This feature is only available within Android 5.0, however, and the pool of devices running Lollipop at the moment is pretty much limited to the Nexus line.
Although it is only available on Lollipop, I find it pretty neat that these features have native support. The caveat about setting a trusted place to unlock is straight out of Tomorrow Never Dies[0]:
"Be aware that location signals can be replicated or manipulated — someone with access to specialised equipment could unlock your device."
It looks like the Lollipop Smart Lock can unlock your phone when it's in proximity to your PC, whereas nearlock will unlock your PC when it's in proximity to your phone.
I've seen things similar to this before, but they tended to be unreliable. Has anyone actually used this yet? Does it work reliably?
Also, how does the authentication work exactly? What's to stop someone from blasting out the same signal that your phone emits, preventing it from sleeping as you walk away?
This is EXTREMELY unreliable, not only is it's distance measurement way off (to be expected, BT wasn't designed as sonnar) but the app "forgets" your computer after being away for ~5 minutes. YES, I paid for pro and YES, I allowed it to run in the background. When I come back to my computer not only does it not unlock but the phone apps wants to walk me through pairing again.
Do not waste your time/money on this app. It may have a nice UI but it simply doesn't work!
You are right for the distance, it uses bluetooth signal strength for the distance estimation with an optimization algorithm and it can not provide the exact value, only an estimation. The app should NOT forget your computer at all. We have experienced that before but managed to fix it in the last release. Please send an email to support@nearlock.me with your exact configuration (iPhone, software, Mac, software) and we'll try to reproduce the bug.
I just purchased Knock to Unlock. Comments so far;
Locking the Mac requires me to go to the Knock menu bar and clicking "Lock" with my mouse. I suppose this can be remedied by setting up an applescript shortcut and running it quickly via Spotlight Search.
Secondly, when it locks it - the screen goes black. I don't necessarily want this, as I don't want to "wake up" the computer when I return first using my keyboard. It takes a split second or so before I get to the password prompt (I have to tap a key on the keyboard or move the mouse) at which point I can knock on the phone twice to get in.
Thirdly, this is not the fault of the app - but I can type my 8 character long password faster than I'm able to (on average) locate my phone and tap it twice.
Interesting - but I am not sure if I'll end up using this app.
Win+L in windows, which can be difficult with an ergonomic keyboard with only a left Win key, because you have to use two hands (or be very lanky and limber).
My first thought would be to re-map Win+L with AutoHotKey or similar. Or, just press start, and arrow up and over to lock (lots more keypresses though).
I'm no good with macros, but the start+arrow idea is great. For me it's only one more keypress, but I can do it all with one hand. Funny thing is, I use that combo at home to put my home computer to sleep, because I don't leave that running in between sessions. Thanks for the tip that I should have known already!
I run Linux but use the iMac keyboard and have also mapped locking to shift-eject. I didn't know it was so close to the OSX bindings. Very easy to hit, yet hard to hit accidentally.
Don't know if this is different in 10.10.1 (Just switched to OSX a month ago so I have no prior experience with OSX)but this key-combo doesn't lock the screen, it starts the screen-saver.
If you want it to lock the screen you need to change your preferences in security and change the screen lockout time to "immediately" for it to act as a lock.
In my experience this is one of the things Apple still has yet to perfect. I frequently have a problem of my mid-2012 MBP not wanting to wake up when I open the lid no matter how many times I close/open it. Often I have to do a hard reboot.
To Apple's credit, this is also still a problem with PC laptops from what I hear.
Had something that worked like this a few years ago, it had the problem that it forced the blue-tooth to suck the battery clean very quickly.
It seamed like a use-full thing, but when i used it it was actually more of a annoyance than i helpful thing. Leaving the phone next to the computer becomes a no no.
Was coming in here to chime in on it not really being new with the same complaint. On an ancient phone (my first smart phone however long ago that was these days) this was one of the features the bluetooth dongle's driver came with.
Every time I got an SMS it must have knocked the bluetooth off for a moment because my computer would lock. Really annoying after the first few times, didn't last long!
This functionality is supported by the software supplied with the broadcom driver for any bluetooth enabled phone (on Windows). No need for an app on the phone. Such functionality is also on linux in the bluez package. Don't know about Macs. It is really sad that previously ubiquitous software is now being made into "apps".
A lot of ubiquitous software requires fiddling to get it installed since somebody made a proof of concept but stopped there. The value of prepackaged apps is the polish and the user support around that - that's worth a couple of bucks for people like me that don't want to spend time for the polish.
Downloaded it, set it up, paid for backgrounding, tested walking away and coming back and it all worked perfectly. Went to go get lunch came back and wouldn't unlock, had to enter password manually. I then had to unpair my phone (from the desktop app) and re-pair to get it to work again. Hopefully the second time is a charm... Also the app asked me to pay again for "Pro" though didn't charge me...
If you are having problems getting bluetooth-based options to work consistently on your Mac, here is my alternate technique that locks your machine when your put your mouse in the bottom right corner:
* Go to Preferences...Desktop & Screen Saver...Hot Corners
* Set bottom-right corner to "Put Display to Sleep"
* Then in Preferences...Security & Privacy enable "Require Password after sleep or screen saver begins"
I just installed this and it seems to work great. My only complaint is that, like many UIs, there is a switch to enable it and it isn't clear which way is "on" and which is "off".
