So if you thought you were completely secure after the patch for the PDF files in iBooks, then you are wrong. A recent bug discovered by the people at macrumors has revealed the fact that calls can be made even while the phone is locked. Its also possible to view all the contacts in your phone, the whole call history and even the voicemails. On the passcode screen you tap Emergency Call, dial a non emergency number like ###, hit call and immediately press the lock button on top. The Phone app opens right up. Timing is everything, but its been confirmed on the iPhone 3G, 3GS and the iPhone 4, jailbroken or not.
You dont get the whole phone, the home and lock buttons mostly stop responding. But the Phone app by itself is damage enough. Tap share contact and you are into the email accounts and MMS, and the photo album from there. Hold the home button and voice control shows up, so the music is open too. Engadget says it works on the iOS 4.2 beta as well.
Apple has responded already: “We’re aware of this issue and we will deliver a fix to customers as part of the iOS 4.2 software update in November.” So we wait for November !! Video below.
Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: macrumors.com, macstories.net, engadget.com, hackaday.com.
