Google provides a “repair mode” in its Pixel phones equipped with Android 14. With it, you can entrust your mobile to a repairer, who will not have access to personal data, applications or photos.
Is your phone malfunctioning and are you planning to take it to a repairer to get it back on track? Depending on the model of your smartphone, you may have access to a setting that will prevent prying eyes. Samsung, for example, offers a maintenance mode. Now, this is also the case for Google’s most recent mobiles.
A repair mode linked to Android 14
On December 14, the American company presented this new functionality, called “repair mode”. When the option is activated, the device prevents other people from accessing applications, personal data and certain types of content (photos, messages, contacts, etc.). The function can be found in the settings, under “System”.
This mode requires the presence of Android 14 on the phone. In other words, this condition limits access to repair mode to smartphones that can recover this operating system. Another restriction: for the moment, only the Pixel range is eligible. You must also provide 2 GB of free disk space. It is therefore, for the moment, a mechanism that is not easily accessible.
If we rely on the list of Pixel models eligible for Android 14, this includes the Pixel 4a (5G), Pixel 5, Pixel 5a, Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 7a, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. Future generations will also be affected as releases progress.
It should be noted that activating repair mode will cause the phone to restart. Manipulations carried out in this context will not be recorded, specifies Google. This includes in particular changes to settings or downloaded data. On the other hand, certain changes may be: this is the case, for example, of a system update.
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