this post was submitted on 18 Nov 2023
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So what do you do if you literally cant wipe the phone I.e broken screen? Just never have anything there to begin with?
Phones these days are encrypted. If you ever set up a pin/password to unlock your phone, that means it's encrypted. Just make sure your phone is powered off or restarted (or battery drained, if the off button isn't working), before you drop it off at the repair shop.
No one can access your files in this state - not even the manufacturer (unless there's backdoor, but that's a different topic - but even then, there are many "secure folder" type apps you could use to encrypt sensitive data).
If it's just a broken screen, Google your way in learning how to repair it yourself.
Or, find a shop that will repair it in front of you the whole time. Pay extra if need be
Or, if the material is too sensitive and the above options aren't viable:
The good thing with a problem like this is that your options are limited. So there's not a whole hell of a lot of decision tree making you need to do.
Stop being logical! We need to find holes!
Remote wipes are possible. Log into your Apple/Google account, figure out how to find your device, then perform a remote wipe.
Assuming the device is powered on and can connect to a network to recieve the instruction.
Plug it into a computer and delete the files that way?
Youve never actually had that happen if you think its that easy.
Guys no...
You cant wipe a phone remotely with your google sign on unless "find my device" is enabled, which it never was.
My phone does not just give access automatically to any device plugged into it. You are REQUIRED to give permission from the phone. Which cant be done because the screen is fucked.
Your phone SHOULDNT be accessible in this scenario because allowing any device to just plug in and download everything with no authentication is a security risk.
It is still possible to unlock an android phone with a fucked screen.
I had to do this once and managed to unlock the phone with a USB mouse. It took me a while to get the right pattern, but it is possible.
I mean sure it’s not easy to remote wipe if you never set up the feature that lets you remote wipe.
The first ever Android I had (Galaxy S4) was sadly dropped by a friend, and the oled screen was toast within a few days... thankfully I had previously authorized ADB on my main computer, had it paired to a Sony Ericsson LiveView (with OpenLiveView), and my bluetooth headset was set up to automatically launch the music player when connected. Could also make calls using the voice assistant (forgot what it was called back then, S-Voice or something?) needless to say a screen replacement wasn't urgent at all.
Can't say I'd be able to do the same nowadays on modern Android with all the forced app killing and stuff, as well as Google Assistant being a massive downgrade (believe most useful actions on a smashed device would require unlocking, and on-screen confirmation)
It depends on how the phone is setup and whether or not you have plugged in to a pc before. It sounds like it's you that has that no idea.
Most android phones (can't speak to Apple) are pretty much plug and play via USB. Plug it in and browse the files on it, it's slow as hell and may be retrievable by software designed to undelete files but it's doable, you may have to approve the connection on the phone but if you have plugged it in prior then you probable don't have to.
Dude the goddamned phone requires that you confirm permission to access or manipulate anything on that phone. You cant just plug a usb cable in and fuck with everything. What the hell sort of phones do you guys buy that it just does that with no security measures?
Sounds like you don't understand tech at all. Some of us have been using smart phones since palm and blackberry. Earlier versions of Android didn't need the confirmation at all, assuming that it was defaulted to file access.
I've been android since the beginning and my last few phones (all pixels) I don't remember having to approve the usb connection after the first time.
Can you plug a random phone into a pc and access files? Probably not.
Can you plug your own phone into a pc it's been connected to prior and access files even with a broken screen? More likely yes, than no.
You and the other minions downvoting me should try reading my entire comments as many times ad needed for you to grasp the very basic concepts at play.
And to repeat. You have no idea how the file system on android works. You most definitely can delete/backup/etc the photos, screenshots, etc on the phone via USB. You can not easily access app data as thats encrypted and stored elsewhere.
You kids need to get off the internet before you hurt yourself.
This is starting to feel more and more like reddit, that's not a good thing.
Dude you dont even know whether I use android or apple and youre making assumptions about how MY PHONE works. My phone requires that permission be granted to access data from the phone. Telling me again that I can fix this doing something I have already tried is a waste of both of our time. It didnt fucking work. Do you understand? You can fuck right off with this "I know how your phone works better than you do despite not knowing anything at all about it."
What about a dongle to connect a mouse and an external display?
Not if the phone doesn't give permission to lol. I speak from personal experience of a Pixel 3a. Previously connected and all.
Huh, that's odd. The same user having the same shitty experience across multiple platforms with no other discernable commonality. What a puzzle, we'll never figure it out.
Way to out yourself as one of the idiots I'm talking about. Reddit is full of jackasses who think they are the epitome of knowledge on a subject when the opposite is the truth, the ones who post the most telling others they are wrong are the ones who don't know shit about jack, sadly these numbnuts are making there way here, apparently you are one of them.
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Nope. Had this happen with my wife's phone. Because developer mode had not been enabled previously and the screen was completely inactive, there was absolutely no way to wipe the phone.
Choice was either pay a stupid amount of money to get the screen repaired (and I've had a bad experience with screen repairs actually working) or bin the phone and hope that nobody bothers to try and fix and then gain access. :/
Actually yes, but that’s just old man me yelling at the clouds. Nudes are just so pointless, especially of oneself.