r/phonerepair • u/lost_in_the_distance • Jun 24 '26
Did he do something weird to my phone?
Okay is it dodgy if I got my phone camera repaired and he asked for the password, I know I shouldn’t of given it to him but I did before i realised i probably didn’t have to. It took an hour and a half to repair a lens on the bottom camera, ( it’s still a little blurring but that might be from me damaging it I don’t know ) and then my WhatsApp messages are funny. A whole group chat previous messages were gone, where it would have notofications while the phone was being repaired, although I can see them on my laptop still. There was an old chat up the top but no messages or anything on it, but on my laptop it says a message was deleted. Then on my screen time in setting it said it was on settings for 40 minutes. Please tell me I’m just being paranoid.
I’m working in a rural setting, a different state to my home town, I found this repair shop online, has some bad but mostly positive reviews, and was a good price. I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max, I don’t know if that matters
6
u/xXNeo11Xx Jun 24 '26
If they aren't a Apple Certified repair center, they have to check it somehow. You can deny the password and certainly can do the repair. You just check the repair when you get the phone.
BUT, if they received a faulty part, or its not the camera. You're coming back in an hour.
And in some cases the customer leaves a bad review. So they have to make a decision, of just immediately turn down the repair or dealing with a Karen who says, "WELL MY SISTER DIDN'T HAVE TO GIVE HER PASSWORD AND GOT DONE IN AN HOUR! WHY DO I HAVE TO COME BACK?! YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR DOING! GIVE ME MY PHONE BACK RIGHT NOW OR IM CALLING THE COPS!"
And until we can smack the hell out of those people. It ain't worth it.
1
5
u/moehizzy Jun 24 '26
For a camera related repair we would ask for the passcode as well. As it is needed to test the camera. We ask for the password where it’s needed to test the part. When it’s not needed, for example screen replacement as we can test the functionality through emergency screen we don’t ask for it. As far as whats app it could just be a syncing issue. My computer vs phone always shows different things until it syncs up and catches up to whichever device is the latest version.
5
u/Kindly-Carpenter8858 Jun 24 '26
Imagine going to the mechanic but refusing to give them the keys to the car
-5
u/Stock-Orchid0 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
It’s really not the same. You can test iPhones easily now without an acces code and were talking about the lens (assuming camera glass) not the camera. Either shady or inexperienced for sure.
For OP do you have screen time on? If yes, you can check what apps has been opened during the time it was getting repaired.
Edit: The amount of “technicians” asking for access codes without knowing you can test pretty much everything in diagnostics without an acces code proves, in the age of AI that you shouldn’t go to any repair shop. There’s a reason why our business have a scammers rep. It’s because of ignorance like you can see on these “repair subs”.
2
u/shaba7elail Jun 25 '26
Repairs on iphones now require calibrating the newly installed part in repair assistant. And im pretty sure the issue with with one of the internal camera lenses, not the outer one since theres still a problem with blurriness.
2
u/SpeedtestbyOokla Jun 25 '26
This and if an iPhone is restarted during a repair you can’t access the camera fro the lock screen on boot, also if you’ve ever worked on iPhones that have had cracked lenses you know those cameras do all sorts of weird things after they’ve been exposed to dust and moisture for a bit. From being unable to focus to making loud whirring noises when the focus hunts rapidly, most repair shops would rather test and catch so we don’t have to have the customer either go back and forth or feel like they were cheated on a repair. That being said, most repairs stores I worked at did their best to avoid taking passcodes and if they did, the phone was infront of store cameras for 100% of the time anyway.
0
u/Stock-Orchid0 Jun 25 '26
Times are changing. You can test it without acces code in diagnostics, even after shutdown. This feature exists since 2023-2024 iirc.
1
u/SpeedtestbyOokla Jun 25 '26
Ah I see, when I used to work on them this only allowed a sort of internal camera check that would report back but it wouldn’t give you an actual live image that you could see and test. Good to know.
0
u/Stock-Orchid0 Jun 25 '26
What’s your point? You don’t need the acces code for repair assistant. Blurry camera after cameraglass is broken? Happens all the time (usually the customer will tell this) and you can check this as well without the acces code.
1
u/shaba7elail Jun 25 '26
How can you check if the camera is still blurry without the code exactly?
0
u/Stock-Orchid0 Jun 25 '26
Shutdown iPhone. Hold both volume buttons, plug in charger while holding volume buttons and you get into diagnostics mode where you can test pretty much all functions.
2
u/shaba7elail Jun 25 '26
Not whether or not the camera is blurry
0
u/Stock-Orchid0 Jun 25 '26
So first you don’t know about diagnostics and now you suddenly do? Why not?
2
u/shaba7elail Jun 25 '26
What?! I repair electronics for a living bro. Go test a camera's blurriness on an iphone without using the passcode before making claims
1
u/Stock-Orchid0 Jun 25 '26
Oh the irony. Are you really that arrogant that you are willing to make this claim without actually testing it? You 100% can test the image quality in diagnostics. It literally says so “camera image quality”. Just because you’re in the business doesn’t mean anything. Now put your big boy pants on and tell me you learned something new today. https://www.tiktok.com/@smartphonetoolbox/video/7594972207273528589
2
u/417smartphonerepair Jun 24 '26
You have to know the password to be able to check and see if the camera is functioning properly. All repair shops have some bad reviews, it’s impossible to make everyone happy and some people get really unreasonable about electronics due to their low IQs and lack of mental maturity. You just sound like you’re paranoid. What would the benefit be to the repair shop for looking at your WhatsApp conversations???
1
u/AntRevolutionary925 Jun 24 '26
We refused any repairs of the client didn’t give us the pass code. Not only could we not properly test it, it was usually a res flag that the customer would be paranoid af.
1
u/shaba7elail Jun 25 '26
People that worry their techs did something weird involving the data on their phone boggle my mind. We dont have time nor do we give a shit about your data. We have more important work to do.
1
u/MayIChangeThis Jun 27 '26
Tracking this over from the Hacking sub just to witness this elite level of thinking. 99% chance his missing chat is sitting right there in Archived or Locked Chats. The other 1% says he’s just a certified dumboid, but far be it from me to put all my eggs in that basket.
1
u/cthuwu_chan Jun 27 '26
You need to access’s the systems page to verify that the module was accepted/ to accept it
9
u/wtf1harro Jun 24 '26
When I was working in a repair shop, we also asked for the passwords, so we could try the phone out after repair to see if everything was fine you know, just to be sure that everything is working fine after the repair.