this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
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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.

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[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee 116 points 1 month ago (5 children)

GrapheneOS also has this. Not sure stock android includes it.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 58 points 1 month ago (2 children)

It does not. I don't have it on my Pixel 6. From other people's comments, it sounds like Samsung and other OEMs have added their version, though.

[–] darkevilmac@lemmy.zip 22 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Yeah, can confirm Samsung has this. I have auto reboot configured.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Where would I find that setting? I have an S22 Ultra and I can't seem to find it. Unless my phone has fallen out of support...

[–] darkevilmac@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's under device care -> auto optimization in settings. You can also just search "restart" in settings and it should pop up.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 6 points 1 month ago

Found it, thanks!

[–] OpenHammer6677@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Thanks, didn't know of this function. In my A50s it's under Battery and Device Care

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

that makes me think that it's a different feature, and it reboots the phone every x hours regardless if it was unlocked

[–] OpenHammer6677@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

so this is a restart-on-schedule feature that can skip a restart on certain conditions

[–] viking@infosec.pub 5 points 1 month ago

I've added this function manually using Automate (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.llamalab.automate).

You can trigger it to reboot on inactivity using some advanced parameters, but I've simply set it up to reboot at 3.30 AM every day, that way it's also clearing the cache.

This is how it looks like - the 5 min wait timer is to prevent a reboot loop if the phone is still booted up at 3.30 again.

[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (5 children)

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

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 15 points 1 month 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 13 points 1 month ago (2 children)

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.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How does it work for stuff like bank apps? Do they freak out about it?

And does it require unlocking the bootloader? I prefer to keep mine locked if possible.

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 6 points 1 month ago

My bank app works fine and I can use the NFC chip for payments as well, it might pay to search up your bank name and graphineos to see if anyone's had an issue, that's what I did to make sure.

You have to unlock it to install but once installed they prefer you lock the bootloader back up again.

[–] trolololol@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

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 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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.

[–] higgsboson@dubvee.org 2 points 1 month ago

My bank apps all work (though YMMV.) Ticket app worked (AXS.) I haven't actually used google pay or google wallet for anything to know if they work.

Authy is the only miss I've found and it wouldn't have mattered if i hadnt been caught in the midst of migrating to another app for that when they decided to be assholes.

[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee 10 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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 9 points 1 month ago

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

[–] viking@infosec.pub 4 points 1 month ago
[–] interurbain1er@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It's either root or having access to my bank accounts. 🙄

[–] 0x0@infosec.pub -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] interurbain1er@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 month ago

Have a 20 year mortgage with that bank so no.

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Didn't know that. Just been manually rebooting. This is is much easier and more secure. Thanks!

[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Sure, glad to help. We need every bit of help against the powers that be at this point.

[–] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Agreed! When everything is actively against us, we must band together against everything.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 2 points 1 month ago

Fighting centralized power with decentralized approach!

[–] umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

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 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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.

[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

The end result is the same though. First phone unlock is the one a bad actor can't get through.

[–] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago (1 children)

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_wasbi@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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@lemmy.ml 9 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month 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 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

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

[–] femtech@midwest.social 2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Does that stop alarms from going off in the morning?

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 month 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

[–] umami_wasbi@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

I'm on S21FE and it does NOT.

[–] pycorax@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month 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.