Installing custom ROMS, downgrading, upgrading, rooting, tweaks, installing kernels – the modifications and tweaks you can do for an Android phone far outnumber that from any other platform or rival. However sometimes these procedures can be technical and, sometimes also, things may not turn out for the best – so how can you get your Android phone up and running again?
Firstly you must always make sure you have backed up your Android phone first before you attempt to change anything significantly on your Android phone, we show you how to do that using your PC here.
Disclaimer: FlexiSPY is not responsible for any loss of data or damages incurred from following the directions given. Please make sure you have correctly performed all the device requirements for backing up the phone and have correctly backed up the phone before proceeding as well as correctly restoring the appropriate backup for the correct Android phone being used – restoring the phone is done entirely at your own risk.
What is needed to restore the Android phone?
Restoring the Android phone requires that you have done the following:
Rooted the Android phone
Backed up the Android phone to your PC using EFS Professional
For the sake of this article we are going to assume that you have already rooted the Android phone, backed it up to your PC and stored that backup file in a safe place so now it is time to restore it.
For restoring the phone, as we discussed in our article on how to backup the phone to your PC, we are going to use the same software – EFS Professional.
We are also going to assume that you have already downloaded EFS Professional and you have already made a backup that we can restore from (we discussed this already and how to do it – see the link at the beginning of the article).
How to restore from backup using EFS Professional
First of all, as stated, make sure you have already made a backup of your Android phone using EFS Professional – we will assume you have.
Firstly, connect your Android phone to your PC.
Once connected run EFS Professional.
Click the Restore tab.
Click the drop-down menu to show a list of backups already saved. For those who are wondering the backup files are stored inside a folder called EFSProBackup inside the main folder you are running EFS Professional from.
From the drop-down menu choose the backup that you wish to restore.
NOTE: ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU ARE RESTORING A BACKUP THAT MATCHES THE PHONE MODEL YOU ARE RESTORING TO. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU BACKUP A SAMSUNG GALAXY SIII AND TRY TO RESTORE A BACKUP FROM A SAMUNG GALAXY S4 IT MAY CAUSE ISSUES – ALWAYS CHECK THE MODEL NUMBERS MATCH ON THE BACKUP AND PHONE BEING RESTORED.
Once you have picked the correct backup simply click the Restore button to start the restore process – please be patient, this may take some time.
Once the process has completed simply disconnect the phone from the PC and it should be restored to its previous state.
Disclaimer: FlexiSPY is not responsible for any loss of data or damages incurred from following the directions given. The directions were accurate at the time of writing. Please make sure you follow the rooting guide correctly if you need to root your phone first and make sure your phone has enough storage space to perform a backup before proceeding.
What is needed to backup the Android phone?
To backup the Android phone you will need the Android phone itself and a PC
Why backup the phone?
Accidents can happen. You may install something that corrupts or crashes the phone or you may want to root the phone or install a custom ROM on it. Either way a lot of activities you can do on Android have the possibility of wiping the device completely first before the action is carried out so it makes sense to always prepare a backup.
What is the easiest way to backup the phone using your PC?
We have already outlined the backup process in several articles on the FlexiSPY blog. Basically you should always make a phone backup before you install anything that may harm the filesystem of the phone and cause it to stop functioning or before you perform a task that will perform a factory reset on the Android phone itself.
Our software of choice to backup the phone to a PC is EFS Professional but there are some requirements first that must be done before EFS Professional works.
Download EFS Professional
Root the Android phone you wish to backup
Install BusyBox on to the rooted Android phone
Turn on USB debugging on the rooted Android phone with BusyBox installed
Connect the Android phone to the PC
Run EFS Professional and perform the backup
To get started you can download the latest version of EFS Professional.
Now that you have downloaded EFS Professional, if you have not already rooted the Android phone you want to backup many popular Android handsets have rooting guides here.
So, with the Android phone rooted and EFS Professional on your PC it is time to get ready to perform the backup. The final step is to, on the Android phone, download and install BusyBox.
Now you connect the Android phone to the PC and run EFS Professional. The first thing it does is check that the phone is rooted and BusyBox has been installed and establishes a USB connection so make sure to confirm on the Android phone screen when a USB debugging dialog box appears asking for access.
We then click the Backup tab to get started.
Under the Device Filter option click the drop-down menu and choose *** All Partitions ***
Then simply click the Backup option to start the backup process.
Please be patient as this process may take some time.
Once the process has completed, on your PC, open up the connected Android phone.
There will be a new folder called EFSProBackup with the backup inside. Simply copy the entire folder to your PC for safekeeping.
Backing up your Android phone really is a simple process.
We also show how you can backup an Android phone on the device itself instead using a custom recovery and that can be found here. No matter which method of backup you choose for your Android phone the FlexiSPY blog has you covered.
As anyone who is interested in the shutdown of Stealthgenie website will know, Invocode CEO, Hamad Akbar, was indicted personally for violation of four US laws, three of which are defined in Title 18, Section 2512, and one in Section 317.
No one knows at this stage what the verdict will be, but let’s try to understand what these laws really say, and what the implication is for the computer monitoring business.
Let’s take a look at the case against StealthGenie and understand what they are actually being accused of.
Of four counts StealthGenie were indicted for, it’s the ones under section 2512 that we need to look at if we are to understand the Fed complaint.
In A Nutshell
Two counts revolve around, “knowing or having reason to know that the design of such a device renders it primarily useful for the purpose of the surreptitious interception.”
