TimePin for Android is a free app for Android which allows you to set the lockscreen PIN code dynamically depending on the current time. This basically means that pin of your device would be changing all the time, and only you will know that pin is based on tie. This enhances the security of your device with ease.
We normally set up a password pin or pattern lock to protect our information, as people are snoopy. Generally, people are able to pick up the passwords or pattern locks after seeing you enter it a few times or due to fingerprint smudges on the screen. If you enter a longer pin or password to avoid the above, this mostly results is wastage of time or you may end up forgetting them. An easy solution is TimePIN for Android. Here the password will depend on the time and other rules you may apply to modify the PIN. As a basic example the PIN would be 0131 as it is 1:31 AM in the screenshot below. You can also change settings so as to enter reverse of the time, or same pin twice, etc.; to make it even more secure.
Protect your phone and your privacy with TimePIN for Android. This small app will change the pin depending upon the current time. This gives a new password every minute. The automatic changing of the pin makes it really hard for others to guess what you are entering and keeps your information safe.
Also check out pattern lock apps for Android we reviewed earlier.
Install and setup TimePIN for Android and beef up the security:
- You can install this small utility from the link mentioned at the end of this post. On launching the app, you will have the ‘Read Me’ of this application, agree to it to continue.
- Once you are done with the above, the application will ask you for a Default PIN. This will be used outside the lockscreen, or in case of errors. Enter and re-enter the PIN; the longer the better.
- In order to lock your phone, TimePIN is needed to be activated as the device administrator. So, the app will present you with a window as shown below. Click on the Activate button to continue.
- Now that we have reached to the main interface of the application, we have to enable the time PIN from here. The “Disable All” toggle will be on by default as seen in screenshot below (towards the left). Disable this and slide the ‘Enable TimePIN’ to ‘ON’, as shown in the 2nd screenshot. You can also demo the PIN by clicking on ‘Demo Pin’. After this you are done with the basic setup and now you will need to enter the TimePIN to unlock your device.
- If you feel that this is too simple and you like to make it more secure, then don’t worry; TimePIN for Android comes with plenty of options to resolve this issue. Click on the ‘Modifier’ and you will have the window as seen in the 1st screenshot below. Now you can double, reverse or mirror the auto generated PIN. Double pin will mean you will need to enter same pin twice. So, instead of 1234, you will enter 12341234. Mirror Pin means you will first enter the pin, and then re-enter in reverse. So, 1234 will be 12344321. And Reverse Pin simply means you will enter the pin in reverse. So, 1234 will be entered as 4321. Clicking on ‘Settings’ from the main interface will bring you options as shown below in the 2nd screenshot. Here you can change the default PIN or mess with the other settings.
In summary: An easy way to protect your phone
I really liked the simplistic approach of the app for improving security on my phone. It is not overly complicated which puts off many people and it works really well in the real world. A thing which bugged me was that other features which further enhance the usability of the app are available in premium version only, and were not available in the free version of the app; like the ability to use the DatePIN. Nonetheless, TimePIN for Android is a really nice security app for Android.
So did you like this app? Should we cover more articles on security apps for Android phones? Let us know in the comments below.
