Having to unlock your phone every time you need to do something on it is good in situations where there’s limited privacy. But if you’re just alone at home or any other place where it’s unlikely someone else might try to get in, you don’t need that unlock pattern or pin. There’s good news for you. Android phones running Lollipop or later operating system has a feature known as Smart Lock. Basically, this is an automatic unlocking function that lets you set trusted places, trusted devices, and trusted face unlocking. This means that you can turn your device on, simply look at it, so that it unlocks.

How to turn Smart Lock on

You can configure Smart Lock by navigating to the Settings app on your handset. Make sure that you already have a pattern or any other lock on your device before you do anything else. Navigate to the ‘Security’ menu option under Settings then choose ‘Smart Lock’. In the Smart Lock menu, you have 3 options – trusted face, trusted devices and trusted places. You can configure one option, or all of them. Smart Lock allows you to set multiple trusted devices and unlimited trusted places. However, you’ll only be able to set up one trusted face.

1.      Using Trusted Places

You can set your home or work locations as trusted places. You could also add a custom place using Google Maps. Be sure to add a specific place (such as a home or business address) rather than adding an entire town. Once you add these places, you’ll be able to toggle Smart Lock on and off by tapping the small green buttons next to each option.

2.      Using device Smart Lock

Setting up trusted devices is just as easy as configuring trusted places. You can add a trusted device via Bluetooth settings on Android. So if you already have paired devices, simply tap ‘add trusted device’. In addition to Bluetooth, you can also set up trusted device using NFC.

3.      Using Trusted Face

This is a more seamless option that allows you to unlock your device simply by staring at it with the selfie camera pointed in your direction. Click on the ‘Trusted face’ button to enable this option under the Smart Lock settings. In the first screen that appears, you’ll get a reminder that face unlock isn’t as safe as other unlock methods. This is so since someone who looks like you could get through. If you have no problem with this, hit ‘Set up’. You’ll be prompted to hold your device at eye level in a location that isn’t too bright or too dim. Android scans and stores your face, but face unlocking might not work well when you’re in places that have poor lighting.Smart Lock is definitely a time saver that allows you to bypass the frustrations of having to draw a pattern or type in a pin each time you need to use your phone. If you have used this feature in the past, let us know how well it worked for you.
Image Source: Droid Life

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What's my model number?

There are several ways to locate your model number:

Option 1
On your device, go to Settings, then "About device" and scroll down to "Model number"
Option 2
Often times you can view the model number inside the device, by removing the battery
Option 3
Using Samsung's model/serial number location tool

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