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Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

arstechnica.com

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Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#101

Post by blackoil »

joak wrote: post #89
greatgib wrote: post #34

It's good to have an option like that, even being a default, but there definitively need a switch to disable that if it is your own will. It's not even necessarily that good enough against cops, because in a lot of shitty countries, even some pretending to be democratics, not disclosing or at least inputting your password might be a crime severely punished. If I'm not wrong, there was a guy that had to stay years in…

It's good to be able to disable this option: I use old Android phones as servers and don't want them to reboot every 3 days.

https://xkcd.com/1172/

Don't think old Androids will get this update.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#102

Post by tripdout »

graypegg wrote: post #63

> ...the new Play Services will limit that exposure to three days, even if it's plugged in. This will be fun to track down after a long weekend in embedded devices once this android patch number is old enough to be baked into crappy payment terminals and mall kiosks. Probably overall a good thing though.

I don't think those would be likely to have Play Services, though.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#103

Post by greatgib »

NekkoDroid wrote: post #55
gcanyon wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For this use case there needs to be a reasonably quick way to erase/permanently lock a phone. Or maybe it needs to be something that is both 1. Less severe than that 2. Secure against personal inducements 3. More automatic. So maybe something like a paired app with a friend/someone who is beyond the reach of the authorities, and if the phone isn't unlocked in a given definable period (or it can be triggered immediate…

This just gave me an idea: How about the phone accepting 2 password. One is the regular password and brings you into your regular account and then a dummy password that brings you into a dummy (but somewhat plausible, maybe user set up) account. That way you can still enter your normal account whenever you feel like it and if you are being pressured you just put in your "alternative password" and it just brings you t…

It would be a kind of duress password.

But the problem is that when authority wants you to unlock your device, they kind of already know why, what they are expected to find but they would that as a more complete proof. But from external input they would expect some downloaded files or accounts (like social accounts you were connected with your phone a minute ago), some SMS they saw passing, some call logs, so connection to your known accounts...

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#104

Post by baby_souffle »

glenstein wrote: post #94
greatgib wrote: post #34

It's good to have an option like that, even being a default, but there definitively need a switch to disable that if it is your own will. It's not even necessarily that good enough against cops, because in a lot of shitty countries, even some pretending to be democratics, not disclosing or at least inputting your password might be a crime severely punished. If I'm not wrong, there was a guy that had to stay years in…

>not disclosing or at least inputting your password might be a crime severely punished And to your point, I believe it's now the case in the U.S. that you can be legally compelled to unlock a fingerprint lock, but not a pin for whatever reason.

Compiled unlock via biometrics is still somewhat contested. The general argument boils down to biometrics being something you can't really protect internally. A passcode that is only known inside of your gray matter can therefore can only be externalized via some sort of testimony. Being compelled to reveal a passcode violates your ride against compelled speech and self-inccrimination.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#105

Post by bigyabai »

67593874748 wrote: post #77
wiseowise wrote: post #60

> This actually caused some annoyance among law enforcement officials who believed they had suspects' phones stored in a readable state, only to find they were rebooting and becoming harder to access due to this feature. Lmao. > The early sluggishness of Android system updates prompted Google to begin moving parts of the OS to Google Play Services. This collection of background services and libraries can be updated b…

Google locking features behind the closed source, proprietary Play Services is "more reason to move to AOSP"?

You don't need Play Services for this feature to work. The design is not proprietary or even hard to reverse-engineer.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#106

Post by dagmx »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #100
nativeit wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering this is all about Android adopting a very similar feature, it doesn’t sound like “Apple being Apple”…

It's Apple being a trailblazer and leading the industry. Sometimes that lead is in a bad direction.

The rest of the industry are adults and can be responsible for their own decisions though.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#107

Post by intrasight »

glenstein wrote: post #94
greatgib wrote: post #34

It's good to have an option like that, even being a default, but there definitively need a switch to disable that if it is your own will. It's not even necessarily that good enough against cops, because in a lot of shitty countries, even some pretending to be democratics, not disclosing or at least inputting your password might be a crime severely punished. If I'm not wrong, there was a guy that had to stay years in…

>not disclosing or at least inputting your password might be a crime severely punished And to your point, I believe it's now the case in the U.S. that you can be legally compelled to unlock a fingerprint lock, but not a pin for whatever reason.

In US you are protected by 5th. But it seems like the question hasn't been addressed by the Supreme Court since currently the answer depends on your jurisdiction. Which inspired me to check: here in Pennsylvania, the court cannot compel you to unlock your device with the password.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#109

Post by bigyabai »

fguerraz wrote: post #54

How about instead of patching up our societies with technology we vote for the right people / laws for once?

The "right people" aren't represented by either side of America's bipartisan system. Good luck with your mass popular movement.

Re: Android phones will soon reboot themselves after sitting unused for three days

#110

Post by gcanyon »

hypeatei wrote: post #45
gcanyon wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For this use case there needs to be a reasonably quick way to erase/permanently lock a phone. Or maybe it needs to be something that is both 1. Less severe than that 2. Secure against personal inducements 3. More automatic. So maybe something like a paired app with a friend/someone who is beyond the reach of the authorities, and if the phone isn't unlocked in a given definable period (or it can be triggered immediate…

You might get even more charges for doing that, though. Destroying evidence, obstruction or some made up charge.

Sure, I'm just saying there's a way to put unlocking the phone in the hands of someone who at least is not under the control of a hostile authority.
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