AppLock: A solid choice for security (Review)

Overview

App locks are the easiest way for people to have access to your phone without allowing them to dive into areas that you don’t wish them to see. There are quite a few app locks out there and choosing one can be a task. Hopefully, this will help you decide if AppLock is the best protection for you.

Developer: DoMobile Lab

Cost: Free (In-app upgrades)

Setup

Setup Pattern

When you open the app for the first time, it prompts you to make a pattern and set up your email. Once you have configured your unlock pattern, you are then carried to the main screen, which lists all the apps you can lock out. Simply click which app you want locked out and it’s secured.

Highlights:

• Lock apps individually
• Lock photos and videos
• Different lock profiles
• Time lock
• Location lock

Review

AppLock is one of the best security tools you can get from the Play Store. It’s a free app that is rich in features. Like all app locks, it allows you to lock apps individually, but there are couple things I really like about this one.

Randomized Keyoard

To start off, it does have the pattern lock that I mentioned, however, you can change it to a numeric lock. What’s so special about that? Well, nothing really, except that you have the option to use a randomized numeric keyboard so, even if someone sees a pattern, the numbers will be in a different place the next time. The downside is it makes you really have to pay attention to what numbers you are punching in as you can be easily confused.

Another great feature is setting profiles for different scenarios. You could have profiles for your home, guests, kids, and more. You can customize the profile to only allow people access to certain apps. The best part is you can create home shortcuts that allow you to activate them by clicking and inserting your passcode.

Some other awesome features include the ability to activate those profiles at certain times and locations. So, if you have a work profile, you could set it for clock-in time. Be aware that there is no deactivation time, so it will stay on that profile until your next time lock occurs.

The location lock works off WiFi. When your phone hooks up to certain networks, it locks to the appropriate profile.

Let’s not forget that you can lock your videos and pictures one at a time as well. I don’t use this feature, but it’s always good to have more security at your fingertips.

Other Features:

• Security questions
• Power-saving mode
• Quick lock switch
• Themes

While this isn’t all that this app can do, it’s enough to give you a good read into how well this app has you covered.

In-app Purchases

Menu

This is the part that I found confusing. In the description of the app, it mentions that there are three different types of accounts and where to find them. Most people do not fully read the descriptions and may find it difficult to find where to upgrade.

To make it more confusing, the screen where you can manage your subscription is not apparent at all. You have to click your email in the Account Center that is located in the menu when you click the top-left hamburger menu.

Once you get into the Account Center, you’ll find the different accounts you can purchase. In order to get the premium features, you can either subscribe to a premium account or keep the app free but ad-supported. There’s also a basic account option that doesn’t show you ads, but doesn’t provide premium features.

Premium Features: ($.99/month, $5.99/year, or ad-supported)

• Photo vault
• Video vault
• Themes
• Fake covers
• Customize background
• Profiles, easy to change locks
• Auto time lock
• Auto location lock
• Hide applock icon
• Random keyboard
• Lock switch

Conclusion

AppLock has tons of features, which is nice, but I have rated it lower in value. The reason I did that is because I think it’s a bit pricey to pay for an app like this by the month or year. I think you’re better off using the ad-supported version of this app as the ads aren’t bad. The developer should consider simply charging a higher price to outright buy the app.

I also believe that it would be less confusing for the users if the developer changed the Account Center and just add a pretty “Premium Features” button, so the average customer knows that this is where he or she should go to support the developer. However, they are nice enough to auto-enroll you in the ad version instead of basic, no-extra-features version.

Download and install AppLock from the Google Play Store.

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BuddyPhones: Keeping kids hearing first (Review)

Everywhere you look around the internet there is no shortage of headphone reviews. All types from over-the-ear to in-ear, you can find both Bluetooth and traditional styles. One category that seems to get lost in the shuffle is kids headphones. They listen to music, play games and watch videos just like grown ups and we know that adult ears and the ears of a child are vastly different.

A child’s ear is still in development, thus the need for a kid-friendly headphones. That’s why onanoff have created a fun and kid friendly headphone called BuddyPhones for a low price of $25.

