i read the article about the iPad password and pin numbers [see: How to create a complicated password for your iPad], my question is what happens if your boy picks the iPad, knows your pin and decides to change it and not tell his parents? Now it seems he’d have exclusive use of the family iPad that is on the coffee table for mum and dad and him to enjoy? Is there a two pin option?
I’ve read and re-read your question a number of times and can’t tell if you’re writing from the perspective of the son who has figured out how to lock Mum and Dad out of the device, or if you’re a parent worried that your child is a bit too smart for his own good. I think somehow the former, but I could be wrong. 🙂
In any case, while I’m all in favor of having passwords and other security features, technology cannot replace basic parenting: If you have a child who has locked you out of a device that you own for any reason, I would say that the solution is both to fix the device — and we’ll get to that with the iPad in a moment — and to address the discipline issue too. In my household, my son would lose access to all electronics for at least a month as a consequence, something he’d hate!
To gain access to an iPad that you otherwise don’t have the security code for or perhaps because you forgot your iPad password, you should be able to plug it into the computer you first sync’d it with and click on the “Restore” button in iTunes. If it’s password locked and you don’t know the code, you won’t be able to actually do a final backup before the restore wipes everything off and starts you out from scratch, but hopefully that’s not a huge issue for you. If it is, well, it’s time to get the code from your son then, isn’t it?
Here’s what you’ll see in the middle of the “Summary” view in iTunes, once your iPad’s plugged in:
You can see that I’m due for an iOS upgrade too. Not a big deal, though when I was done taking these screen shots I did apply the update, which fortunately only took a few minutes. Then again, I have my security code handy. 🙂
If you click on “Restore”, iTunes will explain what’s going to happen next:
If you’re sure that’s the only way you can recover access to your family iPad, well, then click on “Restore” or, if there’s an update pending, “Restore and Update” and have a cup of tea. It’ll take a while. Once it’s done, you’ll likely need to copy all the apps, photos, music, movies and other data back onto the device. Then perhaps set a better security code so you don’t have to go through this again.
Ultimately, I’m not going to tell you how to parent, so if you end up playing the cat-and-mouse game of who knows the security code then I’ll simply wish you good luck and assure you that you’re going to get very good at restoring the iOS system on your device.
I agree–as the parent (who I assume paid for the iPad and is paying for internet access), YOU are the one with the ‘say so’ as far as who uses equipment in your home. But as a mother of adult children, I will provide a few parenting tips! Your son is in need of discipline, and if you don’t give it now, it will only get worse in time! I’m sorry to say this, but the fact that your son even did this shows he hasn’t received the appropriate discipline along the way that every child needs from the time they are young. Since your son won’t give up the security code, you or your wife should take the iPad to work and leave it there so your son no longer has access to it. This will probably do the trick, but I would also make him give you the code BEFORE you bring it home so that you know it indeed is correct. If so, then bring it home; but stick to your guns and tell him that if he ever does this type of thing again, the iPad is gone for good. I hope I didn’t offend you (this was truly not my intent), but sometimes it takes someone with no emotional ties to a situation to point out something we miss when we do have emotional ties to a situation. And anything having to do with our children automatically has emotional ties attached to it! Sometimes we need to ask ourselves what we would advise a friend, co-worker, etc. if they told us they were dealing with the exact situation. Good luck!
Note that I recently (as in, a couple of hours ago) went through the “restore” option on my iPod Touch. (The screen was cracked, and it was under warranty, so we got a new one.)
After telling iTunes that the new iPod was to be restored from our backup (as opposed to being a new device), it went through its gyrations, including applying the same 5.1.1 update you saw. Finally, after a couple of reboots (of the iPod, not the Windows system), it synced all of the apps back to the iPod, including recreating all of the folders and any app-related data. It also restored the camera roll and wallpaper settings.
All of the movies, videos, and music, on the other hand, will need to be manually copied back to it.
P.S. I like your “iPadewan” device name. 🙂