A few years back, a controversial jailbreak tweak was released that allowed you to use the current time as your iPhone’s unlocking passcode. Intriguingly, that idea appears to be making a comeback following the release of Electra1131.
Enter TimeToUnlock, a new free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Jake James that revives this relatively classic passcode concept on jailbroken iOS 11 devices.
While several different jailbreak tweaks have made appearances in the Cydia Store for this very purpose, TimeToUnlock stands out from the crowd because of the additional customization options it bundles in with the base functionality.
You’ll find these customization options in a new preference pane that gets added to the Settings app after installation:
Here, you can:
- Toggle the tweak on or off on demand
- Continue to allow the use of your real passcode
- Always display the time on the Lock screen
- Configure a time shift to add to your passcode
- Make the passcode into the time string reversed
- Add two additional digits to the time for your passcode if using a 6-digit passcode
Obviously, using the current time as your passcode opens new avenues for unauthorized access to your device. But at the same time, it’s doubtful that anyone will think to attempt unlocking your device with the time since it’s always changing and completely out of mind. It’s a classic case of something ‘hiding in plain sight.’
The additional security measures like time shift, time reversal, and additional digits can further deter unauthorized access.
While not for the faint of heart, it’s a rather popular idea that gained a lot of traction in the jailbreak community years ago, and it seems as though there’s still demand for this kind of functionality to this very day.
If you’re interested in trying TimeToUnlock for yourself, then you can download it for free from Cydia’s BigBoss repository. The tweak works on all jailbroken iOS 11 devices.
Would you set your passcode as the current time? Tell us why or why not in the comments section below.