Just installed/upgraded. My thoughts are that it has a very generous idea of what 1.0m is I was easily 2-3 meters away for ~20 seconds before it locked. Im using a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014) and iPhone 6+.
Additionally, while typing this, it locked and unlocked my computer while the phone was in my pocket. Looks like the distance finder needs to be dialed in somewhat. With my phone literally 3" away on the same desk, it says between .5 and .7 meters. I get that this is all a big tight rope and you have to balance battery, distance, time, and sensitivity. I have set up my upper left hot corner to lock my computer so that is a pretty strong habit right now. This, however seems to be a pretty good option in the cases that I miss or forget to do so.
One thing about these "daemon" type apps that only need to respond to background Bluetooth events (e.g., Automatic, the UniKey app), is that, at least on iOS, they clutter up the multitasking view and it's not obvious if they will work if killed. This is something that needs to evolve in iOS as we get more background agents like this.
There are also a couple of cool features. With Near Lock you can use the iPhone settings to set that your Mac only locks when you walk away, or that it only unlocks your Mac when you approach it, or both of those things.
If you guys have any suggestions or bug reports, just shoot us an email.
Sorry that you think so. You can ask apple for your money back if you dont like the app. The scenario that you say was fixed and tested in the last update. The app should NOT forget the Mac. Might be that somehow it doesnt work for a certain setup. What system do you have on your Mac? We can try to fix it.
Not new - I implemented this for a bank's trading floor in 1999, using the Java Ring http://www.javaworld.com/article/2076641/learn-java/an-intro... - we also did a few other interesting things with this device, but one of them was "walk away from your desk and your machine locks"
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[ 2.4 ms ] story [ 122 ms ] threadhttps://support.google.com/nexus/answer/6093922?hl=en-CA
"Be aware that location signals can be replicated or manipulated — someone with access to specialised equipment could unlock your device."
[0]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomorrow_Never_Dies
http://macid.co/
http://www.knocktounlock.com/
http://www.fingerkeyapp.com/
http://www.appuous.com/products/mac/keycard.html
After a couple weeks, it became automatic to always move the mouse to the hotspot before I stand up.
Similar to how using a fingerprint for access is a bad idea.
Interface is very slick.
Congrats!
Also, how does the authentication work exactly? What's to stop someone from blasting out the same signal that your phone emits, preventing it from sleeping as you walk away?
What are the others?
If my phone is in my pocket (it will be) this takes longer and involves much more juggling than typing in the computer's password directly.
Do not waste your time/money on this app. It may have a nice UI but it simply doesn't work!
http://www.knocktounlock.com/
Locking the Mac requires me to go to the Knock menu bar and clicking "Lock" with my mouse. I suppose this can be remedied by setting up an applescript shortcut and running it quickly via Spotlight Search.
Secondly, when it locks it - the screen goes black. I don't necessarily want this, as I don't want to "wake up" the computer when I return first using my keyboard. It takes a split second or so before I get to the password prompt (I have to tap a key on the keyboard or move the mouse) at which point I can knock on the phone twice to get in.
Thirdly, this is not the fault of the app - but I can type my 8 character long password faster than I'm able to (on average) locate my phone and tap it twice.
Interesting - but I am not sure if I'll end up using this app.
(edit) Ethics, not everyone's cup o'tea. Got it.
And Command-Option-Eject/Power will pout your Mac to sleep.
Edit: Ah, I see now. Eject or Power depending on the model. Thanks.
Does anyone know of an easier way?
Even if you don't type "correctly", it still doesn't seem like a big deal. I can't imagine anything easier than Meta-L.
Please elaborate.
> I can't imagine anything easier than Meta-L
It's very easy when you don't already have a cup of coffee in your hand on the way to a meeting.
If you want it to lock the screen you need to change your preferences in security and change the screen lockout time to "immediately" for it to act as a lock.
To Apple's credit, this is also still a problem with PC laptops from what I hear.
I remember using it at The Party in Sweden, circa 2006. A bit newer then :)
It seamed like a use-full thing, but when i used it it was actually more of a annoyance than i helpful thing. Leaving the phone next to the computer becomes a no no.
Every time I got an SMS it must have knocked the bluetooth off for a moment because my computer would lock. Really annoying after the first few times, didn't last long!
* Go to Preferences...Desktop & Screen Saver...Hot Corners
* Set bottom-right corner to "Put Display to Sleep"
* Then in Preferences...Security & Privacy enable "Require Password after sleep or screen saver begins"
Additionally, while typing this, it locked and unlocked my computer while the phone was in my pocket. Looks like the distance finder needs to be dialed in somewhat. With my phone literally 3" away on the same desk, it says between .5 and .7 meters. I get that this is all a big tight rope and you have to balance battery, distance, time, and sensitivity. I have set up my upper left hot corner to lock my computer so that is a pretty strong habit right now. This, however seems to be a pretty good option in the cases that I miss or forget to do so.