[REVIEW] Tapplock: Security with a Tap

Jason Cockerham

Community Review Team Leader
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Dec 9, 2010
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Biometric security has become all the rage over the past several years. You can use your fingerprint to unlock just about anything but there’s probably one thing you haven’t really thought about unlocking with your finger, a padlock. Thanks to Tapplock, anything you need to secure, from your bike to your luggage, you can now do with a simple tap of your finger. This was honestly something I didn’t really expect to get as much use out of as I did.

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Design

Ok this part is pretty straightforward, there’s not too many ways you can design a padlock these days. This one is circular with basically a smaller circle attached to a larger one in the back. On the front is a small square pad to place your finger on to get a reading and the bottom houses a small button to turn on the lock on so it can read said finger, and a magnetic charging port. The button is placed pretty well so you can turn on and unlock the lock all with one hand. Very convenient.

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The back part house the bars that do the locking part. Pretty simple.

Overall the Tapplock feels a bit heavier than a typical keyed or combination lock which means it feels very secure. I couldn’t find much information about how easy it might be to cut (or even shoot through for the super desperate ones) but it is safe to say at least it can’t be picked. It is also water and dust resistant up to an IP67 rating so you never have to worry about leaving it in the rain.

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Function

As with most smart gadgets, the Tapplock connects to your smartphone via Bluetooth so you can use the app to set up and manage you lock(s). There are actually three different ways to unlock it with the fingerprint option being the star of the show. Once you’ve got your prints registered, you simply press the button on the bottom once to turn it on, then place your finger on the lock and voila! You can register up to 10 prints per lock but honestly using anything other than a thumb or forefinger just felt unnatural but it let me put my wife’s in there too so she can use it as well. Sharing is caring.

For those of you paying attention, this means that you don’t actually have to have your phone with you or in range of the lock to be able to use it. Very convenient.

The second way is by simply using the app on your phone to unlock it. This might be more useful in the event you are wearing gloves or maybe it’s raining and your finger is too wet to get a good reading. I should note that I didn’t get a chance to test it out at the gym or in the rain so I’m not quite sure how good it is at reading a wet finger but thankfully you’ve got options.

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The app is pretty straightforward and easy to use. After you create your account and get logged in, the first page you come to is your “lock manager”. All your locks are here on this page. To add one, click at the top, press the button on the bottom of the lock twice to enter Bluetooth mode, then follow the instructions, Piece of cake. Once you’ve added a lock, simply click on it to go into the lock’s specific settings, unlock it from your phone, or add your fingerprints. This is where you would update the firmware for the locks when needed.

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The second tab shows you which locks you’ve shared with others or have been shared with you. This would be great for businesses if the need applies.

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The third tab is pretty awesome. It shows the entire history of when and how the lock was unlocked. If Bluetooth was used to unlock it, it will even show you where it was unlocked. Pretty handy if a more unsavory type of person tries to unlock it. You can see the entire history or view it by Bluetooth unlocks and fingerprint unlocks. Very useful.

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Lastly, the settings tab house just what you’d expect...the settings.

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The last way to open the lock is actually pretty smart; Morse code. Yeah buddy. If for some reason you fingerprint just won’t register and you either don’t have your phone or that’s not working either, the last option is good ole’ Morse code. This is done by using the button on the bottom to input a series of long and short presses which will unlock the lock. I know I’m not too great at remembering things so if you’re at all worried that you might need to use that option one day, I’d have your specific unlock code written down somewhere you can get to it (maybe someplace other than your phone).

One thing I should mention is battery life, cuz after all this is an electronic gadget. The company says the battery is good for 3,500 unlocks which it says means about a year for most people. That’s actually pretty impressive and since it only takes a couple hours to fully charge, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about it.

Conclusion

If you’re someone who regularly uses a lock for travelling, or you’re a frequent bike rider, or you want to keep your stuff safe at the gym or other public area, then this lock is worth considering. $100 is certainly a lot of money and makes it difficult for me to recommend but I don’t use padlocks that much in my daily life. If you do then this might absolutely be worth it for you. You’ll have to decide that for yourself but I can certainly tell you that it is a solid product that works just as advertised.

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It comes is black, grey, and silver and you can pick it up from Amazon or the company website.
 

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