Do not factory reset your Android 8.1 powered handset, unless you want to brick it

Bricking a phone is never fun, and on Android 8.1 you could easily find yourself bricking your daily driver by simply performing a factory reset on the device. That is what happened to Tom Bolger. Tom had just updated his phone to Android 8.1, but forgot the PIN code for his handset. That left him with no choice but to do a factory reset. Honestly, most of us would rather have a Foley catheter inserted than factory reset our phones. But sometimes a smartphone owner has no choice.

The problem arose after Bolger's phone had completed the factory reset. In the past, he would have been prompted ...