Phone block

[fairyqueen]

Hi all!

I've just re-bought my phone after it was stolen and the thieves were clever enough to ensure I couldn't reach them with FindMyMobile - in particular, I couldn't wipe my phone or SD card.

I would like to use a phone block that ensures my phone can't be used if it's ever stolen and I can't reach it with remote control, but I don't want to insert a password/pin every time the screen is locked (so no cryptography I think).

I think what I'm looking for is some old Nokia functionality with which you had to type a phone PIN (not the SIM PIN) every time you switched on the phone.

The reason why I'm interested in this at all is that, like in fairy tales, I have now the pictures of the thieves friends in my Dropbox, but unlike in fairy tales, this is going to be useless as it appears they are on the other side of the planet: what this actually tells me is that I had forgotten to change my Dropbox password and they had had access to all my work data until I found out.

Can you please help? Thanks in advance!

 

[GuitarG20]

I think what your best option may be is to set a lock on the phone that only requires you to put in a password after your phone has been locked a certain number of minutes (I have mine set to lock after 5.)

While I see the point of having a boot up password, it also means that if the thieves never turn off your phone, then they will always have access to your data. I am not sure there is a way to have your phone only require a password when it's turned on.

 

[Rukbat]

If you password or PIN protect the lock screen, they will have trouble getting in. (A 4 digit PIN has only 1,000 combinations, so if they're really determined, a long upper/lower case + digits password is more secure.) You can use Tasker to turn off the keyguard when you're connected to your home wifi (plus any other wifi you want - mine turns off at my daughter's house too), so using the phone for hours, once every 15 minutes is a lot easier - tap the power button and you're at the homescreen. Away from home you still have to put in the password. (Don't have it turn off at public wifi spots - they can get to them to see if you've done that.) Tasker is a pretty cheap price to pay for the ease it give you, and that's just one task you can write. It can handle all sorts of things.

As long as everything is backed up, that should give you a bit of time to contact the phone and wipe it. (And you should have everything backed up.)

 

[fairyqueen]

Hello guys, thanks a lot for replying!
I hadn't received an email saying someone had replied so I incorrectly assumed nobody had.

The thieves turned off my phone seconds later because otherwise I would have reached it with Find My Mobile immediately. The only way to prevent this is to keep it switched off for several days until it's abroad and - possibly - somewhere where GPS mapping won't work. It's exactly what they did. With Find My Mobile around, I think it's safe to assume that they will likely switch it off at least once.

However, I do see your points and I thank you for your suggestions: I will think about both and decide what works best for me.

Have a nice day!