The third count is about promoting the use of such a device for, “the purpose of the surreptitious interception,”
Given the above, we have to ask what aspect of the design of a computer monitoring application renders it “primarily useful for the purpose of surreptitious interception,” how would one deliberately design such a device, and how would it differ from a device that does “non-surreptitious interception”.
The problem is that it’s difficult to argue that the design of StealthGenie’s product renders it primarily useful for the purpose of surreptitious interception, when they don’t have a separate product for parental or employee monitoring. The product is absolutely identical, regardless of it being used to monitor your child or verify your employee’s behavior. It’s still hidden, it still intercepts, and there is no difference in the software design.
Now, this is a very important fact, as it destroys the heart of the case against StealthGenie, which is predicated around the notion of the “design” of the device. If an identically designed device is used with equal effectiveness in two different situations, and one situation is illegal, then logically it’s the installers intention that’s in question, not the device or its design.
A similar argument was made in the Betamax Case, where and injunction was sought against the sales of VCRs on the basis that its recording capabilities could run afoul of copyright law. The Court rejected this claim on the basis the device is capable of substantial non infringing uses.
Let’s look at another example
Smith & Wesson products are designed to kill, and no one can say that handguns would be designed any differently if used for self-defense or murder. The design does not change for either situation, because the requirements for each situation are the same. Yet no one is accusing Smith & Wesson of murder.
This is why the 2512 laws emphasis on “design” is well intentioned, but meaningless when applied to generic products such monitoring software.
The third count of the indictment is equally problematic as it does not define what surreptitious interception is exactly. Is a remote backup designed as a Window service, or Unix demon, or DOS device driver “surreptitious interception?” Is it illegal to say that they do not have a UI, or that they do not interrupt the user with notifications? What exactly is the law saying in this case.
Now you may be thinking that this is all getting a little silly, but a good lawyer would surely be able to make such a case, which is why it’s clear that the law, in its current form, is not useful.
Therefore, one has to wonder what the motivation of the Feds was to go for StealthGenie when there are so many local producers of monitoring software, such as Web Watchers, and SpectorSoft. In fact, Web Watchers successfully defended themselves from a similar action, where the case against them was dismissed.
Given this precedent, the answer to why the Feds brought these charges would seem to lie in the advertising, not the design of the product.
This assertion can be supported by the fact that two hundred police stations, in thirty five states have been handing out similar spyware call ComputerCOP. Its unlikely that they will be charged with the same offense, even though ComputerCOP could be arguably described as designed for surreptitious interception.
This raises a lot of questions as websites are open to a global audience. It also raises questions about the jurisdiction of the USA, and certainly makes a business rethink which suppliers it does business with.
Regardless of the outcome of this case, the USA has succeeded in creating a shockwave and will make monitoring businesses consider their advertising and suppliers very carefully as this is where the problem lies. Unless Akbar has a lot of money to buy legal services, it’s clear he will have a hard time defending himself from the might of the US legal system.
If you don’t fancy getting in trouble with the FBI we recommend to remove all traces of StealthGenie from your phone. In this article we will show you how.
For Android
On the phone itself go to Settings > Application Manager and look for an application called device.service.
If you see this listed you have StealthGenie on your phone – let’s remove it.
StealthGenie installs itself as a device administrator to stop itself from being easily removed.
If you cannot tap the Uninstall option shown above (it is greyed out) do the following:
Go to Settings > Security > Device Administrators > tap any of the Device Administrators listed that is not called Android Device Manager and then tap Deactivate.
After that you can then uninstall StealthGenie by going to Settings > Manage Applications > device.service and tapping Uninstall.
Once uninstalled StealthGenie is no longer on your Android phone.
For iPhone
First of all, the iPhone has to have been jailbroken first before StealthGenie could ever be installed. If you iPhone has never been jailbroken before then you are safe.
If however it has been jailbroken then you may want to check Cydia.
Inside Cydia go to Sources. If you see a source called Mobile Developer then you have StealthGenie installed.
Simply tap it and remove all packages inside and then finally remove the source itself.
Once done you will now no longer have StealthGenie on your iPhone.
Note: You can also remove StealthGenie from iPhone or Android completely by factory restoring the phone.
This will DELETE ALL DATA on the phone completely. We recommend that iPhone users not factory reset their phone as they’ll then be forced to update to iOS 8 which does not currently have a jailbreak out, and has a myriad of issues
You can read our article on spying on an iPhone 6, here – https://blog.flexispy.com/spy-on-iphone-6-questions-answered/
Like StealthGenie, Mspy provide smartphone and tablet monitoring software. As with FlexiSPY and the entire mobile monitoring industry the StealthGenie case has made many businesses stop and re-evaluate their entire business model and practices due to the recent charges and indictment of Invocode, the creators of StealthGenie, and its CEO, Hamad Akbar.
It is interesting to see how Mspy is dealing with this and what steps they are taking to make sure that they stay on the right side of US law, specifically when it comes to Title 18 USC 2512.
Website Redesign
Mspy seem to have made a number of small changes to their website. These include the absence of the word “spy” in the copy. They have also updated their legal terms, which are all wise actions for a company who requires to be under USA jurisdiction.
They have also changed their claim from being 100% invisible to simply being discreet or stealth. Ironically, Mspy has never been invisible or particularly stealthy, but whether this change in language is enough to avoid the charge of being “surreptitious”, as used in USC 2512 remains to be seen.
mSpy’s website no longer contains the word “spy” in their copy. They’ve also updated their legal terms as they’re under USA jurisdiction.
