How to safely erase data off your iPhone before selling

How to turn off ‘Find My iPhone & Anti-theft Activation Lock’ from the phone you’re selling!

If you’re thinking of selling or giving away a stinky old iPhone, you need to understand how to turn off the ‘Find My iPhone’ function. ESPECIALLY if the device has been upgraded to iOS 7, whereby it will also be loaded with Apple’s Anti-theft Activation lock.

The Anti-theft Activation Lock introduced with iOS 7 is however super awesome for preventing theft by rendering the phone basically useless and worth roughly one eighth of its proper resale price. However, it also does this if you forget to turn it off before you sell it or give it away.

For instance, here at iPhone Antidote, we cannot give you the total quoted amount for your iPhone unless the Anti-theft Activation lock is turned off.

So, you guys need to know how to turn it off! And luckily for everyone involved, whilst not being the funnest 3 minutes you ever spend (we hope) it IS super easy! High Five!

There is a couple of different methods depending on the condition and location of your iPhone. If your iPhone works and is with you, you should-

Remove your iPhone from Find My iPhone by turning  it off on the iPhone.

Simple! On your iPhone, go to Settings > iCloud, then tap to turn off ‘Find My device.’ It will ask for your Apple ID password ( The one you use in the App Store), then BAM, both Find my iPhone and the Anti-theft activation lock is turned off.

YAY!

If your iPhone is not with you, already sold or given away OR broken or water damaged so that it won’t turn on, it’s also, really, really easy. HIGH FIVE!

If you can’t use your iPhone because it’s too damaged, or you’ve already sold it or given it away, you can remotely remove it from Find My iPhone and remotely remove the Anti-theft Activation Lock.

Your iPhone must be powered off. Easy to do if it’s broken! Also easy enough to do if you’ve sold it to a company such as ourselves or you can get in contact with the friend that you gave it to.

Then:

Sign in to icloud.com/#find with your Apple ID (the one you use with iCloud & the App Store).

Click ‘All Devices’ at the top of the page. Wait for the website to locate your iPhone, then select it from the drop down menu. It should appear as offline and grey.

A menu of options will appear on the right hand side of the screen. IGNORE THESE ( Unless you want to remotely erase your iPhone)

Click back on the ‘All Devices’ button at the top of the page. There should now be an X next to your iPhone.  Click it. Click it good.

Click “remove” on the next screen to confirm.

Aaaaaand you’re done! Now someone else can now activate the device, making it worth a whole lotta more clams from us/high fives from the friend you gave it to!

If you guys have any problems removing the anti theft activation lock from your iPhone – please contact us and let us know! We’d LOVE to help you out!

How to Back up your old stinky iPhone and/or transfer data to shiny new iPhone!

If you’re selling or giving away your iPhone, you’ll be wanting to back up all that lovely data you’ve accrued on the device beforehand. It’s a pretty simple procedure, but a very important step.

This is the Apple support page on how to back up your data using iTunes and iCloud. And here is the Apple support page on transferring your data from one device to another, ( i.e, stinky->shiny).

It’s a very comprehensive and easy to follow guide direct from the sauce! But, as with everything technology- there is always the potential for problems, so if you stumble upon something that doesn’t make sense, or your backup JUST ISNT GODDAMN WORKING, let us know! We’d love to try and help!

How to sell your crappy old iPhone so you can get a shiny new iPhone 6!

GUYSGUYGUYS!

September 9th is rushing up to meet us super fast! There’s only 11 days, 14 hours and 31 minutes left!

You know what that means, right? NEW iPHONE TIME!  NEW iWATCH TIME!

The two models of the new iPhone – purportedly 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch in size – are 99.9% likely being announced on September 9th, along with, well, 92.5% chance, the iWatch. The iPhones will probably be released to the public 10 days later on September 19th.

If you are awesome and planning on buying or upgrading to one of the 2 anticipated models of the iPhone 6, then in the very near future, you probably won’t be wanting your stinky old iPhone anymore.

Cos it stinky.

You know what’s cool? Selling it for extra cash. Everyone likes extra cash. Especially when you can use it to buy that shiny new iPhone 6, you got us? Yeah. So if you want to sell it in order to do said upgrading/purchasing, ( extra cash)  you’re going to want to READ THIS.

We suggest selling your iPhone to us ( D’uh, right?), because we’re triple A Better Business Bureau rated, have a great reputation in the industry, our previous customers love us, AND we offer the best payments options in the industry – Paypal, Check or Bitcoin.

