Do you ever worry about your smartphone being stolen? If so, you should download the Lockwatch security app. Lockwatch takes photos of people who try to unlock your mobile unsuccessfully and sends the photo along with the coordinates of the person to the owner of the smartphone via email. This is a great way to catch thieves and recover your stolen phone. Lockwatch is an interesting solution for smartphone users who don’t mind having an extra app installed.
Lockwatch by BlokeTech is also trademarked as the “anti-theft for Android.” Any Android phone user who would like a bit of extra security can install the app for free and can quickly set it up on their phones. Obviously, it doesn’t stop people from stealing your smartphone, but at least it provides relevant information that can help the police to find the culprits and return the device to you.
How does the Lockwatch security app work?
You only need to install the app and do a bit of initial configuration that you’ll be guided through. For instance, you’ll need to configure how the app should behave, and of course, the app needs to know your email address if you want to receive any information from the phone.
I set the app up to take a selfie of the culprit when someone tries to unsuccessfully unlock the phone, and this is not followed by a successful unlock action within a timeframe of ten seconds. When triggered, the app will establish a secure connection to the Lockwatch server with all the details and then sends you everything by mail.
Earlier today, I was trying this out outside and, on purpose entered the wrong unlock code. I then waited ten seconds to make sure the app didn’t whitelist the attempt later on. Shortly after, I received an email from Lockwatch with the information that someone tried to unlock my phone and at what time and date that happened. In addition to that, I got a mugshot of myself looking confused at the phone, and in addition to that, it provides the location coordinates and a link to resolve these coordinates on your Maps app.
This kind of information is no guarantee that you’ll get your phone back, but it significantly increases the chances that the police can actually solve the case and get you your phone back. Please do not play detective yourself and confront a criminal. Simply take the case to the police, who will take care of everything for you.
If there is truly no avail to recover your phone, you can at least use a link in the mail from Lockwatch to spot where the device is right now, to what Wifi it is connected, how the battery state is, as well as lock the device permanently and sign out of your Google account on it. If you take things one step further, you can erase the device along with all data on it, but then you can no longer trace its location.
What are the premium features of Lockwatch?
If you like the app and want to use the paid features as well, you can opt into the premium feature subscription, which will cost you about 4.29 EUR per year. For that sort of money, you’ll get access to features like detecting SIM card changes, sending you emails after the device is powered on, taking multiple photos of the unauthorized user rather than just a single one, recording audio clips, as well as retrying to send you emails in case there was no data connection during the first attempt.
Before doing the actual test today, I had the app on my phone for sixty days and found no issues. It doesn’t seem to take up space or RAM, and it’s not using any noticeable battery charge. Actually, I almost forgot about it, and this is just how an app like this should be: Silent until you need it. I’d recommend you to try the Lockwatch app out yourself if you own an Android smartphone and would rather show the police some information in case you ever have to report a stolen or lost phone.
YouTube: Lockwatch Demo – Best Anti-Theft Security Android App / Lockwatch App / 100% Working With Proof (Navi Kandgule)
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by Rancz Andrei. The example photo in the article is owned by Christopher Isak and was prepared for TechAcute.
