Skip Your Phone's Password When You're On Your Home WiFi Network With This Clever App

Daniel Bean
·Assistant Editor
Updated

Most of us like to (and should!) keep our smartphones safe and sound behind a lock screen PIN password or slide pattern. It’s a smart idea, one that can really help prevent your information from being compromised in the event that your phone falls into the wrong hands.

But this doesn’t mean entering that password every time you want to check a text is always convenient or fun, either.

So, how about this for a solution: An app called SkipLock will intelligently regulate when your password-protected lock screen is enabled. This means that it will know when you’re not at risk of some stranger snatching your device - when you’re sitting on your couch at home, for instance - and will disable password protection.

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Here’s how it works.

Once you’ve installed the app, SkipLock will ask you to select which WiFi networks you would like to designate as “safe” places (work, home or your best friend’s apartment are candidates). Now whenever you’re connected to these WiFi networks, the app will know to disable that pesky password protection.

Voila! You’re free!

SkipLock will also work in a similar way for on-the-go use via your phone’s Bluetooth. If you have a Bluetooth earpiece or a car stereo that you’d like the app to recognize, you can enjoy the same type of password lock screen circumvention that you get at home, but on the road: That is, as long as you’re connected to your Bluetooth speaker in your car, or to your Bluetooth earpiece, you won’t have to unlock your phone with a password, if you so choose.

If someone does abscond with your phone (D’oh!), the app will re-lock the phone once your Bluetooth device is out of range (AKA: Once the thief is about a block away).

You can turn the regular slide-to-unlock, non-password protected lock screen off all together when the app is enabled, too. Just go into the Settings menu of your smartphone while you’re connected to a designated WiFi or Bluetooth profile and in “Device unlocked” mode, navigate to Security > Screen Lock and select None.

SkipLock is available now in the Play store as a free 4 day trial. Give it a shot and if you like it, you can upgrade to the unlimited use version ($5) right from within the app’s menu.

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