App changed security settings (xperia z3)

[rowb1]

I have an Xperia Z3 compact which is encrypted so I can use Exchange. Recently I noticed the battery was draining quicker than before so decided to install Greenify to manage app usage. I entered my PIN without thinking about it when it prompted for a restart.

On restart my exchange account prompted me to change my device security but when I tapped to do so it just went back to the home screen and notified me again. I tried deleting and reinstalling the Exchange account but the same thing happens. I noticed that now when I restart the phone it doesn't ask me for my PIN, which it should as it is encrypted.

I figured a factory reset might resolve it but then I would lose my 32GB SD card as that is encrypted and apparently won't be recoverable after a reset.

Greenify has obviously done something to my security settings that my exchange account doesn't like. I just want to know, is there a way to undo this that doesn't involve effectively flushing my SD card down the toilet? I'd like to be able to read work emails and keep all my data!

 

[nahoku]

Greenify installs itself as a Phone/Device Administrator. However, I don't think it activates itself. You might want to check to see if it did, and if so, deactivate it and see what happens.

 

[rowb1]

I'm not sure how to check if it did or how to deactivate it. Could you clarify what this means? I uninstalled it, but this hasn't fixed the problem

 

[nahoku]

I'm not sure how to check if it did or how to deactivate it. Could you clarify what this means? I uninstalled it, but this hasn't fixed the problem

Look in Settings > Security.... you should see something to the effect or Phone/Device Administrator. However, if you uninstalled Greenify, then it must not have activated itself as Admin or you wouldn't have been able to uninstall it without deactivating it first.

You should be able to unencrypt the SD card, as well as your phone. It's a pain to unencrypt the phone as it'll take quite a while. Might be worth it to factory reset it and start all over again... after you unencrypt the SD. You would also need to unencrypt the phone if there's any data you need to save on it before a factory reset too. Hopefully, you own a card reader where you can verify the files on the unencrypted SD card are readable on your computer. If you can't read the files on your computer, do not factory reset the phone until you can.

This is why I never use encryption. Just for scenario's like this where something goes screwy just over an app or for some unknown reason.

 

[rowb1]

I'm pretty sure the phone doesn't have a decrypt option so I think all I can do is a factory reset.

I will check if I can read the data from the SD card. The thing I also want to know though is what happens to the SD card with the factory reset, will it be wiped, or is it permanently locked? If it's wiped, that's annoying but it's even worse if I can never use it again as I then have to buy a new one...

 

[rowb1]

Looks like I can get the data off so I just need to find out whether the SD card will be locked after the reset or not

 

[nahoku]

I'm pretty sure the phone doesn't have a decrypt option so I think all I can do is a factory reset.

I did some reading on your phone and I think you're right... you need to factory reset it.

Looks like I can get the data off so I just need to find out whether the SD card will be locked after the reset or not

Does the phone have no option to unencrypt the SD card too. Very strange if this is so. I just tested encrypting/unencrypting an SD card on my phone (Note 4) as I haven't done it for a long time. I was able to encrypt/unencrypt directly from the phone Security settings. After removing encryption, the card wasn't locked and could be formatted on my computer and used in my other devices with no problems. I would be very surprised if your Sony doesn't allow unencrypting the SD card. Then again... somehow maybe it wouldn't be so surprising given how all these manufactures just can't make things easy!

If you can get the data off the card and on to your computer, I would make doubly sure the files can open on the computer itself. Then you can have a backup to reload if something goes wrong during the factory reset.

 

[rowb1]

Thanks for your help, and for checking this for me! I can't find a decrypt option for the SD card anywhere! It would be nice if someone could confirm this.

I can access the files after I copy them from SD to PC so no worries there. To be honest I'm not sure I should be able to, so maybe the SD card encryption isn't working? Anyway I don't want to reset even if I can get the data off because I still want to use the SD card afterwards. I'm worried if I factory reset the card will be locked and I won't be able to use it.

 

[nahoku]

With my SD encrypted and reading directly from the SD, I could access photos on my PC, but not document's... like PDF's. The PDF files gave me an error when trying to open them... something about being the wrong format. After unencrypting the SD, the PDF's read fine on the PC with no problem... again, reading from the SD. I'll try to search more on this issue with your Sony, but I gotta go out for a while. I'll post back what I find later.

EDIT... I searched for several hours and can't find anything about what would happen to the SD if you factory reset. I don't know what else to do. I can't imagine it would get locked, but that's not for me to decide.