I got a sad duty. Is there any way to recover stuff off a locked android phone?

[Elizara]

...My sister DIED this morning. I'd like to recover her photos at least before we nuke her phone.

Is there a way to get things off/reset the passcode somehow? Thanks. Need something that doesn't have spyware in it.

[Bardicrune]

Sorry for your loss. Is there an SD card in it? She may have been saving them to it if so. You could pull it and try it in another device. If not, do you have access to her Google account? If not, you could try this page: Google Deceased User Account Request Form

[Elizara]

Thanks Bard, I'll try that if Tmobile support can't help.

[Lucavi]

I have nothing to add that can help, but I send my regards. I'm sorry for your loss.

[Elizara]

Thanks Luc. it's been a rough day and prolly will be a rough week.

[Ksandra]

No help, but I am very sorry for your loss.

[Elizara]

Thanks Ksandra.

[Odesseiron]

Like others, I don't have much else to add to this, but having gone through losing someone very close to me, my condolences to you and your family.

[Mayareira]

I am very sorry for your loss, my condolences.

Bardicrune’s solution seems the be the best. I recommend against using 3rd party apps at this stage.

[Elizara]

Thank you, both of you. Since both apps I've seen have some kinda spyware, i'd rather have Tmo handle it; if the phone isn't paid off, it's going to be mine. We don't have a death certificate yet so talking to google is not a option, but I may be able to call Nintendo; Shadowneko said i am inheriting her Switch.

Hopefully dealing with THAT won't be such a pain in the snoot.

[Hellfury]

You need to go the route suggested by Bardicrune, they are designed to not be circumvented. Even should you wipe it via a hard reset it'll ask for the google account after starting back up unless the custom telecom provider has changed it. It's to make it "impossible" to steal and wipe units. Unless T-mobile adds some stuff that lets them open.

(This is at least true for Samsung models)

[Elizara]

Good news. We managed to guess the passcode in time. (When someone uses the SAME PIN on several accounts...of course I won't say what it is...)

Anyway I thought you guys might want to see what my littlest brother wanted the pictures for. WARNING: GET THE TISSUES!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cxV...ew?usp=sharing

Also yes, that's a copyrighted song, Go Rest High On That Mountain. My sister was a big country music fan, especially Garth Brooks, and I caught one of her best friends saying she and him had talked about it a lot, gave it a listen on Youtube, then told my sister in law about it. (Sis'd also got a gang of her friends to go to the recent Garth concert that was shown at drive thoughs.) Mods, please let me know if that's going to cause any trouble at all; if it will, I'll kill the link.

Also a tip for everyone; for heaven's sake, make sure SOMEONE you trust knows your phone passcode. No one knows when He will call us home (or whatever you think happens when you die); you don't want your loved ones to have to go though the fire to just..get stuff off your phone. Or to be able to wipe the blasted thing, no use wasting a perfectly good phone.