They still advertise themselves as being discreet and even though their marketing angle is to monitor children and employees.
However they’ve removed all references to monitoring spouses.
Features Removed
Of more concern to customers is the fact that Mspy have removed the call recording and ambient recording features entirely from their product feature list. We can only speculate why this is, but in any case, the new Mspy product will not offer the ability to record calls.
MSpy Server Location
Mspy website and customer portal that stores the captured customer data continues to be hosted by Amazon in the USA. This information can freely be found out by simply looking up the URL’s IP address.
What does this mean for Mspy
Like all companies with a USA footprint, they are under USA jurisdiction, as is Mspy customer data, and like all companies, they strive to remain lawful. However, until the Stealthgenie case is resolved – and it’s by no means a slam-dunk guilty decision – none of us can know what this means for USA companies involved in computer and smartphone monitoring.
The heart of the indictment against StealthGenie revolves around being “surreptitious”. What the legal definition of this term is, and how it applies to software is not yet clear, but this article will describe a FlexiSPY feature that allows you to avoid being accused of this.
FlexiSPY gives users the choice of whether or not they wish to display the application icon according to their needs by allowing them to choose to run the software in the foreground or not to be visible.
Here you can see that the user is given an option to display FlexiSPY on an iOS device.
For example a parent may wish to hide the icon on their child’s phone to stop the child from getting around family rules by using a new phone or formatting the phone and removing the software.
An employer may wish to hide the icon to preserve screen real estate.
And our law enforcement customers would choose to hide the icon to help catch a suspect.
Whatever the reason for hiding the icon, this option for visibility is a feature that FlexiSPY has always had.
In this example of FlexiSPY on an Android phone, visibility options are clearly available.
We recommend using this feature and always run the software in the foreground if you are in the US however the software can be hidden with laws permitting.
FlexiSPY respects the USA, its laws, and its enforcement agencies and is doing everything it can to make sure that its software remains compliant and legal.
Like Stealthgenie, Mobile Spy provide smartphone and tablet monitoring software. And like the rest of the mobile monitoring industry, including FlexiSPY, they have been reevaluating their business model and it’s operation in light of the indictment of Invocode CEO, Hamad Akbar.
It’s instructive to see what steps they have taken to comply with Title 18 USC 2512, and to consider if these may be enough for them to get a clean bill of health from US law.
Website Redesign
In the immediate aftermath, Mobile Spy took their sales site offline for a few days in order to make changes to both their product and advertising to help make sure their product adheres to the law.
The first thing to notice is that they have removed all references to cheating spouses, and now talk only about child and employee monitoring.
Mobile Spy’s website is now back online with Mobile Spy’s software still being advertised as ‘smartphone monitoring software’ with a focus only on parents and employees with some notable change in language
They now state that you must notify the child or employee being monitored first. They also say that the software is tamper-proof which means that it cannot be removed without knowing the PIN code first. This means that they are adverting that Mobile Spy can be used in a legal manner.
Mobile Spy have also updated their legal terms to read that the software is primarily used for monitoring children and employers only and that they do not condone its use for other purposes.
To Mobile Spy’s credit, they also sent out emails to all of their affiliates outlining the planned changes. Here is an excerpt that clearly shows they take this seriously.
“We do cooperate with law enforcement in criminal investigations, and we do not condone the use of our products for illegal or unethical purposes.’ and they followed this up by saying “there will be a PIN protected icon listed along with the rest of the applications on the device’”
They also state that ‘the user of the device will be aware of monitoring activities’
This could not have been an easy pill to swallow.
While they excluded any uses by spouses, they also clarified in great detail, what other relationships can and cannot use their product. The list is as follows.
Here Mobile Spy is seen with their new legal policy
Product Redesign
Mobile took the painful decision to also stop selling their product and redesign it. The new product is not currently available, but they have been very clear.
They will remove any invisibility, and their product will show as an icon on the device homescreen. They say that the app can be opened using a PIN.
We are not sure how this will affect their market share and revenue, but this is also a brave decision.
Without wanting to capitalize on Mobile Spy’s troubles, we would like to let readers know that FlexiSPY has always had the option to operate with visible icon, if that was required. It will be interesting to see if Mobile Spy also choose visibility as an option or if visibility will be mandatory.
Mobile spy disclaimer
Mobile Spy Server Location
Mobile Spy is still based in the US and they host their servers in the US as anyone can verify by looking up the IP address of their online logs portal. Retina X Studios who created Mobile Spy are based in Jacksonville, Florida and their address is freely listed on the Mobile Spy website.
Is Mobile Spy now safe from the law?
This is an impossible question to answer, as the USA law is very unclear, and can easily be interpreted to cover many mundane devices and uses. We will know more in the near future, as everything hinges around the legal definition of the term “surreptitious interception”
However, as Mobile Spy are an American company, they are currently making widespread changes to how their software operates and it will take time to see these changes complete.
It may be some time before Mobile Spy is back online fully with their new software ready, and this was confirmed when we spoke to their support staff. We wish them all the best in their endeavors to make their software comply with what the USA law demands of it, and we hope to see them back online soon.
As a result of the StealthGenie site being shutdown, we have had a flood of people asking if FlexiSPY is next.
We want to reassure our customers that we will not suffer StealthGenie’s fate for the reasons described below. Also, if you are a StealthGenie customer, you may find this interesting.
