Why Is Porn Mysteriously Appearing on the “new” IPhone?
There is something magical when it comes to porn. At least when it comes to porn showing up in the most unlikely places, like the web browser of your brand new smartphone. Luckily, I’ll help you figure out how they got there. Because I know that you have never pressed, pressed or printed anything that you would not sayin front of a nun .
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Here is Katie ‘s dilemma , a Lifehacker reader:
Recently bought a (minor) daughter a used iphone 7 on swappa. This was the third phone I bought there. The phone was cleaned and I went through the whole process of initializing and configuring it as a new (for us) device with our sim card, etc.
When the thing was up and running. For some reason I opened Safari. (Okay, that was a few months ago, so I don’t quite remember the sequence; I don’t think it opened automatically.) The VERY FIRST thing he did without any action on my part was to connect to a porn site. I deleted it immediately.
I don’t remember if it was on the cellular network or at the home of my wife … but there are only two of us in this house (me and this child), and we don’t watch porn here. How do you think it happened?
Ah, ghost porn. A terrible thing. But seriously, this is a little weird – and I’m going to believe that you didn’t click on anything you didn’t want. (I’m not saying this to be smart; I’m just trying to establish ground rules.)
My first reaction was that some sort of adult site had to be opened in the browser of another device, linked to the same Apple ID as your new iPhone. But even when you’re running Safari on iOS, you’ll have to do a little digging to access open tabs from other systems. The same is true for a third party browser like Google Chrome. Your open tabs on other systems don’t magically appear the first time you load the browser. So it probably happened.
I doubt that your iPhone has been infected with any malware, as this is actually not something most iPhone owners have to deal with, and it won’t be an issue for an iPhone 7 that just wiped data.
My only other thought, besides the obvious explanation that some website you visited might be to blame, is that your router’s DNS settings may have been altered in some way and this contributes to unwanted pop-ups (or redirects to adult sites you didn’t plan to go to). I admit that there is more to it, but it is worth researching – if only for the sake of switching to a faster DNS provider than your ISP.
Start by opening your router’s configuration page. If you do not know how to do this, you can always refer to the instruction manual for your router. This, or just follow this quick tip (for a non-mesh router, which you probably just use a smartphone app to access):
- On Windows, open a Command Prompt and type
ipconfig. The IP address listed as the default gateway is most likely the IP address of your router. - If you’re using a Mac, go to System Preferences> Network and click Advanced in the lower-right corner. Click on the TCP / IP option at the top of the next window and find your router’s IP address.
- If you’re using your iPhone-with-the-ghost-porn, tap Settings, then Wi-Fi, and tap the i icon next to the Wi-Fi network you’re connected to. The IP address of your router should be listed here.
After obtaining the IP address of the router, open a new tab in your browser, enter that IP address in the address bar and press Enter. Log into your router – if you don’t know how, its default username and password are probably printed in its manual, or on the router itself, probably on its back or underside.
After you go into the router settings, there are a few things you need to take care of. Please update your router’s firmware first. There may be an option for this right in one of the menus on the configuration screen of your router; it might be buried somewhere in its settings. You will also likely have to go to your router manufacturer’s website, find the correct support page, and download the latest firmware for you to install. This can be frustrating, but not cumbersome.
Once you have done that, go ahead and change the login credentials you use to access the router, especially if they are still “admin / admin” or “admin / password” by default. No no no. Choose a unique username and password.
Then review your router’s settings to see where you can change its DNS configuration. This is probably some sort of “get automatically” option, but if it’s a random IP address, that’s (probably) not good. Either way, you should switch its primary and secondary DNS to a better option like Google DNS , Cloudflare, or OpenDNS – the instructions (and the IP you want to use instead) are hyperlinked.
Finally, review your router settings for any “remote management” or “remote administration” options. If you find it, turn it off – in both senses of the phrase. You can never be too sure.
Hope this solves your mystery porn problems. If not, and you still get random pop-ups with private parts, let me know and we’ll troubleshoot some more!