What is hidden iCloud? What’s the impact?

Currently, quite a lot of old iPhones or iPads sold on the market have hidden iCloud phenomenon and many users have bought these products. So what is hidden iCloud?

What is iCloud?

First you need to understand what is iCloud? Apple uses an iCloud account to confirm a user’s ownership of their iPhone. Since the launch of iOS 7 operating system, Apple has integrated Activation Lock mode into the Find My Phone feature to help users lock iCloud remotely to disable the device when it is stolen.

This also means that if your iPhone is stolen, users only need to go to the iCloud.com website to wipe their device, then all data on the device will be erased and the device will be locked until when entering the correct iCloud account.

See also: How to erase iPhone data remotely

This feature helps limit the number of iPhone theft, but recently, hackers have found a way to crack iCloud by creating a fake Apple server to hide iCloud and using a pin code guessing tool to unlock the device.

What is hidden iCloud?

Hidden iCloud “looks” like and uses like regular iCloud, can still be used normally, even signing in to a new iCloud account and upgrading the software.

However, the device with hidden iCloud still stores the activation lock status (does not allow the device to backup and reset) on Apple’s servers, so when the user chooses “restore” or “reset all settings” the iPhone will access Apple server information and the device will revert to the activation pending state until the correct old iCloud account is entered.

This means that the iPhone hidden iCloud will not be able to use and this is a great loss for users who unfortunately buy these products.

How to avoid buying hidden iCloud-stick devices

Customers should avoid buying Apple devices from unknown sources and from unscrupulous stores. In addition, when buying iDevice products, you can also restore the device or reset the original settings right at the store.

If the device can still be activated with your account and used normally, the device is not hidden iCloud.

In a simpler way, Apple has officially provided a website to check if the device has Activation Lock or not. Using this website is quite simple and anyone can check the device they intend to buy easily.

First you need to visit here. Then, enter the IMEI or Serial number of the device you want to check in the blank box (IMEI and Serial number of the device can be checked by going to Settings > General Setting > About or Settings > General > About ) and enter the captcha code (alphanumeric code), then click Continue to check.

If the status is Off, it means that the device has not been locked iCloud and users can safely log in to a new account to use.

If the status is On, it means the device is iCloud locked (Find My iPhone is on) and needs to contact the previous owner to turn it off.

To ensure, customers should buy genuine iPhone and iPad devices or large, reputable stores to ensure the quality of the products they want to buy.