If you’re one of the many people who has a compatible device that can download and flash the first developer preview for Android N which was just recently announced, you may already be in love and digging into the handful of changes that have so far been discovered and introduced. While most of the changes that have been talked about so far are new to the Android OS, there are obviously quite a few that have stuck around as part of the experience from earlier versions of Android, like Factory Reset Protection which Google launched when they pushed Lollipop out to the public.
The idea behind Factory Reset Protection is to help users keep their data and privacy safe in the event that their device is lost or stolen. It essentially locks up the device if active and if a factory reset is tried, which is when the feature more or less kicks in and asks for the login information of the Google account that was on the device prior to the factory reset attempt. While this is a functionality that is generally a challenge to bypass, it’s not entirely impossible as noted with the Nexus 6P back in January as well as with the Galaxy Note 5 towards the end of last year, and within the Android N Developer Preview there seems to be a workaround already thanks to Root Junky.
Mind you, the whole process is not really that simple and even though RootJunky goes through the steps needed, initiating the bypass for Factory Reset Protection isn’t recommended as you essentially end up leaving your device more open to risk. Having said that, the video can be viewed below if you’re simply curious and just want the knowledge on how it was done. It’s also likely that it won’t be too long before Google finds and deploys a fix for this bypass. The video isn’t too long as it only clocks in at just under four minutes, but that doesn’t mean the process wouldn’t take longer than that for anyone who chooses to attempt the method of bypassing FRP. It’s worth mentioning that RootJunky bypasses the feature on a Nexus 6P, although it’s never explicitly stated that this method only works on this particular device.