Background
The mobile monitoring industry was rocked the 27th September 2014, when a temporary restraining order, granted by a US Judge took the StealthGenie website offline. The arrest the following day of Hammed Akbar at Los Angeles Airport under an indictment of charges of manufacturing, selling and advertising a “surreptitious interception device” was then made public.
There are many questions raised by the StealthGenie case, but the one of most concern to the mobile device monitoring industry is, “Could this happen to us?”, and “How do we stay legal?”
Location, Location, Location …
The answer to this can be found by looking at point 6 of the legal complaint that was presented to the court.
“Defendant is subject to the personal jurisdiction of this Court, having sold and advertised StealthGenie using a computer server located at an Amazon Web Services, Inc. data center located in Ashbum, Virginia, which is in the Eastern District of Virginia.”
In other words, because StealthGenie were using Amazon Web Servers that were located in the USA, they were breaking US laws, and thus the Feds can credibly claim that there is a crime being carried out in their territory.
This is no surprise to anyone who has been following how the USA operates internationally in a post 911 world. Any business knows that having even the smallest US footprint, will most likely allow the USA to claim jurisdiction – should they wish to do so.
Which is why StealthGenies decision to use Amazon Web Services is so perplexing.
The answer for businesses is clear. If you do not want to be subject to US laws, then do not use the services of any supplier that is under the jurisdiction of the USA.
In other words, have a zero US footprint in your business.
Don’t Wake The Giant
Regardless of the legality of what StealthGenie were doing, the Feds have a duty to investigate complaints about what happens on their patch. Whether the law is fair, or if it was actually broken are questions for another time and place.
We respect the USA, its laws, and its enforcement agencies and we make sure we stay out of their way by not having a US footprint. This is why FlexiSPY does not use servers in the USA or the services of any USA supplier, and FlexiSPY Ltd is not a USA company. There are no US laws being broken and we respectfully state that we believe that we are not under the jurisdictions of the USA.
If any legal minds out there have a different opinion, please let the world know by leaving a comment below. (Comments from the FED particularly welcome. )
There’s been a lot of Scam Coupon sites recently offering bogus codes for our software. These sites -created by competitors?- offer fake codes to those searching for a legit discount. Worse yet, some sites will redirect you to a bogus spy phone software site, or even a competitors site.
To counter this, we’ve made this post in hopes that when you search for “FlexiSPY Coupon Code” in your favorite search engine, you’ll land here, instead of page with malicious intentions.
Help Share Our Coupon Page
If you landed on this post first, straight from your search engine, then you’re lucky. We ask that if this post has benefited you, you will “like” this post or share it with your friends! Doing this actually makes this post more visible in search results, so people won’t be as likely to click on a bogus site.
Right now we don’t have any promotion codes
We do however, have a brand-new pricing system that we formed from our customer feedback with plans starting out as low at $69.99 per month. If you’re still not lovin’ it, then we advise that you go to the FlexiSPY home page and sign up to our mailing list there, where we have sometimes sent out seasonal promotions.
Scam Coupon Sites
We’ve compiled a small list of coupon sites known to provide not just false FlexiSPY codes, but a number of false codes for other products.
CouponsAdder
ValidCouponCode
If you want real FlexiSPY coupon codes or you want to stay up to date with the latest FlexiSPY news, promotions and discounts then make sure you are following FlexiSPY through the following channels because only through official FlexiSPY channels will official FlexiSPY coupon codes be given.
Most spy apps say that they let you spy on the targets location—but what they actually deliver is a dry list of data with a simple map. Unless you decide to risk eye strain and headaches, there is no way to quickly ‘move’ through the targets path.
There is also no way to export spy routes to other systems like Google Earth or a TomTom where you could have this information available to you in the applications that you love.
This is probably not an issue for the casual user, but our customers tend to be smart users, and professionals who have to make serious decisions based on what they are seeing.
So we created the GPS Navigator.
What The GPS Navigator Is
FlexiSPY GPS navigator is a detachable widget that lets you quickly combine the data and map views of your targets locations and see exactly how they relate to each other. It also allows you to export the route data to a standard KML file, which you can send to Google Earth allowing you to save routes and use great tools like street view to see the route through the eyes of the target.
As one of our testers said,” It’s so powerful it’s actually creepy!”
What’s currently on the market
Most spy phone apps give you a very basic overview of location tracking. This generally consists of simply a map window and a list of co-ordinates. Note how the data grid is below the map. Now imagine there are more than just a few records—you’ll will be scrolling up and down the page like a yoyo trying to match the data to the map. Now compare that to our navigator features.
Our Navigator features
Detached Navigator –
The detached navigator is a floating widget that you can place anywhere on the screen. As you interact with the data in the navigator the map window instantly responds by applying a pin at the selected location. You can then scroll through the data set.
This makes it easy to visualize and move through a large data set of locations.
The navigator widget also contains a list of GPS records, the GPS record is made up of the following:
Latitude & Longitude – View the co-ordinates of the TARGET device.
Accuracy – View how accurate the GPS reading is to the nearest meter.
Map View – View the selected co-ordinate in Google Maps.
Date and Time – Date and time of the TARGET device when the co-ordinates were taken.
Mark as favorite – Mark selected co-ordinates for quick retrieval for analysis later.
You can also dock and undock the Navigator as well as view it in full-screen. This gives you a much better way to explore and analyze the location data. Any co-ordinate you click on in the map window is also highlighted in the GPS Navigator and vice-versa.
