Apple quietly introduced code into iOS 18.1 which reboots the device if it has not been unlocked for a period of time, reverting it to a state which improves the security of iPhones overall and is making it harder for police to break into the devices, according to multiple iPhone security experts.

On Thursday, 404 Media reported that law enforcement officials were freaking out that iPhones which had been stored for examination were mysteriously rebooting themselves. At the time the cause was unclear, with the officials only able to speculate why they were being locked out of the devices. Now a day later, the potential reason why is coming into view.

“Apple indeed added a feature called ‘inactivity reboot’ in iOS 18.1.,” Dr.-Ing. Jiska Classen, a research group leader at the Hasso Plattner Institute, tweeted after 404 Media published on Thursday along with screenshots that they presented as the relevant pieces of code.

    • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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      12 days ago

      That seals the deal for me on rooting my pixel. I’ve been hesitant about rooting ever since I bricked an extra galaxy s3 and nearly bricked my (main device) Verizon galaxy s5

      • 𝕸𝖔𝖘𝖘@infosec.pub
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        12 days ago

        If you have a factory pixel, you don’t need to root. You can unlock bootloader and install a rom that has it (calyxos or grapheneos I know have them). You can root, but you don’t have to.

      • dumbass@leminal.space
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        12 days ago

        Putting graphineos onto my pixel was the easiest thing I’ve done in a long time, the installer is just pressing buttons and waiting for the next button to be ready pretty much.

        • trolololol@lemmy.world
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          11 days ago

          Same question as catloaf but with less ambiguous things like banks: does Netflix, safety net, fox sports Australia and Google pay work with graphene os?

          • dumbass@leminal.space
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            8 days ago

            Google wallet doesn’t work at all, but if your bank offers its own NFC payment system then that should work.

            The only app that I’ve had an issue with was uber, that refused to install from either play store or aurora store, but beyond that I haven’t had any issues. Just search graphineos and the app you want to check, or check out their forum.

      • iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee
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        12 days ago

        GrapheneOS is the easiest ROM install bar none. Get the en browser (needs to be chrome-based) to the install url, hook the phone cable, and let it run. It’s super straightforward. It’s not rooting though, you don’t get root access by default.

        • rockSlayer@lemmy.world
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          12 days ago

          Wow things sure changed about Android roms! I still remember how difficult it was to try to simply install a rom through Knox

          • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
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            12 days ago

            samsung devices are still a different beast, they have their unique little everything and the standard tools don’t work there

    • umami_wasabi
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      12 days ago

      It does, labled “Auto Restart”, but only when “preformance issues detected” or time specified. Apple is quite late on this feature.

      Screenshot of Android Auto Restart Settings page

      • fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        12 days ago

        This is rebooting for a different reason. That auto reboot just kind assumes that the software on your phone sucks and it needs to reboot to stay running fast.

        Graphene and now iOS auto reboot for security/privacy reasons.

          • NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world
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            12 days ago

            It’s not the same.

            On an iPhone it’ll reboot after X hours of no use. That means it could go months without rebooting and the day after it’s in police hands it reboots.

            The feature you’re talking about would need to be set to reboot every day at a specific time. Now you personally have to deal with that. Also until you unlock the phone as well there could be reduced functionality making it annoying.

            Very different.

            • umami_wasabi
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              11 days ago

              Not that hard to deal with honestly. Rebooting at night which I’m sleeping does not reduces any functionality, cuz I’m not using it. If someone needs to find me during the night he better call me cuz I won’t wake up by notification which is also suppressed by DND. Yeah it is not design for security but a solution better than none.

              Furthermore, rebooting the device periodically is good for security, especially for non-persistent fileless malware.

      • azron
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        12 days ago

        on GrapheneOS it is labeled auto reboot and it specifically says “automatically reboot device if it hasn’t been unlocked in xxx hours” with a default of 18.

      • Album@lemmy.ca
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        12 days ago

        This is clearly the Samsung interface and thus not stock Android. Doesn’t even really look like the same feature.

        • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works
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          12 days ago

          depends on your phone. at first encryption was done in an all-or-nothing style, so system startup couldn’t complete without a first unlock. then android started using file based encryption, which was used selectively, encrypting certain things so that they are accessible without an unlock.

          the best way to figure it out is to set a new alarm 10 minutes from now, reboot your phone manually, and see whether the alarm goes off

    • pycorax@lemmy.world
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      11 days ago

      Samsung does too but I’ve not set it up as such. Instead, it automatically locks the device from biometric unlocks every 24 hours until you login with your pin again.