Official system reinstall, firmware flashing and factory reset - with a hardware check first, because boot loops and freezing are often failing storage rather than software.
Service Details
What phone software repair actually covers
The honest starting point: this is a narrower service than most shops advertise, and the reason matters more than the list.
Very often what looks like a software fault is a hardware fault. Boot loops, a phone stuck at the maker’s logo, freezing, apps closing on their own, a device that reboots at random - failing storage, a tired power management chip or board damage after a drop or a spill all produce exactly those symptoms. Reinstalling the system on a phone whose storage is degrading buys you a few days and your money back in frustration. So we check the hardware first and tell you what we find, even when the answer is that no reinstall will help.
What we do
- Official system reinstall. Manufacturer firmware, put back on the phone properly - including cases where the phone will no longer start far enough to do it itself.
- Flashing official firmware where the model, the security state of the device and its condition allow it.
- Factory reset, done with the account and lock situation sorted out first rather than around it.
- A clean start when you are not sure what is on the phone. If you suspect something was installed to watch you - stalkerware, a “family” tracker somebody else set up, an app you cannot find or remove - a full reinstall from official firmware is the only way to be certain. Removing apps one at a time is not.
- Failed updates and update loops, corrupted system files, a phone that will not take the next version.
What we do not do as standard
We do not fit custom ROMs, root Android or jailbreak iPhones as a normal service. Not because it cannot be done: because those builds are often unstable, and when the phone starts misbehaving three weeks later, the customer connects that to us rather than to the ROM. We would rather turn the work down than hand back a phone that has become unpredictable.
There are cases where we will take it on - a scope agreed in writing beforehand, charged at £85 an hour, and only when we have the bench time to do it properly. We reserve the right to decline any request involving custom ROMs, rooting or jailbreaking, and we will say so plainly rather than take the job and hope.
What we will not do
Not a matter of difficulty. These are the requests we turn down, and it is easier for everyone if you know before you come in:
- iCloud Activation Lock and Google FRP. We do not remove either. They exist so that a stolen phone is worth nothing to whoever took it, and they do that job well.
- Network and SIM unlocking. Not something we offer. The network that locked the phone is the one that can release it.
- Monitoring or “spy” software. We will not install anything designed to watch another person’s phone - whoever is asking and whatever the relationship. We will help you find out whether something like that is on your phone, and clear it off.
- Deleted messages. We do not offer recovery of deleted texts, chat history or call logs. Once the phone has written over them, they are not there to find, and anyone who promises otherwise is selling you something else.
- iCloud, Google Drive and other cloud accounts. What lives in the account rather than on the phone is between you and the provider. We have no access to it and no way in.
Proof of ownership is required for any reset, reinstall or account-related work.
Your data
Most of this work wipes the phone. If anything on it matters, say so before we start - we will tell you honestly whether it can be copied off first, and if the phone is dead, whether recovery is worth attempting. That is priced separately.
How it is priced
Diagnostics is £39, paid upfront and credited in full against the repair if you go ahead. The reinstall or reset itself is quoted once we have seen the phone, because a two-hour job and a ten-minute job should not cost the same. Custom work, where we agree to it, is £85 an hour against a defined scope.
Bring the phone to us in London or post it in - UK‑wide, tracked both ways. One thing we will not do is promise a software fix for a hardware problem.