my notes (eg. my bank information, and all this other stuff i might need while on the road).

i don't have it set to immediately because i DID find that annoying, it's set at 15minutes.

 

[broncopde]

I have my whole life on my phone. If it ever gets lost or stolen then I can rest assured that after 10 incorrect tries at the passcode, my life will be deleted from the phone.

This is why I do it as well.

 

[SooneratND]

^ This. All decent corporate environments enforce passcodes, first time I sync to corp exchange server, it enforces the policy.

Agree it doesn't have to be on wake, but at least some decently short interval.

Those of us with jobs in the corporate world have to use a password. Too much sensitive data not to.

I'm a lawyer. With the rules on client confidentiality, there is an excellent case to be made that not protecting client data by refusing to use a password on your mobile device could be considered an ethics breach.

 

[darknyt]

Those of us with jobs in the corporate world have to use a password. Too much sensitive data not to.

I'm a lawyer. With the rules on client confidentiality, there is an excellent case to be made that not protecting client data by refusing to use a password on your mobile device could be considered an ethics breach.

Yeah, we would just be fired out-right if they caught us circumventing that one. A regulatory environment knows no mercy.

 

[insidmal]

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?

You can sync contacts into a gmail or yahoo account;
I use passcode to make the phone unusable if i were to lose it, but i put it on a long timer like 2 hours so if i'm using it; it won't interfere but if I left it somewhere and it got found like the next day they would be SOL

 

[shakenmartini]

Required every 4 hours, if not wipes the phone.

Simple insurance since my data is way more valuable than my phone.

 

[dukebound85]

i don't think there's a 100 hour wait lol, however.. if one of your friends goes on your phone and locks you out for 15min, you just gotta hook it up to YOUR computer (not just any) and it will reset it.

Ah, so no matter the time limit, as long as you hook it up to the computer it is synced with, it will be reset?

Can one designate 2 such computers for this purpose?

 

[deeddawg]

i do have sensitive information saved in my notes (eg. my bank information, and all this other stuff i might need while on the road)

I highly recommend a second layer of protection such as eWallet for storing sensitive data like this in an encrypted format. I'd freak out if I had that stuff in plain text notes even if there was a passcode.

 

[Alonzo84]

Ah, so no matter the time limit, as long as you hook it up to the computer it is synced with, it will be reset?

Can one designate 2 such computers for this purpose?

Good question. Does this apply to any computer you authorize under your iTunes account?

 

[saxon48]

I sure don't want people accessing my personal emails/photos/videos.

If you jailbreak, there is a neat little add-on that enables a lockscreen that resembles the Android's, where you draw a line or shape connecting several points.

 

[OneMike]

Simple.

Sensitive data on phone = Reason for a password.

Thanks to iOS4 I can now use a strong password.

The stuff on my phone is a lot more important to me then the phone itself.

 

[MaxxTraxx]

It would be great if Apple let you lock down individual apps like Mail, Contacts, etc., but for some unknown reason, this feature is still missing.