Android Nougat recent app locking and other tricks

Android Nougat brings something new and very handy to the Overview feature. Here's how recent app lock feature can help make this often overlooked feature a must-use.

Google’s latest version of Android is already rolling out to the company’s Nexus and Pixel devices and will begin launching on new smartphones starting with the new LG V20. If you’re still waiting, Google is pushing Nougat to those on the Android beta programme first, so if you must have it right now, join the beta quickly to get it updated to the final version of Android 7.0.

How often do you make use of the Android "recent apps" button (officially called the Overview)? Do you every so often tap it to reveal (to your surprise) how many apps are there, or do you tend to use it to switch back and forth between apps? If you are of the latter sort, you know that list of apps can be very useful. Instead of tapping the home button to dismiss an app (so you can then open the App Drawer to locate the new app you want to use), you can skip a step or two and tap the Overview to launch the app you want.

But what if the app you want isn't there? Then you're back to square one. Wouldn't it be handy if you could lock apps you use most often to the Overview? Then you could rest assured those apps would always be but a tap away.

With Android Nougat, that feature has finally arrived. You can now lock apps to the overview, so that, even after a reboot, or a clear all (using the Overview clear button - Figure A), those locked apps will remain.

Figure A

Usage

This new feature is built into the 7.0 platform and is incredibly easy to use. Here's all you need to do.

Tap the Overview button

Locate the app you want to lock

Tap the lock button in the upper right corner of the app in question (Figure B)

Figure B

Locking the Google Drive app to the Overview.

Once you've locked the app, the lock icon will change (Figure C) and the app will remain in the overview.

Figure C

Google Drive locked in the Overview.

At this point, the apps you've locked cannot be removed from the Overview until you unlock them. As you might expect, to unlock an app, all you have to do is tap the lock button. Once the app is unlocked, you can swipe it to the right to dismiss it from the Overview.

If you're concerned with locked apps interfering with the split screen function, don't. Locked or not, you can still add an app to the split screen view for handy Android multitasking.

One handy feature

If anything, this addition to the Overview tool should sway you into making more usage of one very handy feature. Having the ability to lock apps to the Overview means those apps will always be a quick tap away. Use this new locking feature in conjunction with the split screen view and Android becomes an even more powerful platform.

There are also others features to look forward to and things to tweak.

1.       Long battery life

You don’t have to do anything for the new version of Doze to give you better battery life apart from update your phone. Doze reduces the impact that apps not actively running in the foreground have on battery life by working out which ones need to receive updates and use the processor, and which don’t.

Using Marshmallow, that only happened when the phone was not moving around, but now it works even if the phone is in your pocket. It should give you anywhere between 10% and 25% longer battery life, depending on how long you leave the phone in standby.

2.       Edit Quick settings

The top five quick settings panel can be changed to modify what’s always displayed

at the top of the notification shade.

Quick settings are better than ever. Now you get a top line of settings without opening the rest. That line contains the first five of the full quick settings panel that can now be edited. Just tap the edit button on the bottom right of the quick settings panel and move them around by holding and dragging.

3.       More emoji

Thanks to an update to Unicode 9, 72 new emoji have joined the party, bringing the total to over 1,500. You’ll never be without the appropriate pictogram to get your point across

4.       Quick reply

Quick replies are now available for almost any messaging app on Android

There’s no need to actually go to into a messaging app anymore, as basically everything gets quick reply through the new modifications made to Android’s notifications.

You can reply to messages, see other replies and conduct your business without ever leaving the app you were already in. It’s great.

Hide files and apps on your Android phone

Maybe you’ve got some pictures that you’d really prefer your mother not stumble across if she needs to borrow your phone. Maybe you have some private documents that contain sensitive personal information. Or perhaps you have apps installed that you'd rather keep for just your own eyes. No one needs to know about that Farming Sim app you play. Some people choose to use applock applications to lock private files and apps, but hiding them seems more safe and effective. So we've put together a list here you can keep your personal files and apps secure.

If you really want to have the most granular control possible over what appears on your phone, you may well need to root it but if you'd rather not do that, we've included some non-root options too. Plus, Android has a few built-in features you can make use of to keep your secret things secret.

Frist of all, there’s a crazy easy way to hide whole folders without using third party apps. This simple fix will prevent photos from showing up in galleries, audio files from showing up in players, and documents from showing up in editing apps. However, the files aren’t particularly hidden, because all you’re doing is renaming the folder in such a way that Android ignores it.

