Pop up on iPhone "Is this computer considered reliable?". What does it mean?

Why should you "trust" the computer your iPhone is connected to and why not?

Occasionally, when you connect your iPhone, iPod or iPad to a USB computer, either to charge it or to sync it, you are asked to answer the question "Is this computer trustworthy?".

Have you ever wondered why this pop up appears and what it means?

Continue below and you will understand exactly what is happening.

What does the computer reliability alert mean?

The pop up notification essentially tells you that you have connected your device to an unknown computer that you have never connected to before.

Apple introduced this feature in iOS as a kind of chain of trust to prevent other devices from accessing your iPhone (or iPod or iPad) data. The user has to answer whether the computer is trustworthy or not before the device can communicate with the computer. For example, if you select "Untrusted", then the iPhone will not contact the computer it is connected to via USB.

When you trust a computer, a special "key" is stored on both it and your iOS device to create a chain of trust. If the "keys" match, then iOS allows information to be securely transferred between the two. If they are otherwise, then iOS protects its data.

According to Apple, a "trusted" computer is able to do the following:

• Sync content via iTunes for movies and music
• Access to photos and videos
• Back up your device via iTunes

In practice, before you can trust a computer, you must first unlock the device with the password. This is the first step in security, so that only the owner of the device can give permission to proceed. Once the device is connected to a Mac or PC for the first time, the notification will also appear.

The pop up will not appear if the iPhone has been connected before and you have trusted the computer. However, if it has been more than 6 months since the last connection, you may be prompted to confirm trustworthiness again.

How to declare a computer untrustworthy?

Now that you understand the basics, you may be wondering whether you can declare a computer that is checked as trustworthy untrustworthy.

You may want to do this for various reasons, such as the computer has recently been infected with a virus and you don't want the iPhone to interact with it but still be a USB charging device.

If you have a device with iOS 8.0 or later, go to Settings > General > Reset > Location and privacy.

You will be asked for your password.

After typing it, confirm your choice to reset your settings.

Because this move will reset everything, it means that all the computers that were, up to that point, trusted will be deleted from the device's memory, and you will have to repeat the process, if you want, for each one individually. Unfortunately, it is not possible to select a specific computer.

What to do if the notification does not appear?

In some rare cases, this notification does not appear when it should. You can try the following:

• Update to iTunes. Make sure you have the latest version by checking here. http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
• Re-insert the USB. Use a different port or try a different cable.
• Turn off the device and computer, restart, and try again.
• Try the procedure mentioned above.
• Reset to Network Settings. Settings > General > Reset > Network Settings.

A computer trust notification is an important part of keeping your data safe in case someone steals your device and wants to access your valuable information. Use this feature wisely and only trust truly trustworthy computers.

From mirelen.