Best of all, (in our opinion)  we won’t change your quote based on just how beer soaked or smashed or scratched or old your phone is. If you say you have a broken iPhone 5, that phone can be broken, you get us? You get what we quoted you. Cuz we nice.

We provide quick and easy service, getting you the cash before you can say  – Can I have that shiny new iPhone in the window please?

Here’s how it works:

1, Go to our website and fill in your iPhone model details, your name, address, and if you would like to be paid via Paypal, Bitcoin or check. We only have a few condition categories- Brand new in box, Used, Broken or water damaged, and Cracked.

2, The quote you get is the amount of money you will get after you send in your phone. Weird, haw?

3, We will send you a fancy little prepaid shipping box in the mail as fast as that little mailman can mailman.

4, Put the phone in the box.

5, Put the box in a post box.

6, Get cash.

7, Party.

Pretty easy. And with cash, too. Winning. (Do people still say winning?)

Here’s where you start, and don’t forget you can contact us if you have ANY questions at all.

DON’T STOP READING HERE GUYS

Ok, now that you know who to sell you old stinky iPhone to, we have some more info that you might be interested in no matter who you sell or give your phone to. If it’s leaving it’s home with you forever, this stuff is handy.

You have all your music, apps, games, and selfies on your current iPhone, right? Ok, well follow this link to learn how to properly back up your iPhone.

We erase ALL data off ALL the iPhones we receive.  A lot of people, especially right now, are feeling particularly vulnerable and hence hesitant to let go of anything that might have information on them. Understandable. If you want to make sure that all your data is erased off your phone, follow this link to a quick and easy How To.

If you guys have any other ideas about How To’s we can do that would help you transition from stupid old iPhone to brand-new-shiny-iPhone, email us and let us know!

We are at your service.

Apple Media event on September 9th is confirmed!

Thanks to the lovely guys over at The Loop, we have for you the official invitation to the upcoming Apple media event – confirming that a big announcement will be made by Apple on September 9th.

The event is highly anticipated and expected to be unveiling two new models of the iPhone 6 and their new wearable tech product, currently referred to as the iWatch.

The invitations carry the tagline “Wish we could say more.”

The event will take place at 10:00 AM Pacific Time at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of De Anza College in Cupertino.

The Flint center hasn’t been used by Apple for a long time, but is the same location where Steve Jobs introduced the original Mac 30 years ago and holds a lot more people than the usual venues Apple uses for it’s announcements. Apple seems to be building a huge, highly guarded structure on the campus in preparation for the announcement on the 9th.

We sense something major coming this way…

It hasn’t been confirmed if Apple will be streaming the event or not ( we hope so) but we will keep you up to date to everything we know when we know it!

11 days 15 hours 35 minutes until the unveiling!

iWatch very likely to be unveiled September 9Th!

Exciting Apple rumors have intensified today amongst those who have previously proven to be in the know, as well as others, leading many to believe that the long awaited and highly anticipated iWatch will indeed be unveiled alongside the new iPhone on September 9th.

Say Wahhhhhhat?

That’s right. The guys over at Re/Code and many others are saying that come September 9th, the world will be shown 2 new iPhones and – One more thing – The iWatch.

It is believed that although the iPhone will then be released to the public roughly 10 days later, the iWatch won’t be available until later this year or even early 2015 ( we personally think that it will be available in time for Christmas shopping, but we’ve been wrong before).

Click here to see what to expect from the iWatch, and stay tuned for more rumors as we hear them about the upcoming iPhone 6 models AND the iWatch!

iWatch mock up photo by Brett Jordan Via www.adr-studio.it/site/?p=269 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Apple might replace your iPhone 5 battery?

Have you found that your iPhone 5 isn’t running as well as you thought it would? Getting sctick at the playground/water cooler for your phone battery always dying? Have you become one of those people who always has to ask for chargers? Well, we could have some good news for you.

If you purchased your iPhone 5 between September 2012 and January 2013, you may be part of the very small percentage of people who who were sold devices with faulty batteries and who are now eligible for a free battery replacement from Apple.

If your phone is experiencing battery problems and is otherwise in working order, go on over to Apple’s eligibility website here, fill in your device’s serial number and WHAMMO you can see if you’re eligible for battery replacement.

To find your serial number, tap Settings > General > About.

If you are eligible, there are a number of options for replacing the battery listed so you can find the best option for you.

Congratulations! You might not be that guy anymore! Hooray!

