If You Haven't Seen This iPhone Passcode Hack, You Need To

<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2064383p1.html?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00">ymgerman</a> / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/editorial?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00">Shutterstock.com</a>

Apple has been in the news plenty of late, mostly because company execs have refused to kowtow to requests by the Federal Bureau of Investigations to create a "backdoor" scheme that'd weaken security across the board. For that, many have commended the company.

But then this video popped up last week on YouTube, titled "iPhone Unlock WITHOUT Passcode Glitch *NEW 2016*." Very catchy. But the crux of the video suggests that with a few well-timed screen selections, you can bypass any iPhone's passcode.

The steps are fairly simple:

1. From the lock screen, ask Siri, "What time is it?"
2. When the local time pops up, tap on the clock face
3. When the World Clocks screen pops up, tap on the Timer icon on the bottom right
4. Tap "When Timer Ends" on the Timer screen
5. Tap "Buy More Tones" on the "When Timer Ends Screen"
6. This will bring up the iTunes store
7. Press the Home button to unlock the phone

Watch for yourself.

Of course, Internet goblins took the story at face value, and the video garnered more than 400,000 views in just four days. Some outlets even described the video as "SHOCKING" and "TERRIFYING" in an effort to get you to upload in your pants.

Here's the thing: this trick is fake.

If you go through this whole process on your own iPhone with a Touch ID, you're using YOUR finger on YOUR Touch ID. That will unlock the phone. That's how the Touch ID works. The narrator leaves out that minor detail.

The video ends up being so believable because you can get all the way to step five on someone else's iPhone, but when you click "Buy More Tones," the security lock kicks in, and you can go no further. Thankfully.

We gave it a test run, just to be sure. I unlocked my iPhone following these steps. But a co-worker's journey ended at "Buy More Tones."

Rest easy, iPhone users. Nobody can access your stuff, willy-nilly. At some point there will probably be a true workaround. In the meantime: if you see this video on a friend's Facebook page, please explain it is fake. You'll be doing the world a favor.

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Ryan Craggs is Thrillist's Senior News Editor. He longs for the days of texting via T9 word. Follow him @ryanrcraggs.

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