Using any Android file manager, simply add a “.” to the front of the folder’s name. If you want to get super sneaky, try renaming the folder something boring like “.simdata” or “.systeminfo” or whatever.

How to Hide Files

Most Android devices don’t actually have a stock ability to hide stuff, so no matter what you’re looking to do, you’re probably going to have to resort to third-party apps. Let’s start with the basics and learn to hide some files in general.

A solid app for this task is File Hide Expert. It’s a free app, and it lets you hide and unhide any file on your phone with ease. To get this up and running, first download the app from the Google Play Store. When you open the app, you’ll receive a message indicating that the hidden file list is empty. Tap the folder icon in the top-right of the screen to begin hiding files.

The app works like a basic file management app. As long as you know where the file is located, you can hide it regardless of type. Check off any files you want to hide, and then head back to your main screen.

From here, hitting “Hide All” will spirit away all of your files, making them inaccessible to snooping phone borrowers. They’ll no longer appear in other file managers or galleries. To bring them back, simply open File Hide Expert again and tap “Restore All.”

Of course, this hardly keeps your content safe. After all, anyone can just open up File Hide Expert and see all the files you don’t want them to see in one easy-to-access list. A smart idea will be to use File Hide Expert’s password capabilities.

Tap the Menu button and then Settings. The very first option will be to enable a password. Check that box, and you’ll be prompted to enter a password to use. Be careful not to forget this, because you’ll need to use it every time you boot up File Hide Expert. You don’t want to get into a situation where you can’t restore the files you’ve hidden!

How to Hide Apps

Ever get tired of seeing that damn NFL Mobile app that came with your phone and which you can’t uninstall without rooting? Is your app drawer getting crammed with apps that you rarely use, making it a headache to get to the ones you want? Is your app lock passcode seen by ur girlfriend or parents? Hiding apps is a good way to clean up your app tray and keep guest users from stumbling across any apps you’d rather keep your own business.

Some stock launchers offer this functionality right out of the box. Most Samsung users, for instance, have the ability to hide apps without leaning on third-party apps. If your launcher doesn’t support app hiding, give Nova Launcher a spin. It’s an excellent launcher all around, and it gives you the ability to hide apps with a simple and intuitive option.

Install Nova Launcher and open the app drawer. Navigate to Nova Settings > App & widget drawers > Hide Apps. Select the apps you want to hide, and they won’t show up in your app tray anymore.

To reveal an app again, simply return to the same menu and uncheck the desired app.

Remember that these apps were created to keep files out of the hands of casual guest users. If someone with the right know-how is really serious about getting at your private data, they’re going to be able to circumvent the methods these apps use to keep your files and pictures out of sight. The best security is to make sure that such people don’t get ahold of your device, and to make sure you’re using a secure lock screen. Consider hiding very sensitive content on a non-mobile device.

How to password protect individual apps on iPhone

While setting a passcode on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch can go a long way towards improving the security of your device, it is meaningless in situations where it is already unlocked and an invasive family member decides to read through your Messages history or tamper with your ongoing Candy Crush Saga game.

Fortunately, a myriad of jailbreak tweaks has been released over the years that password protects apps on iOS devices. iAppLock stands as one of the first candidates to be updated with support for iOS 7 or later, and it has some useful features besides applock. Read ahead for a complete rundown…

While most tweaks are configured through a menu in the Settings app, iAppLock is a standalone application with an icon on the Home screen. I’m not a big fan of having jailbreak-related icons in plain sight on my iPhone, so I immediately put it in a folder. The app itself has a simplistic user interface that matches iOS 7 design and presents you with three different tabs: protect, setting, and more.

The protect tab has a plus sign that you can tap to select native or third-party apps to password protect, although there is a five app limit that will require purchasing the upcoming professional version to override. I chose to password protect Mail, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Safari because of their social implications, although you can place a password on whichever apps you desire.

When you or someone else attempts to open a protected app, a password prompt pops up and prevents access until the correct passcode is entered. iAppLock also has a passcode of its own, so that people can’t go into the tweak and disable it. Alphanumeric passcodes are not supported, but hopefully, a future update will alleviate that. The developers should also consider adding passcode support for folders.

The settings tab has a number of options to configure, including a delayed lock setting where no passcode is required for a short amount of time after successfully opening one protected app. For instance, if you type in your passcode to open Facebook, all other protected apps will be accessible for the length of delay you select.

