Be careful: The HTC One M8 will factory reset after 10 unsuccessful unlock attempts
For the average Android user, nothing is more frustrating and time consuming than setting up your phone after a fresh factory reset. Unless you’re a rooted power user that can quickly and easily restore your phone from a backup, it can take a really long time to re-download all of your apps from the Play Store, sign in to all of your accounts again, get your homescreens set up just the way you like them, customize your ringtones and notification tones, etc.
So be careful with your new HTC One M8.
Several users have discovered that, if you attempt to unlock your phone ten times unsuccessfully, the device will perform a full factory reset, wiping away all your photos, music, apps – everything.
On the one hand, some people think that this solution is pretty severe. Many users either don’t know how to back everything up, or they haven’t yet started that process. Additionally, this makes it easier in a sense for a thief to get some use out of your device: instead of knowing how to reset a locked device through recovery, all a thief has to do is unsuccessfully attempt to unlock your phone ten times, and then he or she can set it up and begin using it for him- or herself.
Still, at least all of your sensitive data remains safe this way. And, as one HTC One M8 user pointed out, users have been requesting this feature since 2010, so it’s nice to see HTC finally responding to this particular request. What do you think of this security feature?
[Android Forums]
