Smart Lock... Really?

[VidJunky]

I've been suggesting to people lately that they use Smart Lock for different reasons. Then I thought, what's good for the goose is good for the gander and started using it myself in the car. It was working well. Then I noticed I was unlocking a lot at home when really I have no one to lockout there. So a few days ago I set it up for my house using location. At first it didn't seem to want to work and actually the next day I found myself unlocking while home. Yesterday it seemed to be working OK but I thought I noticed when I was headed out, about a block away from the house, not having to unlock my phone once. I brushed it off as I just pulled away from the house and it hadn't registered that I was far enough away. GPS is some times laggy. Today however it remained unlocked all the way to work (30 miles away) and I hadn't turned on my car Bluetooth so that was kind of disturbing. Once at work I was still able to just open the phone. No where near the car or my home, obviously. I went into the settings thinking that maybe I had accidentally set-up work or another device, not that you really can since you have to verify, but I couldn't think of anything else. Nope, just home and the car. When I deleted my home as a safe location it began locking again. So what's up with that? GPS lag is one thing, a block or two away from home, no big deal, but all the way to work and at work. That's a problem.

On a side note, after deleting my home as a location, deleting, it remained in the list and by touching it one of my options was to re-enable the site. No, I deleted it, I wanted it gone. The other option was to edit and in edit was able to fully delete the location.

 

[VidJunky]

Still only using in Smart Lock in the car. Haven't been brave enough to try it again for location.

 

[notforhire]

Use it with bluetooth a lot. Love it.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

I have never had that issue with smart lock but that was on a Pixel. I have never turned it on with my Samsung. Only with my headphones. That seems like a weird flaw. It should repack when you are away from the GPS near your house.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Never seen the point in smart lock... I can see why it would be useful in 2012, but on a phone with a fingerprint sensor how is it useful?

What really gets me is when people use something like their watch as a smart lock device. Such a stupid thing to do.

 

[Adam Frix]

Gee, if only we had a phone with a workable FPS.

 

[VidJunky]

fuzzylumpkin perhaps if the FPS was somewhere convenient or worked 100% it might be less of an issue but it is far from ideal in all cases. Actually in 2012 I think you could just turn off the screen lock all together. These days if you disable the screen lock a good portion of the device doesn't work. Google Pay won't work, not sure about Samsung Pay (obviously the more popular app), some banking and credit card apps won't work without some kind of screen lock and there's probably an handful of other things that happen if it's disabled.

Adam Frix I'm assuming you're riffing on how well the FPS works, even though I've heard many say it works great or they have no problems with it I'd have to say that it could be way better.

 

[Adam Frix]

it sucks, frankly. That it works at all is a miracle.

I say that having come from the S9+; the FPS was in a perfectly logical place, way better than on the front, and it was INSTANT.

This thing on the S10+ is there for fashion's sake. Yes, it works--after carefully placing my thumb or forefinger and after it thinks about it for 2-3 seconds.

 

[mustang7757]

it sucks, frankly. That it works at all is a miracle.

I say that having come from the S9+; the FPS was in a perfectly logical place, way better than on the front, and it was INSTANT.

This thing on the S10+ is there for fashion's sake. Yes, it works--after carefully placing my thumb or forefinger and after it thinks about it for 2-3 seconds.

I don't like the placement in the front either, and it worked all the time s9+, note 9 but I have no issues with my s10+ or note 10 + ultra sonic and worked being wet which the s9 and note 9 didn't. Looks like ultrasonic does needs little more work as it doesn't work for everyone. Just wish they would get a good face unlock going.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

fuzzylumpkin perhaps if the FPS was somewhere convenient or worked 100% it might be less of an issue but it is far from ideal in all cases. Actually in 2012 I think you could just turn off the screen lock all together. These days if you disable the screen lock a good portion of the device doesn't work. Google Pay won't work, not sure about Samsung Pay (obviously the more popular app), some banking and credit card apps won't work without some kind of screen lock and there's probably an handful of other things that happen if it's disabled.

Adam Frix I'm assuming you're riffing on how well the FPS works, even though I've heard many say it works great or they have no problems with it I'd have to say that it could be way better.

Those apps should stop working, no one would use them without a screen lock, they're disabled to protect those from themselves.

Samsung pay definitely isn't the more popular app over here.

I prefer the fingerprint sensor on the front, but mine is on the side because I have an S10e, pearly because it has a real capacitive sensor.

 

[Dooki]

the location on smart lock is bad, at best. it works a bit better if you add about four more spots, like around the edges of your property.

I use it for certain things, in my car and at home. the biggest failing is not having it wifi based.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I miss smartlock that would disable when connected to WiFi.

 

[VidJunky]

the location on smart lock is bad, at best. it works a bit better if you add about four more spots, like around the edges of your property.

I use it for certain things, in my car and at home. the biggest failing is not having it wifi based.