New Map Window –
The map window lets you visualize your targets movements in a number of ways, giving you greater insight into why they may have been there in the first place. Controls are offered to change the map overlay so you can see a satellite view or a map. The former is a good way to see what kind of buildings or roads are there and to easily recognize land marks. The latter is better for getting street names and directions.
The map window also lets you discover where your target was on any given day. To do this, you enter a date range and the map windows will show you ll the locations recorded for your target. To make it even easier to understand their route, you can use the ANIMATE tool to see each co-ordinate of the phone drop in place on to the math and join together to form a path of where the TARGET device has been
Export Your GPS Data – Get More From Your Maps
While FlexiSPY will get the GPS data for you, and allow you to examine it quickly, there are third party tools that let you do many other things with your route data. You may wish to load it into a GPS system like a Tom Tom, your car sat nav
The GPS navigator also allows you to export the co-ordinates as a KML file that you can then import in to Google Maps or Google Earth to really explore where the TARGET device went.
So, we are going to find out where co-ordinate 20 was by plugging the GPS data in to Google Maps.
This is done by doing the following:
Click the Export option and then click the Download option when asked and save the KML file to your computer in an easy to find place such as your desktop.
Click Import and browse to the KML file that you downloaded in step 1.
Click Upload from File and the KML file will be uploaded in to Google Maps.
Click and drag the orange man on to the map and Google will immediately switch to street view.
– Seen in the screenshot below, the map windows has split in two. At the top we have Google street view and below is the map with us on it
Using the left and right cursor keys to turn left and right and pressing the up or down cursor keys you can then ‘walk’ around the map as if you were really there!
FlexiSPY Location Data + Google Earth
You can also export the same KML data in to Google Earth as well. Google Earth allows you to explore it is more depth than Google Maps as well as allowing you to save individual locations to your collection of places so you can easily and conveniently know where the TARGET device will be, here are the steps for doing so.
Open Google Earth and go to File > Open and browse to the KML file you exported from FlexiSPY’s GPS Navigator. Select it and then click Open.
Click and drag the orange man on to the map screen to turn on Google street view. Doing this allows us to see where the phone has been in much greater detail.
If the TARGET device visits a location regularly which you want to keep an eye on you can click the button to add a pin to the location so that you can remember it later.
Click OK to add the pin at the yellow target location shown in the picture above. The place will be added to the list of locations currently inside Google Earth.
Google Earth allows you to save the list of places either as part of your own collection (titled ‘My Places’) which is ideal for storing common locations that the TARGET device is known to go to or arrive from or you can simply save a screenshot of the current location instead.
FlexiSPY Location Data With Other Mapping Systems
The location data we have explored here can be viewed and manipulated across many mediums, be it tablet, PC or smartphone and you can even import the KML data file in to in-car navigation systems such as TomTom Navigator too – now there really is no excuse for not knowing where they are at all times.
To convert the KML data file to the OV2 format for TomTom you can use the converter here.
To covert the KML data file to the GPX format for Garmin you can use the converter here.
To convert the KML data file to the LMX format for GPS units you can use the converter here.
Currently we’re the only ones that give you this much functionality when it comes to tracking the location of a smartphone, but we’re always adding cool additions to our features! If you want to stay up to date on all the newest from us, then you should follow us on one of our social media channels!
To do so, you’ll need to jailbreak your iPhone, which we’ve provided a guide for – here
Both FlexiSPY PREMIUM & FlexiSPY EXTREME are compatible with this latest jailbreak.
Update 10/24/2014 – Now Outdated
Pangu has now released a jailbreak for iOS8 / 8,1, it’s still advised that you not update your phone to iOS 8 as the jailbreak just released is not stable and FlexiSPY doesn’t support this latest jailbreak yet (as well as all other mobile spy software)
Some of the information Below is out of date, but still contains important information:
Original Post – Now Outdated
Currently FlexiSPY (And all other mobile spy software) Do Not Support iOS 8 as there isn’t a jailbreak out for it yet.
Please Do Not Update To iOS8. You can prevent the iOS 8 update by reading the section in the article called: Can You Stop iOS 8 From Being Updated By The User And Losing The Jailbreak?
With the release of iOS8, the iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 plus, many people are wondering if it’s still going to be possible to install mobile spy software onto their Apple devices. The answer in short, is yes, You will be able to Spy on an iPhone 6, an iPhone 6 Plus, a device running iOS8, and possibly even the iWatch. However, the question that can’t be answered definitely yet, is: When Can I Spy On These New Devices? In this article we will answer some of the most common questions that we get from people, if you have after finishing the article, please contact us in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
A Date For Spying On iOS8 Devices Hasn’t Been Set Yet
Mobile spy software for iOS devices (such as the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, etc) all rely on the target phone being Jailbroken. This means that no mobile spy software can claim to work on an iOS device unless there’s been a jailbreak released for that iOS version. And currently, there is no jailbreak for iOS8.
So again, Without the ability to jailbreak any iOS 8 device such as the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus or Apple Watch it is not possible yet to install any spy phone software onto the device.
How Long Will It Be Before I Can Jailbreak The iPhone 6?
No one really knows.
The time it takes for the latest version of iOS 8 to be released and the time it then takes for clever hackers to jailbreak the iOS (it is not something done by FlexiSPY in any way) can vary significantly. Actually it is taking longer and longer for a jailbreak to appear after the release of the latest version of iOS due to Apple making it more and more secure and thus fixing the exploits that jailbreak teams such as Evad3rs used to jailbreak the device.
