How to Unlink Device before Receiving?

[yukichi]

I accidentally checked:

Link this device to my Google account. Learn more?

I do not want it such that when I first power on the device, it says "Welcome _myname_" How do I unlink it before opening up the package and starting for the first time?

 

[KwietStorm]

Doubt there's a way to change that now, but why would you want to?

 

[yukichi]

If I want to sell it after say a year or so.... I cant because its permanently linked to my account?

 

[gone down south]

That just links the phone to your account in the Play Store for purchase, it doesn't automatically load all your Google stuff onto it.

 

[yukichi]

Still, I dont want it such that if I do a factory reset on my phone a year from now. The stranger I sell it to turns on the phone and sees:

"Welcome __my name___" __my email address here__

"Just enter your password!"

As much as the stranger wont know my password, I would rather they did not know how to contact me, my name, or subscribe me to some spammy list....

 

[badbrad17]

I think if you do a factory reset it kills it.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums

 

[KwietStorm]

Still, I dont want it such that if I do a factory reset on my phone a year from now. The stranger I sell it to turns on the phone and sees:

"Welcome __my name___" __my email address here__

"Just enter your password!"

As much as the stranger wont know my password, I would rather they did not know how to contact me, my name, or subscribe me to some spammy list....

That's kind of the point of doing a factory reset..

 

[gone down south]

Still, I dont want it such that if I do a factory reset on my phone a year from now. The stranger I sell it to turns on the phone and sees:

"Welcome __my name___" __my email address here__

"Just enter your password!"

As much as the stranger wont know my password, I would rather they did not know how to contact me, my name, or subscribe me to some spammy list....

It won't have that info on it brand new, there's no reason to believe it'll have it after a factory reset.

 

[yukichi]

It won't have that info on it brand new, there's no reason to believe it'll have it after a factory reset.

Wrong, if you selected the option prior to shipping, it will have that info on it brand new, even before you open up the box...:

Linking your Nexus device to your Google account during purchasing - Google Play Help.

 

[Exergy]

Factory reset should erase it.

 

[anon(847090)]

Wrong, if you selected the option prior to shipping, it will have that info on it brand new, even before you open up the box...:

Linking your Nexus device to your Google account during purchasing - Google Play Help.

factory reset should remove the email but if you are paranoid do a factory restore like explained here

http://forums.androidcentral.com/ge...er-factory-restore-root-any-nexus-device.html

 

[yukichi]

Don't they not even have to open up your device to get that functionality in there before they ship it? It puzzles me how factory restoring would work when before you or anyone else opens up the device, the device somehow "phones home?" to know what your credentials are?

 

[bboykin87]

I accidentally checked:

Link this device to my Google account. Learn more?

I do not want it such that when I first power on the device, it says "Welcome _myname_" How do I unlink it before opening up the package and starting for the first time?

I checked this when i ordered my nexus in the first wave and when i got it my Google account was not loaded on it. That might have been because of the frenzy that was the first wave of orders.

I also did a factory reset shortly after receiving my device and out didn't load then either. YMMV

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[badbrad17]

Here's a crazy idea. Try a factory reset and see what happens.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums

 

[reign831]

Wrong, if you selected the option prior to shipping, it will have that info on it brand new, even before you open up the box...:

Linking your Nexus device to your Google account during purchasing - Google Play Help.

Don't ask for an answer to a question, and then tell people they are wrong when they answer it.

 

[yukichi]

Don't ask for an answer to a question, and then tell people they are wrong when they answer it.

I was referring to wrong for the "brand new" part of the statement, not the latter portion of it. Despite factory reset working, it would be nice if I could just remove the device from my google account before I even open the box.

 

[ssgmun5000]

Here is another question. How do I know if it is linked to my account or not? Don't remember if I unchecked the box.

 

[badbrad17]

And I wish I could teleport to Hawaii on the weekends.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Android Central Forums

 

[yukichi]

Here is another question. How do I know if it is linked to my account or not? Don't remember if I unchecked the box.

If you first turn on the device, it says "Hello ___yourname__" and just prompts you for a password instead of having to put in your email and password.

 

[natehoy]

If I want to sell it after say a year or so.... I cant because its permanently linked to my account?

You can't remove it at this point without Google intervening (which they may be able to if you call them). However, that's a one-time deal. The Google Help Text says it will send your username to it once. A factory reset should remove that, and is a good idea if you ever wanted to sell your device.

So if you're concerned about having it on there on first powerup as per your initial question, you'll have to call Google and see if they can cancel the signal that is waiting to hit your device and initialize your username onto it. They probably can, and it will start up the very first time with no knowledge of who its new lord and master is.

If you're concerned about removing it before a resale after using it for a year (or a day), do a factory reset and it should just go back to "Welcome, unknown user, please enter your email and password". You can test this by factory-resetting it as soon as you get it out of the box, and it should immediately forget your email address, because the signal should only be sent once.