Locking iPhone with a numeric password

Question

Locking iPhone with a numeric password

I'm trying to use a numeric password to lock my iPhone, but it won't accept it, and doesn't say why. The Exchange ActiveSync settings dictate a minimum password length of 4, but "Require both numbers and letters" is disabled. In the profile, the minimum password length is 3, and "Require alphanumeric value" is disabled. "Allow simple value" is also disabled.

With these settings, the iPhone will accept a four-letter password, but not a four-digit one. I've tried several "non-simple" 4-digit to 6-digits passwords, with no repeated digits.

Anyone know why this won't work?

-- Josh

Power Mac G5, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Jan 20, 2009 8:55 AM

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Answer 1

paulcb

Level 6

19,245 points

Jan 20, 2009 9:01 AM in response to surelyyoujest

Maybe I don't fully understand your comments but the iPhone lock has nothing to do with email/Ecchange passwords. You can code lock you iPhone through Settings-General-Passcode Lock. There, you can set a 4 number passcode.

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Answer 2

Jan 20, 2009 9:27 AM in response to paulcb

I wasn't talking about email/exchange passwords, I was just referring to the fact that you can use Exchange Activesync settings to impose a policy on on iPhone locking passwords.

When I go to Settings -> General -> Passcode Lock and try to change the password, if I enter an all-numeric password, it's rejected with a message saying, paradoxically, "Enter a strong passcode with 4 or more numbers." Any string of numbers I enter is rejected with the same message. However, if I instead enter a string of letters as a passcode, it is accepted.

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Answer 3

naburton

Level 1

15 points

Jan 20, 2009 10:15 AM in response to surelyyoujest

I would think if you have the "Allow simple value" disabled... that is why it will not take the simple 4 numeric characters as your password. If you sync with Exchange the the policy is forced on the iphone. Enable the simple password feature and see have happens.

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Answer 4

Jan 20, 2009 10:31 AM in response to naburton

The profile editor says that a "simple value" means one with excessive character repetition. They give an example: "A4A4". I tried passwords such as "034581" and was blocked.

However, that checkbox clearly doesn't work as advertised, because even though "Allow simple value" is disabled, I was still able to enter a password such as "qwqw". So I guess I'll have to experiment further.

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Answer 5

Jan 20, 2009 10:46 AM in response to surelyyoujest

No luck. Turning on "Allow Simple Value" doesn't help. When I view the profile on the phone, it says: "Passcode settings: Enter 3 or more numbers." But when I actually try to set a passcode, it doesn't allow an all numeric passcode, even even though it explicitly asks for a numeric code!

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Answer 6

DaVBMan

Level 6

9,292 points

Jan 20, 2009 10:54 AM in response to surelyyoujest

Some of the users answering are unware of the changes imposed by working with a phone configured with a companies Excahange server and ActiveSync so they are posting not knowing the difference.

I am sorry to say I don't know the ins and outs of those with Corporate controlled phones but most rules are applied by them and to those answering just thinking the standard passcode settings, please be aware there is a difference.

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Answer 7

paulcb

Level 6

19,245 points

Jan 20, 2009 11:00 AM in response to DaVBMan

DaVBMan wrote:
Some of the users answering are unware of the changes imposed by working with a phone configured with a companies Excahange server and ActiveSync so they are posting not knowing the difference.

That would be me. I'm connected to our Exchange Server but my phone was not issued by and is not controlled by my company so perhaps those settings are not activated on my phone. Sorry for the confusion and thanks davbman for the info.

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Answer 8

paulcb

Level 6

19,245 points

Jan 20, 2009 11:07 AM in response to surelyyoujest

I Googled 'iphone passcode lock exchange' and found that there's quite a bit of discussion out there about the iPhone passcode lock and its use with corporate controlled iPhones. Sounds like you may need to contact your exchange administrator. Good luck.

Message was edited by: paulcb

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Answer 9

Jan 20, 2009 11:13 AM in response to paulcb

Funny: I am the exchange administrator! Much to my dismay, that doesn't make me magical... I only know what apple chooses to share in their documentation, plus what little extra I've been able to find online. I guess it's back to google to see if any other admins have worked this one out yet. 🙂

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Answer 10

Feb 6, 2009 1:21 PM in response to surelyyoujest

Hey Josh,

I think the problem is the Allow Simple Password option. I think you'll need to turn that off. Our settings are like this:

Require password is on
Allow simple password is on
Number of failed attempts allowed is set to 4
Minimum password length is set to 4
Time without user input before password must be re-entered is set to 60 minutes

Everything else is unchecked. (This is in the Default ActiveSync Policy Properties > Password tab.)

We originally were using long alphanumeric passwords. The problem was that users hated the qwerty keyboard that the iPhone used to enter these and the iPhone didn't honor the setting to require a alphanumeric password. This meant that lots of users had a long, bad password (e.g., qqqqqq). Version 2.1 of the firmware introduced the ability to wipe the phone after too many failed attempts. We decided that we'd take advantage of that (it was already on for other Windows Mobile PDAs), reduce it to only four attempts and switch to a numeric four digit password. Since a four digit password means that the iPhone will use the 12-key dial pad, we felt that users were now more likely to have a good, albeit short, password.

The only downside is that the iPhone doesn't have a mechanism like the BlackBerry for avoiding the kid problem: if you - or a two year old!- type the password wrong four times, the phone gets wiped. It's been a small downside though.

I believe that firmware 2.2 introduced the ability to have long numeric passwords that still use the 12-key dial pad. However, we decided to stick with the four digit password for now.

Let me know if you've got any other questions. We've got over 1000 iPhones connected to Exchange, so we're fairly familiar with their quirks.

Regards,
fh

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Answer 11

paulcb

Level 6

19,245 points

Jan 20, 2009 9:49 AM in response to surelyyoujest

On my 3G with 2.2, I can only enter in numbers. There are letters on the numbers, like in a keypad, but I can't enter letters individually. How do you enter individual letters?

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Answer 12

Jan 20, 2009 10:37 AM in response to paulcb

I've seen that numeric entry screen on other phones, but when I go to create a password on my phone I get a full keyboard, not a number pad.

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Answer 13

paulcb

Level 6

19,245 points

Jan 20, 2009 10:50 AM in response to surelyyoujest

Seems odd that you have a alpha keyboard option for the passcode when others don't.

Are you on 2.2? Have you tried a reset or restore?

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Answer 14

paulcb

Level 6

19,245 points

Jan 20, 2009 11:23 AM in response to surelyyoujest

In my very limited search, I saw several posts about changing the passcode requirement in Exchange so I'm sure you'll figure it out. Post your results back here when you get it worked out.

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