Design and Build

BuddyPhones come in four bright colors that’s sure to please any child. The designers have recognized that each child has different personalities and different tastes in design. So instead of cornering a child into having to choose one design option, they’ve included five pre-designed and blank stickers that fit BuddyPhones perfectly.

It’s no secret that kids can be a tad on the rough side when it comes to handling their toys. Keeping that in mind BuddyPhones are built tough and durable. They can withstand twisting and bending liberally and they bounce back.

Included in the package is a separate four-foot long flat cable that includes an in-line microphone and flat design. The flat design is great for preventing tangling. Since the cable isn’t attached to the headphones there is less of a chance of getting choked by the cable. At one end it includes a built-in audio splitter so your child can share their listening experience with a friend.

Sound

The World Health Organization, as well as many government agencies, recommends 85 decibels as the maximum listening levels for children. Long-term exposure that exceeds these levels can be detrimental to their hearing. Onanoff has taken this to heart and complied with this recommendation.

While they have lowered the decimal levels, that doesn’t mean the lowered their quality. It has a very gentle sound. It makes the child’s listening experience pleasant. Even with another set of  headphones plugged in, it doesn’t take away from the sound.

Summary

BuddyPhones are a great product for any kid. The combination of bright colors, customization, sound and a low price, it’s hard not to purchase these for your kid, niece, nephew, or grandchild. Especially when you think about their long term hearing.

Buy BuddyPhones from their website

Buy from Amazon

iQunix Zand is a great tablet stand, but why does it exist?

If you’ve ever been the type of person to attempt to replace your laptop with a tablet, you’ve probably realized that trying to do that with an Android tablet was nearly a lost cause, at least until recently. After more than 5 years of Android tablets, productivity is finally becoming more viable with mature photo and video editing products and word processing software such as Microsoft Office.

You probably also realized that most stand cases are pretty mediocre, but you’re not sure what you’d replace it with. If you haven’t already given up and bought a Microsoft Surface, the iQunix Zand tablet stand might be exactly what you’ve been looking for…to some extent.

What I really like about it

The height of the stand is perfect for using your tablet as a laptop. Combine that with a Bluetooth keyboard, mouse, and Remix OS 2.0, and you’re really cooking!

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It has an incredibly minimalist design and looks absolutely stellar with the tablet “attached.” I put attached into quotes because the stand just has a really tacky pad on the top and bottom that grip to your tablet and the table. At first I was worried about things falling off but I’ve had my Nexus 10 sitting on the stand for about a week and it hasn’t budged, even with regular use.

It seems like iQunix thought of everything, including having a nice opening on the back of the stand to thread a charging cable through so that you can have a sort of permanent set up. And I think that’s the problem, at least for me, because that seems to be what it’s for.

Where it falls short

It’s clearly designed to be for something that you never move. None of it is permanent, there’s nothing to worry about, there, but you aren’t going to be moving it about very often. It has a very tacky bottom – to the point that I have to hold down my side-table that I have it stuck to if I want to remove it, which means that this isn’t something that you can just take with you to your meetings like you would a laptop.

What’s more, the shape of it (albeit very aesthetically pleasing) is the furthest thing from portable. Once you take the wax paper off when you take it out of the box, it’s sticky forever (or at least as long as you don’t get it dirty) and it’s shaped like a giant metal “Z,” which doesn’t exactly fit into your backpack without complication.

It’s clearly not meant for a retail setting as a permanent mount because it is too easy to take the tablet off of the stand or just take the whole stand and go.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, the iQunix Zand tablet stand is really fun to say, it’s really good at standing up a tablet, and it looks great doing it, but I can’t work out who is going to buy one. It’s not for the tablet junkie who wants to replace their laptop and it’s not for someone who wants to drill their tablet to the table and make it into a point of sale. It might be for someone who wants to have a permanent tablet stand with a keyboard and mouse instead of a desktop or proper laptop at home but I’m not really sure that that person exists.

Ultimately, I really like it and wish that I had a purpose for it, but I don’t know what that purpose is. Admittedly, $40 is a lot – I would have probably guessed that it cost $25-30 and probably only half of that to manufacturer, but it really does have an Apple-like elegance to it that you don’t see every day. If you know what you’d use it for, please tell me about it in the comments because even at $40 I kind of want one, but I can’t possibly justify it without a real reason for it.