If you’re worried that someone might be trying to obtain unauthorized access to your iOS device when you aren’t looking, then you might find a new free jailbreak tweak called CatchaThief by iOS developer Jake James useful.
Once installed, CatchaThief harnesses your handset’s front-facing camera to snap a picture whenever someone enters your passcode incorrectly, allowing you to see anyone that might be trying to use your device without your permission.
It is no longer safe to use a six-digit passcode on your iPhone.
Depending on your iPhone’s notification settings, you might receive email notifications on the Lock screen as the flow of messages come in. While it can be convenient to see these email previews, it’s somewhat annoying that you can’t delete incoming emails from the Lock screen without authenticating yourself first.
A new free jailbreak tweak called TrashFromLS by iOS developer Kiran Patil was just released in Cydia this week and tackles this problem head-on. After installing it, you can move incoming emails to the trash without authenticating yourself.
The upcoming iOS 11.3 software update will bring increased security when connecting third-party MFi-certified USB accessories to an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.
Biometric authentication methods like Touch ID and Face ID come standard on most modern iPhones, and a new free jailbreak tweak called BioLockout by iOS developer ARX8x lets you take full control over when they can be used.
BioLockout takes advantage of Activator, so you can easily configure a gesture that toggles biometric authentication on or off on demand. You can set it up in the Settings app after installation:
According to Apple's new online user guide, unlocking HomeKit security accessories like door locks through Siri on HomePod requires authentication using Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch in order to protect your privacy and security.
Check out this quick tip that lets you manually go past the failing Face ID screen and type the passcode on your iPhone or iPad to unlock it.
Some people take their privacy more seriously than others, and a new iMessage extension dubbed MsgL0ck by iOS developer Simon Andersson takes that sentiment into consideration.
MsgL0ck lets the sender require authentication from the iMessage recipient before they can read the message. In Apple-speak, this means providing a fingerprint for Touch ID or a facial scan for Face ID (or a passcode if the recipient has neither).
Learn how to change the length of your iPhone passcode from 6 digits back to 4 so it's easier to memorize and faster to type when unlocking.
For reasons unknown, Google has recently removed the option to protect access to the Drive, Docs, Sheets and Slides mobile apps with a passcode, Touch ID or Face ID.
Apple has already patched a widely reported vulnerability which made it possible—albeit under some very, very specific circumstances—to crack an iPhone 7 passcode using a dedicated $500 hardware guessing box, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch last weekend.
We've seen devices for brute-forcing phone passcodes before. This $500 box, demonstrated on video by YouTuber “EverythingApplePro”, uses an exploit in iOS 10.3.3 and iOS 11 beta to brute-force hack and bypass the Lock screen passcode of up to three iPhone 7/Plus handsets at a time—but it could take days to work, depending on the complexity of the passcode.