Low Battery by Paul Swansen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

Changes in California smartphone laws

A new law, State Sen. Mark Leno’s Smartphone Theft Prevention Act (Senate Bill 962), was signed into California law on Monday indicating a change that will hopefully prevent the massive amounts of cell-phone theft that has been plaguing the state.

After July 1st, 2015, every smartphone sold in in California must by law be equipped with default theft deterrent technology that will render the phone useless to the thief if stolen, eradicating the incentive to steal smartphones almost completely (unless said thief knows a super great place to sell smartphone parts) as well as the violence that comes along with such robberies.

The law dictates that every smartphone sold in California (online or in store) no matter where it was manufactured, must come with a default kill switch that when activated, will remotely turn off the phone and erase it’s contents, being able to withstand a hard reset or operating system downgrade, henceforth making it useless. There must also be the ability to turn it back on by the owner of the phone if the phone was found to be misplaced instead of stolen.

Authorized users also will have the opportunity  to opt out and turn the kill switch feature off, which, just like the iCloud lock, you will have to remember to do if you are selling or giving your smartphone away!

So, good news? Well, we think it’s awesome news that people are trying and succeeding in changing technology laws in an effort to enhance public safety, certainly. But will this effort decrease the amount of robberies in California? We can only hope, and wait and see.

iPhone Antidote can now pay you in Bitcoin!

In an industry first and JUST in time for the release of the iPhone 6, we are very pleased to announce that we can now pay you in BITCOIN for your stinky old iPhone!

This is the perfect time of year to sell you old, broken, or water damaged iPhone so that you can get some cash to go right ahead and get the shiny new iPhone 6! Either of them! Or both of them! (The iPhone 6, if you haven’t been following, is believed to be coming in two sizes – 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch.) The new iPhone will be announced on September 9th and is believed to be released the following 19th September which is sooooo sooooooon.

Which is why we got our butts into gear and got to work so that we could offer the wildest range of payment options in the tech buyback industry! 

If you sell your iPhone to us, you can now be paid via Check, PayPal or the crypto-currency Bitcoin.

Bitcoin originally started as a peer-to-peer payment system in 2009, and although unregulated by a central bank or entity, Bitcoin is now beginning to be accepted widely in the commercial marketplace, from pizza here in San Francisco, to flights in Europe, electronics at TigerDirect, furniture at Overstock.com and even in the real estate market.  

Bitcoin is an especially good payment option for our customers here at iPhone Antidote since the payments are INSTANT and completely irreversible. You don’t need to wait for the check to clear or for the PayPal funds to be available and once the funds are in your account, they’re staying there.

Sweet, right?

We want to give you guys the best service possible, which means keeping up with the innovations of the tech arena and giving you the best payment options, just in time for the release of the new iPhone! Because we LOVE you guys!

EVEN BETTER is that you will get a $10 bonus when you enter in the promo code ‘bitcoin10’ and choose bitcoin as your payment method. This offer is for a limited time only, but will continue over the MOST IMPORTANT time, i.e., the release of the new iPhone. Get in on this deal before September 30th, 2014.

To find out more about Bitcoin, go here!  And to start the process of selling your iPhone to us, click on over here! Get an instant quote, prepaid mailer to your door and MONEY in your hot little hands in days!

App of the day!

One of the biggest pet peeves in life has only existed since we started carrying around those little computers in our pockets. Twenty years ago, if you tried to contact someone, you would knock on their door, write them a letter or ring them on their landline. If there was no answer to any of those things, you would assume that they were somewhere else at that moment, or that your reply letter was in the mail.

Simple.

Now, when you contact someone, you know there is a very, very good chance that they see that you’re contacting them. And if there is no reply, then there is a very good chance that they are ignoring you. Or busy, yes, but sometimes you just know that they’re ignoring you those heartless bastards.

And that is annoying.

Now, for better or worse, someone has created an app to change all of this. It has the potential to be kind of mean, but considering it was made specifically with children ignoring parents in mind, it’s pretty ingenious and comes from a best hearted kind of place.

A mom from Houston, Sharon Standifird worked with developers to create the app called ‘Ignore no more’. If a child is ignoring texts and/or calls from a parent, it gives the parents control over the child’s smartphone, shutting down their ability to do anything on the phone except call 911 and access a list of pre-approved contacts, which they must call  in order to receive the password to unlock their phone.

This of course could get a lil’ messy if it falls into the hands of the wrong people. We can think of a few people who could benefit from their phone shutting down when they ignore us…  Does that make us the wrong people? I think it does…

Ignore No More costs $1.99 and whilst currently only available for Androids, the iPhone version is in the works and will be released soon, so keep an eye out for it!