Encrypting the Nexus 7 Pros and Cons

[rbx0122]

How many people encrypt their N7's or other Android devices for that matter.?
What are the drawbacks to encrypting besides a password on each boot ?
Can you encrypt and also have a rooted device ?
If so should you unlock and root before encrypting ?

What are the pros and coins of encrypting ?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[dralezero]

- can't use patten unlock. only Face, PIN, or Password.
- encryption password is always the same as your unlock PIN or password
isn't that a bad thing? once you decrypt on boot, all you have to do it pin / password. if there is risk of someone guessing unlock password on a non-encrypted tablet anyways (since they stole it while it was turn on), then it wont protect against that. but that might be a weak password issue.

Even if you aren't encrypted, if you the nexus 7 into computer you cant access the files unless you unlock the screen first. if it locks again after that you can still access the files.

Encrypt your tablet - Nexus Help

 

[2defmouze]

If you ever plan on rooting or flashing on your device do NOT encrypt.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[1812dave]

does that mean a reset won't allow rooting on a previously encrypted N7?

 

[2defmouze]

does that mean a reset won't allow rooting on a previously encrypted N7?

I'm not sure if a standard reset will, but I believe a factory image restore will undo the encryption fully and allow you to root and flash again normally.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[rbx0122]

I would of thought the passwords would be different. That is a bit odd. Down the road unlocking and rooting are guaranteed but right now I'm really enjoying Jelly Bean. I wish my old reliable Captivate would run it better.
It looks like I won't be encrypting the N7. I just thought for good practice one should if it was there kind of like encrypting your home Dir on Ubuntu.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[2defmouze]

I would of thought the passwords would be different. That is a bit odd. Down the road unlocking and rooting are guaranteed but right now I'm really enjoying Jelly Bean. I wish my old reliable Captivate would run it better.
It looks like I won't be encrypting the N7. I just thought for good practice one should if it was there kind of like encrypting your home Dir on Ubuntu.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Meh.. Unless you're using your device to store nuclear launch codes or access your bank account containing your powerball winnings I really don't see the need for encryption

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[kenyee]

there's a feature request in for Android to fix the password being the same...encryption password should be different...

 

[Tony Parrovechio]

Just wanted to say I rooted my Nex7 8gig and then encrypted it. its stock 4.2 rooted no busybox, no custom recovery. Works fine as is. probably wont be able to flash roms on it but rooted and encrypted is possible if i root first then encrypt. food for thought. (^_^)

 

[B. Diddy]

I've read in other threads that encrypting can slow down performance--any experience out there?

 

[stillborn86]

I haven't encrypted my N7, but I tried out encryption on my Galaxy Nexus... which should, for all intensive purposes, be exactly the same.

Pros:
-Even if you don't have anything to hide, it's always nice to have that security. If, for any reason, the police or government want to search your devices, they will work on ALL of your devices. And, the way I see it, if they're going to get into my data, they need to WORK at it and EARN it.

• 
  [*Quick story here: A friend of mine explained that he has ALL of his electronics encrypted with 256AES encryption, but only one device has anything worth cracking the encryption for... the rest are filled to the BRIM with HARDCORE GAY PRON. His words were, "If they're going to steal my electronics, devote countless man-hours and resources to decrypt all of my information, and try to prosecute me, I'm going to at least have some fun with them in the process." I just want to see the faces of the agents that had just spent weeks unencrypting all of that data just to find out what's REALLY on there... LOL]

-Because of the 5th Amendment, and a recent Supreme Court ruling, if your phone has encryption and the police want to get into it, they either have to crack the code themselves or give you the phone back. You are in no way legally obligated to give them the passcode to your device.
-Full device encryption is MUCH more secure than your standard screen lock since it encrypts all of the data on a device (including the "SD card") and doesn't just lock out the screen.
-You can still have a rooted/unlocked device, even if it's encrypted.
-Encrypting the device is very painless.

Cons:
-As said before, your encryption passcode is always the same as your screen lock passcode. So, you're faced with the decision of having a good encryption and putting in a detailed passcode every time you want to unlock your device, or you have a weak encryption and can comfortably unlock your device any time you need it.
-You can no us any other screen lock than the passcode/PIN unlock. Everything else becomes deactivated and unusable.
-Since the entire device is encrypted (including the "SD card"), and most bootloaders don't give you the option to decrypt the SD card contents before it starts up, you can not flash ROMs that are stored on the SD card... since there isn't really an SD card on the N7. This means that most bootloaders can not read the "SD card," since it's not decrypted, and load any of the ROMs that are on it.
-In order to remove the encryption on your device you have to do a FULL reset, which wipes ALL of your data. It's painless to encrypt, but a lot of work to take that encryption away.

So, just take these into account when you encrypt your device. I did it to my GNex, and will probably do it to my N7. I know this isn't a comprehensive list, but it's what I have noticed in my endeavors...

 

[stillborn86]

It didn't slow me own one bit. Once you boot the device up, and it decrypts your information, you shouldn't notice any difference...

 

[throwaway108]

Slow, slow, slow after encyrpting the Razor Max HD. Was sometimes fine. More often than not, it took seconds even to unlock the screen. There's definitely a performance hit that you will run into at some point.

 

[bigtroutz]

There are a wide variety of encryption apps available. Instead of encrypting the entire N7, you can just do one folder, one file, etc.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...search?q=encryption+app&c=apps&token=6nc9sobE

 

[stockpimpin]

Question; I'm interested in a "hardware" encrypted Nexus. I have heard that the Nexus can be both hardware and software encrypted. I really don't know much about this phone so if I'm missing some thing obvious here my apologies. I have heard that this way if some one steals your phone they can't remove and read the chips etc. Any truth to this? anyone heard of this before? Thank-you.

 

[TwoReplies]

-You can still have a rooted/unlocked device, even if it's encrypted.

Nope.
Maybe it's a bug, but I had rooted my 2013 Nexus5 and while it still shows the unlock icon upon boot, none of the programs I have that make use of Root work any more after encrypting my phone.
Some are more user-friendly than others(Root explorer will tell you that the folder you've requested requires a rooted device), but others will just fail without any message to the user at all (e.g.Tasker's Secure settings plugin).