Key information | Hacking Watch Dogs Guide

Always hold down the hacking key/button - tapping it once will not do the job.!

Hacking is one of the most important elements of Watch_Dogs and this is because the smartphone, which the protagonist has, is very versatile. This device may prove VERY useful both whenever you want to sneak away from a dangerous area, as well as when you want to complete the mission, or effectively weaken, or neutralize, enemy forces.

After you locate the hack-able object of your interest, you need to hold down, for about a second, the key/button indicated by the game, thanks to which the entire process will be performed. An important piece of information is that you do not need to worry that your cover, as a hacker's will be blown. Still, you need to remember that you can be spotted and attacked, if you do not pay attention and you are approached, in a restricted area, and noticed.

The more complex action drain the battery

Before we go deeper into details of the possible uses of Aiden's hacking abilities, first of all you need to know that not all of the hacking actions can be performed without any restrictions. The standard actions, such as breaking into security cameras or activating the small devices in the area (e.g. vending machines) are not limited and you can initiate them as many times as you want to (the exception is the situation in which, the hacked device autodestructs, after being used for the first time). The more advanced hacking operations require you to sacrifice your battery's power, whose current condition is being displayed in the bottom-left corner of the screen (note - you can increase the capacity of the battery thanks to appropriate upgrades!). The actions that fall into this category are hacking into traffic lights or control systems of drawbridges. It is worth remembering about these restrictions and initiate the more power-demanding actions only when you profit from it directly (e.g. when raising the drawbridge will allow you to escape a police pursuit)

Note - The battery recharges to its full capacity after you visit your hideout!

A very important piece of information, as far as hacking is concerned, is that some of the activities connected with it (e.g. hacking into telephones of the other citizens in Chicago) are not available in all of the districts of Chicago, from the very beginning of the game. The majority of the districts are, initially, out of Aiden's reach and this will be brought to your attention, by means of the red messages displayed, during the hacking attempts (an example of such a message in the above screenshot). To alter this, you need to hack into the ctOS Control Center, for a given district and the entire procedure has been described in the chapter entitled CtOS Towers and Control Centers. A situation is quite similar in the case of those of the hacking actions, which become available only after you have unlocked the specific abilities. Only in this way, can you ensure yourself with, e.g. the option to hack into the spikes in the ground, or the large transformers. A full list of the available abilities can be found in the chapter entitled Abilities.

Another restriction, connected with the more advanced hacking actions are the situations, in which holding down the hacking key, is also required to complete an additional hacking minigame, just like the one shown in the above screenshot. Sometimes, the game attempts obstructing you and makes you race against time. Still, in spite of that, you should not have any problems with that. In order to complete the minigame, you need to manipulate the circuits in such a way, so as to connect input and output point(s), by means of the blue line.