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I wonder why all of these settings are grouped together into a "mode" rather than giving users control over each of them individually. What if I want to block

by yosito 4y ago

I wonder why all of these settings are grouped together into a "mode" rather than giving users control over each of them individually. What if I want to block USB devices, but I want to be able to use shared photo albums?

SkyPuncher 4y ago
You can do that via MDM profiles, already. The value of grouping this into a mode is ensuring end operators don't miss important details.
oneplane 4y ago
I'd guess the following: if Apple is a company that is mostly trying too sell UX and seamless integration as a part of that, but has to break quite a lot of that every time an 'extreme' protection measure is used, then it stands to reason that they'd make the 'mess up the UX' thing all contained in one option. It makes for a very clear demarcation as to why the product doesn't work as it normally should, and an abundance of differentiation would remove all of the guessing as to "why is feature X not doing what I expect" for the user of the device.
- gpt5 4y ago
  I imagine that it's more than that - by grouping them into one feature, Apple can continue and improve upon lockdown mode without needing to opt-in the user in every update.
unethical_ban 4y ago
Hm, it would be interesting if they had toggles for each feature with some kind of UI element/hint/incentive to have it all on. Think of how Apple maintains their image, and who they claim this is for. They don't want a journalist killed because they thought they had Lockdown Mode on, but they had link previews in SMS and got hit by a zero-day tracker.
saagarjha 4y ago
I assume it would be difficult for most users to make informed decisions on this
coder543 4y ago
I agree it would be nice to have the ability to toggle some of these on without the others. Regarding USB devices, Apple has offered a setting for years in "Face ID & Passcode", under "Allow Access When Locked" called "USB Accessories". If you turn that off, then your iPhone won't allow USB accessories to connect if the phone has been locked for more than an hour. Not quite the same as the Lockdown setting, but better than nothing?
- Terretta 4y ago
  And, importantly, you can trigger it immediately instead of waiting an hour. Since around iOS 11 this USB lockout and “require pin, not FaceID/TouchID” used to be 5 clicks of the power button, and triggered it immediately. Also brings up an emergency button no matter what you were doing. After this screen, pin is required. Prior to this Lockdown mode, for best results you also may want to use Apple Configurator or JAMF Free or similar to block other ways of “recovering” access. Before iOS 11’s USB lockout, this “pair locking” was the best way of helping block forensics tools: https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=2589 https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=2589

by yosito 4y ago

SkyPuncher 4y ago

You can do that via MDM profiles, already. The value of grouping this into a mode is ensuring end operators don't miss important details.

oneplane 4y ago

I'd guess the following: if Apple is a company that is mostly trying too sell UX and seamless integration as a part of that, but has to break quite a lot of that every time an 'extreme' protection measure is used, then it stands to reason that they'd make the 'mess up the UX' thing all contained in one option. It makes for a very clear demarcation as to why the product doesn't work as it normally should, and an abundance of differentiation would remove all of the guessing as to "why is feature X not doing what I expect" for the user of the device.

gpt5 4y ago
I imagine that it's more than that - by grouping them into one feature, Apple can continue and improve upon lockdown mode without needing to opt-in the user in every update.

unethical_ban 4y ago

Hm, it would be interesting if they had toggles for each feature with some kind of UI element/hint/incentive to have it all on. Think of how Apple maintains their image, and who they claim this is for. They don't want a journalist killed because they thought they had Lockdown Mode on, but they had link previews in SMS and got hit by a zero-day tracker.

saagarjha 4y ago

I assume it would be difficult for most users to make informed decisions on this

coder543 4y ago

I agree it would be nice to have the ability to toggle some of these on without the others. Regarding USB devices, Apple has offered a setting for years in "Face ID & Passcode", under "Allow Access When Locked" called "USB Accessories". If you turn that off, then your iPhone won't allow USB accessories to connect if the phone has been locked for more than an hour. Not quite the same as the Lockdown setting, but better than nothing?

Terretta 4y ago
And, importantly, you can trigger it immediately instead of waiting an hour. Since around iOS 11 this USB lockout and “require pin, not FaceID/TouchID” used to be 5 clicks of the power button, and triggered it immediately. Also brings up an emergency button no matter what you were doing. After this screen, pin is required. Prior to this Lockdown mode, for best results you also may want to use Apple Configurator or JAMF Free or similar to block other ways of “recovering” access. Before iOS 11’s USB lockout, this “pair locking” was the best way of helping block forensics tools: https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=2589 https://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=2589