Not every parent will admit to it but most of them have handed over their iPhone or iPad to one of the children so they could get a few moments of relative peace. In Washington DC, there is one father who did so and now he regrets it.
Evan Osnos is a journalist in Washington DC and he handed over his iPad to his three-year-old son. Before long, his son handed the iPad back with an issue, the toddler managed to lock the iPad for 25 1/2 million minutes.
In case you aren’t a math whiz, that is more than 47 years. The child will be 50 by the time the iPad can be unlocked.
The security lock on phones from Apple increase how much time the device is locked when every incorrect password is entered. I guess his son must have been pounding away at the screen for quite some time to lock it for so long.
After the issue occurred, he went on Twitter to see if he could get some help.
Uh, this looks fake but, alas, it’s our iPad today after 3-year-old tried (repeatedly) to unlock. Ideas? pic.twitter.com/5i7ZBxx9rW
— Evan Osnos (@eosnos) April 6, 2019
Twitter users were quick to offer some advice.
One user said: “I would just wait it out”, while another suggested: “Reboot your 3 y.o.”
Another asked the valid question: “Did the 3yr old get his hands on the iPad just as the 12,000,000 minutes from the previous lock expired?”
There were also some replies that had some merit. Apple has guidelines to help those who may be in a similar situation. It requires resetting the device, meaning you will lose all of your data if you have not backed it up.
The first step is to connect the iPhone or iPad to your computer. While it is connected, open iTunes and force a restart. At that point, you should see a pop-up message that asks if you want to update or restore. You choose restore and iTunes will re-download fresh software for the device. After it is finished, you will be able to use it again.
It seems as if Evan has limited options. He can either wipe out the data completely, buy a new iPad or wait 47 years to open it again.
We could all learn something from this. For me, I think the major lesson is to backup my device regularly and never take your eyes off of a toddler.
