Android gives you a few solid
options for keeping other people from getting access to your phone. Of course,
there's the trusty four-digit PIN. But you can also set up a regular password
like you'd use on your computer. Or you can get into your phone by dragging
your finger to connect a series of dots in a unique shape. If you're running
Ice Cream Sandwich of Jelly Bean, you can also give "Face Unlock" a
try. Your phone will use its front camera to detect who's holding the phone,
unlocking only for the real owner.
This isn't a particularly
secure option in Ice Cream Sandwich, where it can be defeated using a picture
of the owner, but Jelly Bean makes the feature a little more usable. Once
you've set up Face Unlock, you can improve its reliability by taking multiple
pictures of yourself in the "Improve face matching" section of the
Security tab in the Settings app. (That way you won't lock yourself out of your
phone if you decide to get a haircut, or if you switch from glasses to
contacts.) You can also implement a "Liveness check" from the same
area of Settings, which makes the phone look for blinks and facial movements
when unlocking.
If
you're less worried about security and just want a simple slide, you also have
the option to quickly access the camera or Google Now from the lock screen.
Just slide the lock to the left over the camera icon, or up to get to Google
Now. And if you want to trick out your lock screen even further, you can use
WidgetLocker's LockScreen app ($2.99) to get music controls and
customized sliders for particular apps.