I'm not sure adding places would work in my case if it's still acting like it did before. I mean yeah the initial day I had issues with it working but then a day or two later it wouldn't stop working. I mean I was 30 miles from home. In any case I don't understand why there wouldn't be a setting for WiFi. It would be far more reliable than location since all kinds of things can cause GPS reading to be off, from cloud cover, to tree cover, to just being indoors. I've never used Smart Lock before. This is my first Sammy and I don't think HTC had it, or if it did I didn't know about it, so if they took it away as Golfdiver97 suggests that was a terrible failing.

fuzzylumpkin where is Google Pay more popular than Samsung Pay? Most places when I pull out my device to pay instantly snap with "we don't take Apple Pay", which of course makes me smile, some for the fact that Apple doesn't have everything and some for the confidence that they will take what I'm packing. Then when I try to reply "it's not Apple Pay..." I never get to finish before they say "we don't take Google Pay either", which is secretly annoying because they just cut me off before I could finish but also makes me chuckle because almost every place takes Samsung Pay whether they know it or not because it doesn't even need an NFC equipped terminal.

 

[Adam Frix]

Most places when I pull out my device to pay instantly snap with "we don't take Apple Pay", which of course makes me smile, some for the fact that Apple doesn't have everything and some for the confidence that they will take what I'm packing. Then when I try to reply "it's not Apple Pay..." I never get to finish before they say "we don't take Google Pay either", which is secretly annoying because they just cut me off before I could finish but also makes me chuckle because almost every place takes Samsung Pay whether they know it or not because it doesn't even need an NFC equipped terminal.

I get that quite a lot, and smile every time.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

fuzzylumpkin where is Google Pay more popular than Samsung Pay? Most places when I pull out my device to pay instantly snap with "we don't take Apple Pay", which of course makes me smile, some for the fact that Apple doesn't have everything and some for the confidence that they will take what I'm packing. Then when I try to reply "it's not Apple Pay..." I never get to finish before they say "we don't take Google Pay either", which is secretly annoying because they just cut me off before I could finish but also makes me chuckle because almost every place takes Samsung Pay whether they know it or not because it doesn't even need an NFC equipped terminal.

Britain. Samsung phones sold here don't even include MST, because magnetic stripe readers haven't been a thing here for over a decade. People here don't usually carry chequebooks either...

Also, your anecdote actually suggests Google pay is more popular wherever you are too lol.

 

[Mike Dee]

Never seen the point in smart lock... I can see why it would be useful in 2012, but on a phone with a fingerprint sensor how is it useful?

What really gets me is when people use something like their watch as a smart lock device. Such a stupid thing to do.

I find it very useful if utilized under the right circumstances.
At home I don't need it because I don't need to hide what's on my phone from my family or anyone I let into my home. Yeah it doesn't take a lot to use a fingerprint but it's so much nicer to just pick it up and use the device. Incidentally I reccomend giving your family your pincode in the event of a tragedy. A friend of mine's son died and they couldn't get into the phone to get important information.

Using it with other trusted places, on body detection, and trusted devices including smart watches is only as stupid as the user's careless use of the device. Regardless of personal opinion, in the end it really depends on how a user views or values certain conveniences verses certain security concerns.

Obviously if it's a work phone there may be corporate security concerns that disable features like smart Lock or add a third party lock to your device but we don't all need that level of security.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

I find it very useful if utilized under the right circumstances.
At home I don't need it because I don't need to hide what's on my phone from my family or anyone I let into my home. Yeah it doesn't take a lot to use a fingerprint but it's so much nicer to just pick it up and use the device. Incidentally I reccomend giving your family your pincode in the event of a tragedy. A friend of mine's son died and they couldn't get into the phone to get important information.

Using it with other trusted places, on body detection, and trusted devices including smart watches is only as stupid as the user's careless use of the device. Regardless of personal opinion, in the end it really depends on how a user views or values certain conveniences verses certain security concerns.

Obviously if it's a work phone there may be corporate security concerns that disable features like smart Lock or add a third party lock to your device but we don't all need that level of security.

Connecting it to a smart watch is stupid, you may as well not have a lock screen at all.

If someone is shaken down, what are the chances the scumbags doing it will take their phone and let them keep their watch?

 

[Mike Dee]

Connecting it to a smart watch is stupid, you may as well not have a lock screen at all.

If someone is shaken down, what are the chances the scumbags doing it will take their phone and let them keep their watch?

Stupid in your eyes doesn't make it stupid for all.

Most phones taken by criminals are snatch and runs in crowded areas. Just grabbing your phone and running while catching you off guard as it's in your hand or laying it down while you are sitting somewhere. One of the more common places in city's with subway trains are at station stops. People who sit or stand near the doors are the most susceptible. They either grab while leaving or grab from outside the doors as the doors are about to close.

As for shake downs that usually means less crowded areas with more time to shake you down to steal everything you have. Unless you are being shaken down by the dumbest of criminals or they don't have the time, they most likey also shake you down for your phone's pin code.