Ironically, when Apple released iOS 6.1.3 (which killed the iOS 6.1.2 jailbreak by Evad3rs) they actually credited the Evad3rs team for helping them fix it by finding the issues and exploits that Apple patched to make iOS 6.1.3 possible.
Please be aware that there are currently many scam sites already advertising ways to jailbreak iOS 8 and these are all false – please be careful. You should follow one of our social media channels if you want to be the first to know when the jailbreak comes out.
We know they’re false because:
At the of publishing this article, iOS 8 was not even released yet to the public
There is no jailbreak of any kind available yet for the finished version of iOS 8
The video on the site shows how to jailbreak iOS 7 (if it really could jailbreak iOS 8 then why post bogus videos for an older iOS that anyone can jailbreak?)
Here’s what one of these sites can look like, so be careful.
Why is it taking so long to jailbreak iOS 8?
iOS beta versions can be jailbroken but this does not mean the final version can be.
At the time of writing (September 11th 2014) iOS 8 is not even out officially to the public and neither is the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and the Apple Watch is scheduled for the early part of 2015 so unfortunately you simply must wait.
Once iOS 8 is released publicly people will start to look at ways to jailbreak it. This could be easy, it could be hard. For those that are unaware the last jailbreak for iOS 7.1.x came from a Chinese hacking group and was called Pangu. During tests of the jailbreak it still worked on the iOS 8 beta versions but this is no way indicative to say that the same jailbreak will work on the final version of iOS 8.
iOS 8 Tethered and Untethered Jailbreaks – What Are They?
Untethered jailbreaks are always the best but take longest to arrive and no jailbreak is truly permanent.
Once someone figures out how to jailbreak iOS 8 when it is released to the public it will be tethered only to start with. This is always the case. A tethered jailbreak is essentially the ‘quick and dirty’ way just to prove a jailbreak can be done and it is usually complex (the process is as technical as it gets before it is streamlined to make it easier for public consumption) and it also has one main caveat which is explained below.
Tethered jailbreak – As soon as the iPhone is turned off or rebooted or loses power the jailbreak will be lost and, to boot up the phone to even use it you must connect it to your PC and then you have to jailbreak again and the process repeats until the phone is rebooted or loses power or turns off (rinse and repeat).
As you can see, this is not ideal at all and this is why FlexiSPY does not start to develop software until an untethered jailbreak is available. For a tethered jailbreak, not only would the person need to keep rejailbreaking the phone but every time the jailbreak is lost FlexiSPY would need to be physically installed again and this is just not ideal. Of course if Apple update iOS 8 in the meantime and people upgrade to that then it can mean the tethered jailbreak no longer works which further means the wait for an untethered jailbreak increases.
FlexiSPY understands that people cannot get the iPhone’s they wish to track all the time to keep jailbreaking it all the time if the jailbreak is tethered. Furthermore, from a development perspective, an untethered jailbreak is far safer to work with than a tethered one because an untethered jailbreak is permanent unless the iPhone is factory reset.
A tethered jailbreak is the first to be available but is not really worth it.
Untethered jailbreak – An untethered jailbreak takes the longest but it is the jailbreak that everyone wants and FlexiSPY prefers. An untethered jailbreak is permanent once applied unless the device is factory reset or upgraded to a new iOS version from Apple that fixes the exploits used in the untethered jailbreak (which means it is back to square one – waiting for a jailbreak for the new iOS 8 version and this is nothing to do with FlexiSPY).
Untethered jailbreaks are what everybody really wants, including FlexiSPY, but the wait for them to appear gets longer and longer.
Can You Stop iOS 8 From Being Updated By The User And Losing The Jailbreak?
Nobody knows at this time but, in theory, if you can do it on iOS 7.x then iOS 8 should be able to also – given time.
Now there are Cydia tweaks for iOS 7.x that you can get such as Recoveryguard that trick iOS in to thinking that the version installed is the latest one which stops the iPhone owner from being able to upgrade the iOS directly from the iPhone itself.
However this does not apply if the iPhone is factory restored in iTunes as iTunes always checks for the latest iOS version before it restores or if the iOS is updated from ITunes itself.
Please note that at the time of writing nobody knows if Recoveryguard is compatible with iOS 8 once it is released but it works fine in iOS 7 providing you have jailbroken the phone.
You can install RecoveryGuard by adding the Cydia source http://cydia.pushfix.info to your list of Cydia sources and then tapping that source and finding RecoveryGuard and installing it the same as you installed FlexiSPY or any other Cydia program.
Unfortunately though RecoveryGuard is a tweak you can only get through Cydia and you get Cydia by, yes, you guessed it, jailbreaking the phone so the people who create these tweaks also have to wait for iOS 8 to be jailbroken so that they can update their applications and make them compatible – the same as FlexiSPY.
Can I Spy On Someone’s Apple iWatch?
We are not sure if people want spy phone software for the Apple Watch. If you are interested, let us know in the comments and we will be sure to look in to it.
The Apple Watch still requires an iPhone to be tethered to it in order to receive notifications (you basically look at the watch on your wrist instead of pulling the iPhone out of your pocket instead – but not much more than that) so it may just be better to wait for FlexiSPY to fully support iOS 8 (which will run on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, iPhone 5 C, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Watch and all iPad generations starting from the iPad 2) instead so you can spy on the actual iPhone tethered to the Apple Watch and not the Apple Watch itself.
How long do we need to wait for FlexiSPY?
