How To Unlock Someone's Iphone Without Knowing The Passcode

A YouTuber has found a way to unlock an iPhone without the passcode, which is equal parts scary and impressive.

Have you ever found an iPhone belonging to a stranger in a bar/taxi/the floor and wanted to find out who it belongs to so you can return it to its rightful owner, but have been blocked by a pesky passcode? Or, have you ever locked yourself out of your phone during a memory blank and just had *no idea* what you might've changed your password to? We've all been there.

Aside from hoping and waiting for the phone's owner to make contact somehow (or, er, hoping a memory might come to you,) there's not a lot you can do in that situation. Until NOW, that is, after a YouTuber has discovered a sneaky little hack which allows you to access the phone without using a four or six digit code to gain entry.

It's worth noting that we tried the trick a number of times, and although we were OVERWHELMED that it worked the first time, the phone seemed to wise up, so it didn't work so smoothly. But it's worth a try nevertheless, in case you've accidentally locked yourself out of your phone or need to get into someone's device for emergencies.

Also, it's worth nothing people might be using this iPhone unlocking hack for the wrong reasons, so perhaps it's only a matter of time before Apple wise up to it and stop it working.

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So here's how you do it, courtesy of YouTubers Social Star...

1. Hold down the home button until Siri appears

2. Ask Siri what the time is (but perhaps warn those around you that this is what you're doing, unless you want to be met with a choir of "quarter to ones" like I was)

3. When Siri displays the time, click on the image of a clock

4. This will bring up the World Clock/Alarm/Stopwatch/Timer screen, so click on the timer option

5. Then select 'When timer ends'

6. Scroll to the top of the ringtone list and select 'Buy more tones'

7. This should open the Apple Store

8. Click the home button again and it should bring up the main phone screen with full access to the phone...

Et voilá!

Here's how it works in action:

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FYI, when we tried this after the first time, it seemed to get stuck at point number 7 - despite clicking the 'Buy more tones' option repeatedly, it refused to open the Apple Store. So perhaps our phones are smarter than we think when it comes to security...

Obviously there's a worrying flipside to this hack, which is that it means somebody could gain access to your phone and the information contained within it, without your permission.

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But as long as the morally right purposes outweigh the more dubious ones, we'd say it's useful to know. Whether that means accessing a phone book in emergencies (although hopefully everyone has their emergency contacts on) to to relocate an owner with their lost phone.

Apple have also published a way to unlock your iPhone without the passcode on their website. The method includes This process requires plugging your iPhone into a computer (Mac or PC), putting it in recovery mode and restoring the iPhone.

This process deletes your data and settings, including your passcode, giving you access to set up your iPhone again. You can then restore your data and settings from back up, or set your phone up as a new device and download any data you have stored in iCloud.

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