The delayed lock lengths offered include 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes. Additionally, there are menu items for changing your passcode or retrieving it through an authenticated email if you ever forget.

Last, the more tab offers the ability to send feedback to the developers — The ThinkYeah Studio — or share the tweak. It also has a defunct link to upgrade to the unreleased pro version of iAppLock, which remains a work in progress. The regular iAppLock is available now on Cydia for free in the BigBoss repository.

If you are looking for a Touch ID-based version of this tweak, check out BioProtect. Or if you’re looking for different Touch ID or passcode tweaks altogether, there are plenty to choose from. Let us know which ones are your favorites in the comments down under.

Is this application worth a dollar? You can find out yourself.

Aga app has security issues with its remote control

A security researcher found the issues when considering whether to upgrade to the latest Aga model

An app that lets Aga cooker owners remotely control their ovens could be hijacked by hackers, a cybersecurity researcher has claimed.

Ken Munro of Pen Test Partners was thinking of upgrading his Aga when he found vulnerabilities in the apps used to control the newest models.

It means ovens could be turned on or off, though not in a way that makes the cookers dangerous.

Aga has said it has contacted the third party that provided the system.

"If you were maliciously motivated, it wouldn't be very difficult to switch off people's Aga's remotely," Mr. Munro said.

His investigation concerned the "iTotal Control" (TC) system, which Aga has marketed since 2012.

Among the security issues, he says he found is the fact that SMS messages - which are used by the system to turn the oven on or off - are not authenticated by the cooker.

Nor is the Sim card set up to send the messages validated on registration.

Mr. Munro also criticized the fact that user registration for the service allows lock passwords as short as five characters - security experts usually recommend using as many characters as possible, with a minimum of eight.

Email addresses are sent in plain text via the system, too, he explained - meaning personal data could be vulnerable to snoopers.

The mobile and web app allows user registration with a very short, five character, password

He also said that attempts to contact Aga about the problems, including a tweet and emails on 3 April, fell on deaf ears.

When he did get through to someone and advised them to take the Total Control website down, he got a disappointing response.

"I asked to speak to relevant departments, they couldn't put me through," he said.

Third party provider

"Aga Rangemaster operates its Aga TC phone app via a third party service provider," Aga said in a statement.

"Security and account registration also involves our [machine to machine] provider.

"We take such issues seriously and have raised them immediately with our service providers so that we can answer in detail the points raised."

However, the firm did not comment on Mr. Munro's claims that it ignored his disclosure of the problems. So until now, the best solution is to install some security apps on your phone to protect your personal data or use an app lock aplplication to prevent your private information leakage.

The Aga cookers are controlled via SMS messages sent via the remote control system

"It's kind of unacceptable that some random person could just take control of your Aga," said Professor Alan Woodward, a cybersecurity expert at the University of Surrey.

"Will hackers try it? Who knows, but it just shouldn't be possible."

He added that he was surprised there seemed to be a flat response from the firm when Mr. Munro tried to raise the issues.

"If somebody calls up, 'I found a problem with your system,' they should look at it," Prof Woodward said.

Keep prying eyes out of your Android applications

The one issue at the top of most smartphone users' minds should be security. We carry around so many precious data, and when it's lost, trouble often ensues. To that end, Android developers are always searching for new and improved methods to help give your ever-growing mobile world even more ways to secure that data.

There are instances when security can come in the simplest forms, such as keeping prying eyes out of certain apps. You might hand your phone over to someone so they can make a call or look at a picture. If you turn your back, that user could always dig into your data. Fortunately, there are ways to keep certain applications readily available while others are locked down. One such method is a third-party applock application called PrivateZone.

 

With PrivateZone, you can create a specific PIN code, a pattern lock or choose an app cover that can then be used to lock down whatever applications you wish to secure. It's incredibly simple to use. Here are some main features of this useful application:

Lock any app (Applock)

Privacy State Scan

Hide images

Hide videos

Break-in-Alert (Anti-snoopers)

Anti-Theft

Block incoming spam and unwanted calls

Disguise feature (with App Covers)

Theme support

Lock access to phone (Lock Screen)

Prevent uninstallation protection

Now let's look through the process of installation and using this handy Android security application.

Installation

The installation of PrivateZone is simple. Just follow these steps:

Open the Google Play Store

Search for "PrivateZone" (no quotes)

Locate and tap the app titled PrivateZone

Tap Install

Tap Accept

Once the installation has completed, locate the PrivateZone launcher in your app drawer and tap to launch.

