[App Review] FaceLock for Apps protects your apps, brings Face Unlock to Gingerbread
Two things make this app stand out: firstly, it brings the Face Unlock capabilities of Ice Cream Sandwich to Gingerbread devices too. That’s impressive, because that means nearly 200 million more phones capable of being protected using the method. The second, which as the name suggests, is the ability to protect individual apps.
These are only my initial thoughts. I’ve been using the app for about half an hour, and will update this post once I have tested it extensively.
And I must admit, when it works, it works well. It’s accurate in several lighting conditions, and more importantly its quick. I tested it out by protecting my Gallery app (I hate it when I give my phone to a friend, and find them going through my photos), and it worked as it says it would.
I do have a few issues though: it seems to be taking quite an extensive amount of memory while running in the background (I spotted it at 24 MB) and more importantly I’ve found my launcher to slow down at times. Only rebooting makes the device usable again. I must add that I’m using a not-so-stable ICS ROM on my phone, so it might be running into problems with that too.
The setup is pretty easy, just open the app and take a few photos in different lighting conditions. A minimum of 7 are required, but they suggest 10-15. I took a few with me wearing my spectacles, too, since the lock didn’t initially identify me when I wore them. That helped, and I wonder if it’s possible to take a few with other people you’re OK with giving access to. You also need to enter a PIN which it uses as a backup.
The free version lets you lock only one app, and you can’t lock the phone itself. However, for $2.5 you can get that feature and lock as many apps as you want. It also locks your settings for you automatically. Give the app a try, and send in your comments.
[Google Play via XDA]