The Gold Master (final version) of iOS 8 was just released so our developers are getting to grips with that to see the new features and how we add even more great new features in to FlexiSPY but, as said, with no jailbreak there is not much we can do right no except speculate what we can do and just wait for any kind of jailbreak (tethered or untethered) and test our theories and get FlexISPY working.
In the meantime though don’t forget that FlexiSPY still works on iPhone’s and iPad’s that have been jailbroken. This is something we will of course retain in our software for iOS 8, our software can hide Cydia too meaning that, whether it is iOS 7 or iOS 8 you have just jailbroken to install FlexiSPY you can hide all traces of the jailbreak (Cydia) and our software also hides itself completely too for complete stealth.There’s actually a guide for doing so, here.
That’s All For Now | But Stay Up To Date
Currently this is the latest situation regarding FlexiSPY and iOS 8 and the new iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch. However we will be sure to update this article with any new information regarding when FlexiSPY is available for iOS 8 but, in the meantime, join us as we all patiently wait for the iOS 8 jailbreak to arrive. To make sure you’re up to date with the jailbreak, please follow us on one of our social media channels.
“You’ve probably heard about the celebrity pictures that were stolen and linked all over over the internet.. Furthermore you probably also know that Apple’s iCloud was -at least in part- at fault”
But what you may not be aware of is just how easy the whole thing was, and how, using applications that are simple to find, you too can gain access to practically anyone’s iCloud account – and you don’t need to be a hacker to do it.
Notice: Everything in this article is for educational purposes only. Apple most likely have fixed the exploits that lead to the data leak so this is just a proof of concept article showing how it was most likely done. FlexiSPY is not responsible for any damages, loss or anything else that incurs if you do try to recreate these steps.
How Did The Leak Happen?
According to reports it was simply due to the accounts that were compromised being unsecure. For example they failed to turn on two-step notification for their account or their password was just too easy to guess. Once access was gained in to the accounts, and because most iPhone users happily let their device upload all pictures to their iCloud account without ever thinking of the consequences, a second piece of software was used to then download all backups of said iPhone.
Once those backups were downloaded the same program was used to explore its contents and this includes the pictures and videos that are now all over the internet and are being investigated by the FBI
So who is to blame? Apple for not making it clear enough that iCloud backs up everything? Apple for not making sure two-step sign up is mandatory? The user for not really fully understanding the implications of having their data stored in the cloud which can potentially be hacked?
If you own an iPhone every picture you take is uploaded to your iCloud account once you have signed in to the iPhone using your Apple ID. However this can be easily turned off (we stress that Apple have fixed the exploits so that passwords cannot be guessed by brute force which makes this hack no longer possible) so that you are no longer vulnerable.
The process that led to the leak consists of several steps.
2 Ways It Might Have Been Pulled Off
First off, the hackers needed to have access or know the email address of the persons targeted.
They used those email addresses to login to iCloud and guess the security password
They gained access to the account and then proceeded to download any iCloud backups.
Or it could have been done this way:
The hackers knew the email addresses of the people they wanted to target.
Hackers used a brute force tool and password list to guess the passwords.3. They gained access to the acocunt and then proceeded to download the iCloud backups.
Either way, one thing that hasn’t come to the surface yet is how the hackers got the email addresses to start with.
However there are many darknets where information like this is traded via the use of the encrypted TOR browser.
Replicating The Hack
This is done entirely for educational processes and, from the latest information, Apple have already fixed the iCloud vulnerabilities. So, for this we will just show you, hypothetically how it was done but we will investigate the software used to download and extract iCloud backups in more detail.
The first thing is to obviously know the email address of the people you wish to target. We are using our own Apple ID that we have set up which already contains an iCloud backup. However the program that is being pointed at to guess the passwords was called iBrute.
This is a small program written in Python that will try to brute force (guess the password) of all email addresses in the mail.txt file using the passwords in the passlist.txt file. However in the release notes it confirms as we have said, Apple have patched the exploit which means the program will no longer work.
So, for this, we are going to assume that we already have an account (Apple ID) whose password we know (which we do) so, because Apple fixed the exploit the next step is written from the perspective that iBrute worked and gave us an email address and password.
Before we proceed to the next section we need to understand just how iCloud works on an iPhone after you enter your Apple ID which is like this.
Enter your Apple ID on the iPhone – iCloud is enabled by default which photo sharing enabled.
Set up a new photo stream on the iPhone and add pictures – wait for them to be uploaded to iCloud
For PC download and install the iCloud Control Panel
Once it is installed you are asked to log in to iCloud.
You then click the Options button under Photos to see the photos that were be uploaded to iCloud
You can set the options to upload all photo streams from the iPhone to iCloud.
You can then see the iCloud photos that are stored on your PC.
What you may not be aware of is that even though photo sharing is enabled by default it is not as easy as logging in to any iCloud account and viewing the pictures online. iCloud does not work that way and even though we have set up a photo stream as a test it will not appear on the iCloud website.
Below you can see the photo stream on our PC we are using. We have added 3 extra pictures (you can just drag and drop any image file into the iCloud photos folder and it will sync.
So, if we log in to iCloud directly we see the following – no pictures of any kind.
So how does iCloud actually work?
Sign into iCloud on any iDevice using your Apple ID
Set up photo streaming and photo sharing in iCloud
Take some pictures or videos on the device
Login to a new iDevice with the same account.
All pictures and videos taken will appear on the new device.
