Apple quietly toughens rules forcing passcode unlocks of Touch ID devices
Apple has silently added another condition under which an iPhone or iPad user has to unlock their device with a passcode, despite having Touch ID enabled, according to a report.
iOS will now ask for a passcode if it hasn't been unlocked that way for six days, and Touch ID hasn't been used in the last eight hours, MacWorld said. A quoted Apple spokesperson claimed the rule has been in place since iOS 9 was released in Sept. 2015, but MacWorld noted this is inconsistent with the iOS Security guide, which only mentioned the change starting May 12. Apple declined to offer an explanation.
The company has several such rules in place, the two most common forcing a passcode unlock if a device is rebooted or hasn't been unlocked for 48 hours. Others require a passcode after new fingers are added to Touch ID, a person tries five unsuccessful Touch ID logins, or someone issues a remote lock via Find My iPhone.
If the discovered rule is genuinely new, it's not clear how or when Apple might have made the change, since iOS 9.3.1 was released in March and 9.3.2 arrived earlier this week.
Regardless, the tactic is presumably a means of reinforcing the security of Apple devices. It could potentially have an impact on U.S. law enforcement, which has already begun seeking court orders compelling people to unlock iPhones with their fingerprints.
iOS will now ask for a passcode if it hasn't been unlocked that way for six days, and Touch ID hasn't been used in the last eight hours, MacWorld said. A quoted Apple spokesperson claimed the rule has been in place since iOS 9 was released in Sept. 2015, but MacWorld noted this is inconsistent with the iOS Security guide, which only mentioned the change starting May 12. Apple declined to offer an explanation.
The company has several such rules in place, the two most common forcing a passcode unlock if a device is rebooted or hasn't been unlocked for 48 hours. Others require a passcode after new fingers are added to Touch ID, a person tries five unsuccessful Touch ID logins, or someone issues a remote lock via Find My iPhone.
If the discovered rule is genuinely new, it's not clear how or when Apple might have made the change, since iOS 9.3.1 was released in March and 9.3.2 arrived earlier this week.
Regardless, the tactic is presumably a means of reinforcing the security of Apple devices. It could potentially have an impact on U.S. law enforcement, which has already begun seeking court orders compelling people to unlock iPhones with their fingerprints.
Comments
According to U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Published July 12, 2015, http://www.lifescript.com/parenting-pregnancy/parenting/articles/how_long_is_a_good_nights_sleep.aspx, the following guidelines put Apple's 8 hrs in line with most adults. It's the younger users who might be affected but I've never seen a teenager who doesn't access their phone constantly.
Most adults need 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
Teens need at least 9 hours of sleep each night.
School-aged and preschool children need 10 to 12 hours of sleep.
Newborns sleep between 16 and 18 hours a day.
Your conjecture, of course, is that Apple makes a reasonable assumption that an adult looks at their phone immediately preceding falling asleep and then again immediately upon waking up in order to avoid the inconvenience of entering a passcode again. If that is some folks use case, then great. I would think that a lot of folks, myself included, are certainly not that attached to my phone.
In any case, the solution is very simple and as others have suggested: allow it to be configurable with an 8 hour default.
Options please!
With the latest iOS update (which I haven't loaded yet - I always now wait at least a week), it keeps telling me that I can schedule the update for some particular hours at night if I enter the passcode. That's the first time I've seen that. In the past it just asked if I wanted to run the update or "remind me later".