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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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[-] serenissi@lemmy.world 27 points 4 days ago

Wouldn't that disrupt the usage of a phone as a server?

[-] Agent641@lemmy.world 110 points 4 days ago
[-] superkret@feddit.org 18 points 4 days ago

oh fuck I can't stop laughing

[-] herrvogel@lemmy.world 10 points 4 days ago

You joke but people do that. I've seen people repurpose their old android phones to host small services on their home networks. I won't comment on how reasonable it is because battery, but it's a thing.

[-] BaroqueInMind@lemmy.one 9 points 4 days ago

Literally no difference between a low power SOC RaspberryPi or a fucking phone which is the same thing with a built-in display.

What exactly is the phone fucking?

[-] TheLowestStone@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

Mostly my mental health.

[-] Aceticon@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Except the price, which is much lower for the SBC, way much lower if one uses one of the lower end Orange Pi or Banana Pi SBCs.

Also you can put Linux on the SBCs (which always come unlocked) hence do way more with them as servers than if one has to use Android as the OS.

I mean, I can get it if people with the technical chops, love for technical challenges and an old and pretty much worthless Android phone, configure it as a server if only because "why not?!", but it's not exactly a great option considering that a 40 bucks SBC can do the same, only better, more easily and with far more possibilities (given that it will be running Linux rather than Android).

PS: Actually somebody below mention mobile network connection, which, thinking about it, would be a good reason to use an old Android phone as a server since it has built-in support for 3G (unless it's quite old) whilst the SBC needs it add to it which might be a problem for the cheaper SBCs (just wondering about how I would get around to do it, I think you need to connect a USB dongle to it and it has to be something compatible with Armbian Linux)

[-] Klear@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I really doubt an iOS update will affect people using android phones as servers.

[-] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

could be a simple hot spot cell backup, like for reporting network outage, remoting in to certain devices, etc. essentially a secondary ISP to report on main isp and troubleshoot. especially if you have smart devices you could reboot remotely.

[-] wholookshere@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 days ago

An iPhone is not going to be that. This isn't phones in general doing this, just iPhones.

There are also far more efficient devices for that. More cost effective and more energy efficient.

I understand wanting to reuse old devices for something, but there's a limit to what is power efficient as well.

[-] thermal_shock@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I'm not saying someone should, but they could. and necessity trumps efficiency every time.

[-] Buffalox@lemmy.world 40 points 4 days ago

That's it!! Now I will NEVER use an iPhone as a server. 😋

[-] lemmyingly@lemm.ee 4 points 4 days ago

Interesting, tell me more please. I presume it requires loading a different OS image as standard iPhone/android OS images will pause apps and attempt to go into a deep sleep after a long enough period?

[-] oldfart@lemm.ee 3 points 4 days ago

iPhone? Don't these kill apps after a few minutes in background?

[-] mrvictory1@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

*seconds. KDE Connect dying the moment I turn off the iPad annoys me to this day.

[-] TaviRider@reddthat.com 1 points 4 days ago

It’s not that simple. iOS has a really sophisticated system for deciding which things to keep in memory and which to evict, and it only does that when it needs more resources. Choosing which apps to kill is based on how recently an app was used, how much of share resources are in use, how often the app gets used, if it’s doing background processing, and other more subtle signals.

Usually if people notice apps being killed when in the background a lot it’s because one of the apps they’re switching to is using a lot of resources, which forces the eviction of other apps.

[-] pedroapero@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago

A phone server that is disconnected from cellular is already broken anyways.

this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
830 points (98.1% liked)

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