Jibaku — Android Self-Destruction/Reset to Factory
Let the phone reset itself when losing control of it.
Everyone should know how to remotely wiping their phone. Yet, in a critical mode how you could ask someone to wipe it? Moreover, remote wiping won’t work when the phone loses network access.
On the other hand, at least iPhone/iOS has a feature to erase data after 10 failed password attempts so you could force wiping it without unlocking, while Android has nothing similar. That’s why made one — Jibaku, which you might find it useful.
Besides configuring specific conditions for wiping the phone quickly, you could also build a dead man’s switch to let the phone wipe itself if left attended for some time. So you could be assured that the phone is wiped no matter what.
Jibaku & Automate
The apps you needed:
Jibaku: Play Store、APK download。
Automate: Play Store
Together, they could do the following:
- Manual Trigger — In lock screen, initiate the wip by pressing specific sequences of the volume keys, or swiping a specification notification.
- Auto Trigger (Dead man’s switch) — Requiring user to reset the watchdog once a while, or else it would wipe itself.
- Disable bio-metric unlocking — Entering lockdown mode upon meeting certain condition
- Send SOS message — Sending pre-written message, optionally with GPS location, to others through SMS or Email, once or periodically.
原理
Automate is an Android automation app. It is a Turing machine so that complex automation flow could be constructed. By itself, it could do thing like switching on Wifi and disabling Cell data when at home, or play a song when the mobile phone is fully charged, etc.
Though, wiping the phone is not one of its functionalities. I wrote Jibaku to complete the puzzle, and providing this functionality through Tasker Action Plug-in.
Flow Example
You might download this Flow I have made earlier and adopt it the way you like.
- Manual Trigger #1 — Showing a special notification on the lock screen, and execute “The Actions” when it’s swiped away.
- Manual Trigger #2 — On the lock screen, press “Up Down Up Down Up Down” in 3 seconds to execute “The Actions”.
- Auto Trigger (Dead Man’s Switch) — The phone will vibrate after 10 minutes to remind the user to reset the watchdog. If left unattended for 1 more minute, “The Actions” follows.
To reset the watchdog — Unlock the phone, or press “Down Down Down Up” on the lock screen. - “The Actions” — Sending SMS, and Email, then lockdown or wipe.
You should at least modify “The Actions” part to make it useful.
Other Idea
You could do much more with the Automate, the following conditions could also be implemented:
- Holding the volume key while shaking the phone (Make use of the accelerometer)
- Proximity sensing — Flashing the proximity sensor in quick succession.
- Failed unlock attempt counting — Re-implementing what iOS has offered.
Besides wiping, it could also:
- Sending current location out through Email/SMS periodically.
- Take a picture and send that out.
- Recording the sound or video, and upload to Google drive.
Tips
Automate would not run before the first unlock
Even if you have checked “Run on system startup”, it won’t start running any flow unless the phone is unlocked for once after reboot due to encryption.
Reset Factory Protection — Need to re-login Google or enter the previous PIN to use the phone
After wiping, the setup would requires Internet access (Cell or Wifi) and this is not skippable unlike a brand new phone. The phone could only be used after unlocking with the previous PIN or logging in with the very same Google Account.
The idea of “Reset Factory Protection” is to stopped theft from reselling the phone. However, in a place without Cellular data access or Wifi, things would get tricky.
In China — Even if you have an international SIM card that could work around the GFW, but it won’t help because data roaming is disabled. At the end, you might need another cell phone to make an GFW-free hotspot for the phone to complete the setup experience.
Reset Factory Protection is not unique to Jibaku. It’s the same for resetting within the Settings screen. The only way to disable it is unbinding the Google Account BEFORE wiping.
Automate Free Version Limitation
The free version of Automate could only run flow no more than 30 blocks.
This limitation is also in place for the “Flow Start” block. If you are on the free version and trying to start another flow which end up having more than 30 blocks running, the “Flow Start” block would fail.
SMS Rate Limit
By default, Automate would only send 10 SMS messages in 12 hours. Be sure to change the settings that if you are going to send more that that.
Trivia
The origin of the name “Jibaku”
Jibaku is a Japanese word — 自爆 — which means auto-exploding literally.
Dead Man’s Switch
…is something commonly seen in railway settings, to prevent even a more serious accident from happening when the driver is incapacitated.
