As mobile devices proliferate, it’s important to think about things like iPhone security. Increasingly, we’re storing more and more data on our smartphones and in the cloud and users should understand the security implications of doing so.

The latest versions of iOS and the iPhone incorporate a number of security features to protect user’s information. From hardware encryption to touch ID, Apple has put thought into how to keep your data safe. Here’s a look at just a few of those features.

Hardware Encryption

Since the iPhone 3GS, all later iPhones and all versions of the iPad, have supported hardware encryption. This means that all of your data is encrypted on the device by a unique 256-bit crypto engine that’s built right in. If someone else gets access to the device, Apple has enabled remote wiping through Find My iPhone, which quickly removes the encryption key from your device. Without the encryption key, the data on the device is unreadable.

App Data Protection

To secure app data on your iPhone, Apple also implements Data protection, both for the core iOS apps, but also for all third-party apps that are installed. This feature is enabled automatically, so users don’t need to take any additional steps to protect their information. Information stored in apps is encrypted, protecting the data until the device is unlocked after a reboot.

Touch ID

Touch ID takes iPhone security features even further, by safely storing a user’s fingerprints to enable access to the device. By leveraging fingerprints, unique to each individual, Apple has made it easy for users to secure access to their device while make it very easy to unlock.

Passcode

Anyone using an iPhone without TouchID or any iPad, should enable a passcode on their device to secure their data. This step strengthens the encryption keys and makes it harder for a user to gain access to information on the device. Additionally, it’s possible to enable the device to be wiped after 10 failed passcode attempts, adding another layer of security should your iPhone fall into the wrong hands.

Find My iPhone

Find My iPhone is a great, final layer of security. Should your device be taken from you, with Find My iPhone, you can try to locate it or remotely wipe your data. For more details on setting up Find My iPhone, visit this article.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Gorilla glass is the current standard for high-end smartphones

Since its introduction, Apple has used Gorilla Glass in its iPhone. Gorilla Glass is a type of toughened glass developed by Corning Inc. that’s damage resistant and used in millions of mobile devices sold throughout the world. Corning has developed three different generations of Gorilla Glass, with each being more resistant to cracking, more scratch resistant and thinner than the previous generation.

Gorilla Glass is manufactured through a process that chemically hardens the glass, making it more resistant to compressive force. As a result, it’s less likely to scratch or fracture in an impact than traditional glass while also maintaining the thin profile necessary to fit into modern mobile devices.

Sapphire glass may become the new feature

Sapphire Glass hasn’t been as widely used in mobile device screens as Gorilla Glass but has been used in watches for some time. Apple is also already using it in its latest iPhones as a cover for the camera lens and for the TouchID sensor on the iPhone 5S.

Sapphire Glass is manufactured differently than Gorilla Glass. Instead of a chemical process hardening the glass, sapphire crystals are grown in furnaces in blocks, then cut with a diamond saw or laser to specification for the product. While this makes sapphire glass extremely scratch resistant and harder than Gorilla Glass, it’s much more expensive to produce with some reports of it being up to 10 times more expensive. Sapphire glass is also heavier than Gorilla Glass, which may mean the next iPhone is likely to weigh more.

So which is better? That’s tough to say, but we see our fair share of broken phones at Gazelle. If Apple releases a phone with sapphire glass later this year, we’ll see how many come in with a broken screen compared to Gorilla Glass models and report back.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

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Phone App

The phone app has had one of the most significant overhauls in iOS. Gone are the rectangular buttons to start, end or decline an incoming call. These have been replaced with simple, circular buttons.

WallPaper

One of the more controversial new features introduced in iOS 7 was the parallax or perspective zoom effects throughout the operating system. Now, when selecting a wallpaper in iOS 7.1, users can choose to turn off the perspective zoom effect.

Shutdown

The red sliding power to shutdown your iPhone has now been replaced by a sliding power button. This also includes a new cancel button at the bottom of the screen.

Keyboard

A few new design elements have been introduced to the keyboard in iOS 7.1 that include a slight increase in weight to the letters to make them more legible across the board and an design change to the shift and delete keys. The dark version of the keyboard has been removed entirely.

Unlock Screen

The animation on the unlock screen has been improved with greater emphasis on the area of the screen to target for sliding your finger.

Music App

Within the music app, Apple has introduced greater emphasis to the “Repeat” and “Shuffle” buttons and added a “New” button to create an iTunes radio station.

CarPlay

Apple describes CarPlay as a “smarter, safer way to use your iPhone in the car. CarPlay take the things you want to do with your iPhone while driving and puts them right on your car’s built-in display.” It’s said that functionality to support CarPlay has been built into the release of iOS 7.1 so it’s readily available as manufacturers begin to build the support into their vehicles. So far, Ferrari, Honda, Hyundai, Mercedes-Bez and Volvo are expected to release vehicles with support for CarPlay this year.

Reboots and the “White Screen of Death”

With the introduction of iOS 7.1, Apple seems to have finally resolved the issues that many users have reported of the operating system crashing and rebooting. After several hours of using iOS 7.1, we haven’t been surprised by a reboot as had been happening multiple times per day.

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