Forgot restrictions password?

[Shylock]

I recently ran a app for a game, dungeon Hold 3 or something like that...well, the app sort of refused to let me close it after playing it, the iPad sort of locked up a few times, I had to reset it, use the on off button/ect, and it would keep going back to the app.....the only way I could think of getting outnofnit was to hit a banner that was a ad in the game. It then went to another screen which i did the typical five finger close swipe, but right before it closed, it said "purchased" at the top of the screen.....well, I have the "able to purchase" option turned off on the iPad. It won't let me buy things in game/ect.....at least things that are legit....I have no clue if there is a way to change it by a app....anyways, I seen it say that so decided to make sure purchasing was disabled, went into setup, and tried going into 'restrictions' whichs shows they are on, but I tried going into it and it asked for my password....and either it was changed, or I cannot remember my password, because it failed verification.....now, I've been in computers over thirty years now, and if I were to write a app that did change settings, I suppose I'd also write it to set the pw if it wasn't set and lock the person out....but I don't know I could of forgotten the password even....so anyways the question is, how or if I can recover? Can I reset without losing all the apps and such? Not that I honestly care all that much, I really think I may be wiping this and returning it anyways, but I would prefer not to lose things....but then again there is also the fear that this reset it to allow purchases, and/or even already purchased something....not sure how I can check that either.

 

[leelai]

If you weren't asked for your AppStore password then the purchase would not have gone through, so there's no need to worry about that.

But I'm afraid you will need to restore your iPad if you cannot remember the restrictions password. If you have a backup from before this password was created then you will be able to restore and then backup your iPad. If you backed up your iPad after the Passcode was set then this Passcode would have been recorded in your backup and then I'm afraid you will need to restore to as new and will lose everything.

But before you do that, it sounds like you were having some troubles. When you say you reset your iPad was this just a restart by holding the power button down until you saw the slide appear to turn off? Or was it a reset by holding down both the power button and the home button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo? If it was only a restart then give the reset a go. This reset will not change anything on your iPad but is worth a try here first to see if it will now accept the restrictions code you think it was, otherwise yes you will have to restore. Good luck and let us know how you go.

 

[Shylock]

Thanks. I will try to reset it by holding both down then until the apple logo appears, if I do not have to worry about rogue purchasing, then I do not need to get into the restrictions. I do not have it set to wipe after 10 pw fails, not sure if it applies to the restrictions pw or not, but do I have unlimited guesses?

 

[leelai]

Thanks. I will try to reset it by holding both down then until the apple logo appears, if I do not have to worry about rogue purchasing, then I do not need to get into the restrictions. I do not have it set to wipe after 10 pw fails, not sure if it applies to the restrictions pw or not, but do I have unlimited guesses?

I'm not sure how many fails you are granted for the Restrictions passcode but have a look at this link for more info. Hope it helps
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1212

 

[Shylock]

That seems to explain it perfectly. It appears it will give you so many tries, then lock the iPad for a short period of time, and then it will get progressively longer amounts of time. Sorta lame for just a 'restrictions' menu, IMO... But at least I can try a few times to remember and then give up without worrying about it locking totally. I wonder if I can back it up and then if it locks me out restore it and get a fresh clock? That could potentially give me unlimited tries, with restores in between.

 

[leelai]

That seems to explain it perfectly. It appears it will give you so many tries, then lock the iPad for a short period of time, and then it will get progressively longer amounts of time. Sorta lame for just a 'restrictions' menu, IMO... But at least I can try a few times to remember and then give up without worrying about it locking totally. I wonder if I can back it up and then if it locks me out restore it and get a fresh clock? That could potentially give me unlimited tries, with restores in between.

I am not sure on this, in theory it sounds like you could do just that but if it is set like the Passcode on the iPad itself it may ask you for the code before you do a backup. But I guess you can also test that theory first. If you have backed it up before the code was input you could just do a fresh restore and backup now and the code will be wiped. Up to you, but good luck with whatever you decide.