First use

When you first launch PrivateZone, you'll have to set up your unlock password or pattern (Figure A). Enter a password that's at least four digits or set a pattern that's at least four points, and tap OK. You'll then be required to re-enter the same password or redraw the pattern and tap OK.

Figure A

PrivateZone running on a Verizon-branded Samsung device.

Locking apps

After you've confirmed your locking password or pattern, you'll find yourself on the Main Lock tab (Figure B). This is where you select apps you want to lock with the newly created password.

Figure B

Lock as many applications as you like from this window.

To lock an app, simply locate the app in the Main Lock tab, and then tap the lock icon associated with that particular app. Once they're added, those apps will require the locking password or pattern in order to open. You can also set up a relock policy, which dictates how often you must enter the locking password in order to open an app. The relock policy can be:

Auto lock after screen is locked

Always Lock (Relock after activating the app)

To set this relock policy, tap on the Setting tab, and then tap Relock Policy. In the popup, tap to select the policy you want to use.

After a lock is set, you can also rename the lock and even change the password or pattern. To rename the lock, follow these steps:

Open PrivateZone

Tap on the Tool tab at the upper left corner

Tap on Common Settings

Tape on Change Pattern/Password

Reset Pattern or tape on Change to Pin Code at the bottom

Tap on OK tab

Besides the App Lock features, there are many other cool features to secure your phone.

★ Lock Screen: Enjoy your amazing phone lock!

-Use screen lock protect your phone from intruders;

- Choose different themes or covers to customize your lock screen.

★ Harassment Intercept: Know your True caller to avoid spam and unwanted calls.

- Avoid spam, unwanted calls and put them on your blacklist.

- Share them with friends & family with one click.

★Hide Pictures: Protect your personal photos

- Easily hide pictures to our vault from your gallery.

- Keep snoopers away from private photos.

- Enjoy a private photo gallery that only you can view.

★Hide Videos: Protect private memories easily.

- Don’t worry about your private media in our video vault now.

- Protect your secret videos from prying eyes and nosy friends

★ Private Browsing: Keep your personal data secure

- Clean your search history immediately

- Keep the browse data spy from others.

- Surf your favorite websites in private browsing and secure your privacy.

- The fastest way to download your favorite photos, videos, and files.

★Privacy Status: Scan your privacy status with a single tap

- Know your potential privacy-leaking risk at any time.

- Protect your all secrets in real time.

★ Anti-theft: Lost and Found

- Lock all your apps with our advanced App Lock function to protect your privacy.

- Locate your phone on the map, give an alarm helps you to find it.

★ Break-in Alert: Intruder Selfie

- Capture a snapshot of anyone who tries to unlock apps behind you.

★Phone Boost: Speed up your Phone

- Boost the speed of your Android phone, clear junk and cache.

★Charging Screensaver: Monitor your phone power status smartly

- Show remaining charging time when you use it.

Best Apps for lock applications in 2017

Best Apps for lock applications in 2017

Do you want to set a password for applications and lock apps? It seems to happen with everyone that we have left the mobile phone without having locked it and in just one minute the private information that was has been exposed by a friend, relative or colleague who is aware of your unlock code. Then he can use it to extract information and gossip all information you have, either images or videos, and then he will be able to disclose them or blackmail you. Even worse, your information could be stolen without the need to hack your Wi-Fi.

If you have already tired of the usual pattern locks, which many times are not totally safe or the constant changes in applications that offer this type of security can’t make expected results, then we will introduce you to some better applications for a password where your more intimate information will be much safer. Here is a list of most effective app lock applications for privacy and security for Android mobile device.

Apps to lock apps on Android

1.       Super AppLock - Put password to applications

 

Super AppLock is one of the most complete apps blocking apps. As it not only blocks applications, it also allows you to block multimedia elements, such as photos or videos. The best thing about this application is that it is free and without advertising.

2.       App Defender - Protect Android apps with password

The application block with App Defender in quite easy to do seems a simple and current application, but when you use it you realize that it is not so.

This application shows you a list of applications that you can block, then allows you to pick the ones that interest you. Once this is done, you have to create the password to access blocked applications and you are ready.

The main attraction of this application is that if a user enters a wrong password, more than 5 times, the phone activates the camera and takes a photo of the person trying to enter, very useful, right?

3.       LOCX - Lock apps

If you're a fan of good design, and you like everything square with the Android interface, this application blocking application is right for you.