So essentially iCloud is the backend that hosts and shares all pictures and vides (and other content such as emails and contacts) between all iDevices your account is logged in to but this also means that picture and videos backed up to iCloud are only visible on the specific iDevice.
So how do you get access to the pictures or videos if you cannot do it directly from iCloud itself?
This is the next thing we will discuss and where things get clever.
Backing Up To iCloud
Apple makes it pretty damn easy to back up data to the cloud, in-fact, it’s enabled on a persons iOS device by default. This includes automatic backup of photos from the camera roll.
All you need to be back up the phone is to make sure that your phone is charging, connected to wifi, and is locked. Once the device is backed (specifically iCloud) you’re able to perform the same steps that the hackers used to get access to the information.
Apple, for some strange reason, do not allow any iCloud backup to be password protected so it essentially means that should someone find software that can download all backups from an Apple ID and the respective iCloud account then they potentially have access to very personal or sensitive information.
This is what the hackers did
And this is what we will show you too (for educational purposes only)
The first thing you need is the PC software that was used which is called Elcomsoft Phone Password Breaker. This is from a Moscow based company and the software is sold on the basis that it allows you to recover files from phone backups from variety of different manufacturers (Apple, BlackBerry, and Microsoft) and is to be only used for legal purposes only.
However looking at their main menu for a start tells you that this software could definitely be used for all the wrong reasons.
Decrypt Backup – Simply drag and drop any iPhone or iPad backup made within iTunes in to this option for it to be decrypted and for you to be able to view all data stored inside the backup.
Explore keychain – The keychain is encrypted by Apple and contains all the passwords on the device (iPhone or iPad). Again, just drop an iTunes backup on to this option to view all passwords used on the phone across all installed applications that have been stored in the keychain.
For those who are interested the keychain stores the following information:
Secure certificates
Tokens (e.g. Twitter, Facebook etc.)
Browser stored passwords
Wi-Fi passwords for all networks a device was connected at least once
Passwords, tokens and certificates stored by various applications
And the final option is what we are looking for – Download backup from iCloud.
It is obvious that the hackers just entered the email address and passwords of the people in question (which they obtained illegally as we explained) and then the software does the rest. For us we will be getting the data from the phone we just backed up.
So we put in the username and password of our Apple ID that we set up for this exercise and then we sign in and our backup is clearly listed at the top.
We then click the Download button and after a short time we can then choose any kind of information we want from inside the online backup.
All we are really concerned about is the camera roll as that is where all videos and pictures are stored but this software allows us to grab any and all information from an iCloud backup associated with the Apple ID that was used to sign in.
Essentially you just wait for the data to be downloaded to your PC and then you can pretty much do anything with it as you wish.
Apple makes this possible due to iCloud not having two step verification when you sign in (e.g. you sign in with a username and password and then answer a security question) which means that, as we have shown, just get the email address and password of an Apple ID and you potentially have access to phone backups which contains clearly sensitive and personal information.
How Can You Stop This From Happening?
The easiest way to stop yourself and your iDevice from becoming the next victim is simple.
Make sure your Apple ID password is strong
Turn off iCloud backups on the iDevice itself
Use a cloud system with better backup and security such as Dropbox
Apple have since patched the brute force method used but they have still not improved iCloud security to encompass two step verification although, in the wake of this scandal, we hardly think Apple will rest and leave their premier cloud backup solution with such a gaping hole in it for the whole world to look in.
We hope that you have found this article useful. Don’t forget that you can actually use FlexiSPY on your own iPhone or iPad to act as a secure and effective device backup tool so, if this interests you, why not check out a 24 hour demo of FlexiSPY right now?
AutoUpdate – We’re really proud of this feature in our latest release. After updating to the latest version of FlexiSPY for Android (2.3.5) and, if the device is running on Limited 1, or Full mode, the device will be able to auto-update to future FlexiSPY releases!
RemCam – When activated, RemCam now captures a photo from the back, AND front camera simultaneously!
BBM – We’ve added support for Location Capture and Sticker Capture!
Facebook – We now support video capture for Facebook!
There’s also various other changes and improvements that we didn’t want to squash into this article, so for a more in-depth look into what the latest release gives you, check out our Android Page.
Most of these changes started off as great suggestions by people that have been fans of our software for a long time. If you suggest an improvement for FlexiSPY, we’ll review it, and it could eventually get passed along to our developers. So, why not brainstorm a few things you’d like to see, and leave your thoughts in the comments section below, it’s a win-win for everyone and we’d be delighted to hear from you!
This article will show you how you can use FlexiSPY on an iPhone to spy on all Hangouts chats that take place on the TARGET iPhone and view them directly from inside your FlexiSPY online account.
Getting Started
Step 1 – Make sure you have the TARGET iPhone in your hand.
Step 2 – Make sure the TARGET phone has been jailbroken.
Step 4 – Make sure that the TARGET iPhone has Hangouts installed with an account signed in.
Viewing the captured Hangouts data
Step 1 – Log in to your FlexiSPY online account.
Step 2 – Highlight the Messages tab and click IM’s to bring up the IM menu.
Step 3 – Click the IM services drop-down menu and choose Hangouts from the list.
Step 4 – All captured Hangouts information on the TARGET iPhone will be displayed.
That’s all there is too it, and you should now successfully be using FlexiSPY’s Hangout instant messaging capturing feature for iPhone to spy on their Hangouts messages.
Of course if you still have questions about this feature, or any other feature, feel free to let us know in the comments section below, or through our social media!
