If you use a smart watch, it is very likely that, like me, you wear it on your wrist almost all the time. The idea of a smartwatch is to help us perform some tasks and actions without having to use our cell phone (see and respond to notifications, use applications, among others). But this watch can also be used for unlock our smartphoneif we so wish.
This is particularly useful for those who prefer to use a PIN as a security method on their mobile, or who simply want to have it unlocked most of the time to even faster access to its functions, but without completely deactivating the lock for security. Android hides a way to use a smartwatch as a device to unlock your phone.
A watch (or any device) as a key to unlock your phone
I say it is hidden because the function is a bit buried among the multiple options in the system settings menu. Is about Smart Lock, a function that allows you to use the devices associated with the mobile as a “key” to keep it unlocked. I do it with my smartwatch, but actually you can even use headphones.
The only condition is that The mobile must remain connected to that device. That is, if you are using the headphones to listen to music and they are connected to your phone, it will remain unlocked until you stop using them. In the case of smart watches, which is the device we will use, it is the same: as long as the watch is connected, the mobile will remain unlocked, although not permanently: we can only use this method to unlock the mobile for a period of four hours.
After this time passes, the mobile will be locked. And of course, we can also lock the mobile manually from the power screen. This is a function that can be very useful to avoid constantly unlocking your phone, even if another trusted person is going to have access to your smartphone.
To configure the watch as a device to keep your phone unlocked, follow these steps:
- We go to the Settings menu and then to the Lock Screen section (on some devices this option is found in the Security section)
- Next we access the “Extended unlock” option. The mobile will ask us to enter our security PIN
- We click on “Trusted devices” and then on “Add trusted device”
- Finally, we select the device we are going to use. In this case, the smart watch
The screen will ask us to confirm the action and from then on, after unlocking the phone, it will remain unlocked while it is connected to our smart watch, as can be seen in the previous image (from the notifications screen). The extended unlock only lasts 4 hours, after that time we will have to unlock the mobile again.
To lock the mobile manually at any time we just have to hold down the power button and select the “Lock mode” option. If your phone does not have this option activated by default, you can activate it from the Lock screen section in the settings menu, accessing the “Secure lock settings” option.
Finally, and as I mentioned previously, this option may have a different name depending on the customization layer used by the manufacturer of your mobile. In the case of Samsung Galaxy with One UI it is called “Extended Unlock” and is located in the Lock Screen section. But to activate this function on mobile phones with a stock Android version we must access the Security section of the settings menu, then select “More security configuration parameters” and finally access “Smart Lock“.
Cover photo | Alejandro Alcolea for Xataka