LOCK allows you to lock the most common applications, which could be considered daily, such as Contacts, Messages, WhatsApp etc. It does not have many advanced options, but it does well with its function.

4.       Lockdown - Lock apps

Another one for fans of the design, as it allows you to set custom lock screens and select many themes to protect applications on Android.

The developers assume that it blocks all the applications and makes it possible to set unlock patterns by password in different modes: common, calculator or schedule, the latter updates the password with the current time, ie if it is 20:40, the password will be 2040, Quite novel this system, but predictable if anyone knows the application.

5.       Privacy Protector - Lock Android apps

In addition to the main feature of locking applications, Privacy Protector allows you to customize the lock screen and block calls or messages. For the latter you just have to enter the numbers you want to block and it is enough for the application to block them.

6.       PrivateZone – App lock and Screen Lock

PrivateZone could be considered as a small security app, due to the options it presents. However, it focuses more on privacy than on lock apps itself, which of course is a present function.

This application, in addition to blocking applications, has a security box where you can enter photos or videos for example and will remain there, without anyone else you can access.

It has a feature that allows you to lock the phone remotely, which would be a kind of lock with a click, according to the developers just send a message to lock the phone and its applications.

Like App Defender, it allows you to set a lock, which is activated when a user enters the wrong password more than 3 times. With the advantage of taking a photo of the attacker at the time.

7.       Hexlock – Lock apps

An application that stands out for integrating with the appearance Material Desing of Android and that has the most options necessary to block applications with some aggregates.

In addition to blocking applications, it also allows you to block text messages, Block calls, pictures, messages.

It also allows you to establish up to 6 profiles, which will allow you to determine certain locks for each particular situation, for example, work, university, disco, etc.

That’s the list of the best apps to lock applications that currently exist. And you ... Do you know more? Interested in setting a password for applications on your Android Phone?

Block access to apps on your smartphone

- How to lock apps individually

The Android platform provides us with a very interesting security system so that we can keep informed of that we have our mobile phone away from the spying eyes. Although it is not something that comes when you activate factory defaults, we can find it when we enter the Settings menu or Settings of our phone. It is a screen lock system that puts a barrier on our phone. So we can avoid snooping problem before it happens. As we know, this is an option that the vast majority of users know about, and its utility is evident.

Now let's see another way to protect the phone. Basically, the system is the same, because like Android system does, what you have to do is to put a barrier to the access that can only be activated using a password or a lock pattern. But the difference is that these locking tools that we are going to see try to put the lock on the applications that we want individually, instead of putting a lock on the whole phone.

Have you ever left your Android phone at a friend's house, at a cafeteria table ... or have you lost sight of it for a while, not knowing where it was? If so it’s very probably that it has occurred to your mind that someone could enter and see your personal conversations in Whatsapp, your e-mails, your contacts ... we can imagine that how bad or offended you felt at that moment. But why not avoiding these undesirable moments, if we have tools at hand to do so?

So let's look at the best app lock solutions we can find right now on the Google Play Store. We have selected them for their versatility (they know how to offer what we need), easiness to set and manageability, both the app and the phone itself, once it starts to work.

Although, as you can see, there is a very varied list of applications, we will not have to download all of them in our mobile, because we may not need all the long list of options that offer us and more apps will only take more space in the memory of our Phone unnecessarily. It’s not true that the more functions an application have, the better it is. Its usefulness will be determined by if it can offer us exactly what we need.

Now take a look at this detailed analysis we have done. It includes from simple solutions to the most complicated ones. Yes, they all perfectly fulfill their mission.

One of the simplest solutions to protect our phone without locking it is using applock. There are plenty of apps you can find on Goggle Play Store, and PrivateZone is the one of the most popular of its kind. With its selective locking of applications, we can make the system more secure for our Android smartphone.

Are you worried about the curious colleagues or friends who like to peep on the other’s phones? PrivateZone will free you of this concern since others will only enter the apps that we have left with free access.

Our e-mail, Whatsapp, agenda ... everything private and personal will be locked. And to set a restricted access with it is very simple and fast. We can set a password to access quickly, or do it by a lock pattern. What’s more, you can use different app cover to create a fake lock UI to confuse others.

In addition, if we want to avoid that, in more complex situations, someone tries to uninstall this lock application and thus having free access to all the apps we have, we can just activate Uninstall Protection so that they will not make it in any case.