# Who here locks their smart phone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 2, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400 "2010-09-02T16:43:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/21 "2010-09-03T02:18:25Z")
I lock my iPhone after 1 minute. I do this because some waste of space TOOK IT OUT OF MY HAND AND RAN OFF WITH IT. (long sorded details are in another thread on this board) It’s also set to wipe after 10 bad attempts. I wish I could set that to 3. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/22 "2010-09-03T12:55:27Z")
My Blackberry locks after an hour – enough to give protection, but not enough to be a nuisance. When locked, my address displays. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/23 "2010-09-03T13:05:21Z")
I don’t lock my iPhone - it’s never more than 3 feet away from me. For those with an Android, I’m trying to dig up an article for you (that you’ve probably already seen). You can set up Advanced Task Manager (or Killer, I can’t remember which one) to perform a “where’s my phone” function. Essentially, you set it up to activate a specific set of tasks if your phone receives a text message with a certain keyword or phrase. It then quickly turns on GPS, checks it’s location in Google Maps, and sends a text back with coordinates. You can also optionally have it pop up a screen to tell the thief/good samaritan how to return it. I suppose you could also set it up to always ring (not vibrate) when you call it from your home landline (what? what’s that?) for the people who always misplace under the couch cushions. (Yeah, I’m doing a lot of researching of androids, why do you ask?) Edit: Ah, here it is! > **[How to Roll Your Own "Find My iPhone" for Android](https://lifehacker.com/how-to-roll-your-own-find-my-iphone-for-android-5611003)** > > iPhone users can pay $99 per year for a tool to find their lost iPhone. On Android, just under $6.50 (once) lets you build your own GPS-locating, SMS-triggered tracker for your lost-or-stolen Precious. Here's how to do it. ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/24 "2010-09-03T13:17:23Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > I don’t lock my iPhone - it’s never more than 3 feet away from me. > > For those with an Android, I’m trying to dig up an article for you (that you’ve probably already seen). You can set up Advanced Task Manager (or Killer, I can’t remember which one) to perform a “where’s my phone” function. Essentially, you set it up to activate a specific set of tasks if your phone receives a text message with a certain keyword or phrase. It then quickly turns on GPS, checks it’s location in Google Maps, and sends a text back with coordinates. You can also optionally have it pop up a screen to tell the thief/good samaritan how to return it. > > I suppose you could also set it up to always ring (not vibrate) when you call it from your home landline (what? what’s that?) for the people who always misplace under the couch cushions. > > (Yeah, I’m doing a lot of researching of androids, why do you ask?) > > Edit: Ah, here it is! > [How to Roll Your Own "Find My iPhone" for Android | Lifehacker](http://lifehacker.com/5611003/build-a-find-my-iphone-clone-for-android) That is awesome! I wish my iPhone had something like that. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/25 "2010-09-03T13:23:32Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Edit: Ah, here it is! > [http://lifehacker.com/5611003/build-a-find-my-iphone-clone-for-android](http://lifehacker.com/5611003/build-a-find-my-iphone-clone-for-android) Aha! Excellent - _another_use for Tasker, the best £3.95 I’ve spent this year. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/26 "2010-09-03T13:31:03Z")
> [@sparky\_1](#): > > That is awesome! I wish my iPhone had something like that. I know, right? That post alone is what got my android crush rolling. A friend of mine has a Droid X, and I kept asking her why she liked it so much. All she could say was, “everything’s integrated - it all works together”. I didn’t really know what that meant until I saw that. I love my iPhone, but I’m willing to see someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/27 "2010-09-03T14:15:37Z")
You can do the same with an iPhone if you want to pay for MobileMe - lets you track it on a map live even! But yeah lots of stuff on Android is free that is charged for on iPhones. Although I’ve heard of a free iPhone that does similar I haven’t tried it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/28 "2010-09-03T14:20:40Z")
I don’t lock my phone. My shit’s just not that important. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/29 "2010-09-03T14:32:19Z")
What’s a “smart phone” exactly now? How is it different from a “regular” cell phone? (I’m a luddite and broke, so I have neither) ---
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400/30 "2010-09-03T14:36:51Z")
> [@Oregon\_sunshine](#): > > What’s a “smart phone” exactly now? How is it different from a “regular” cell phone? (I’m a luddite and broke, so I have neither) My “smart phone” doubles as my portable computer and has all my emails synced to it, as well as all my web bookmarks. Theoretically, someone could get hold of my phone, access my email and find info I don’t want others seeing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-here-locks-their-smart-phone/552400.md?page=1)