The Mac Observer

Airlock Auto-locks Macs with iPhone Proximity

December 1st, 2009 at 1:40 PM - Product News by Jeff Gamet

 

MHA announced the immediate availability of Airlock on Tuesday. Airlock is a Mac OS X application that auto-locks and unlocks your computer based on the proximity of your iPhone or iPod touch.

The application uses Bluetooth to determine your iPhone or iPod touch's location and unlocks your Mac when in range, and relocks your computer when out of range. Other actions can be triggered when coming in range, such as refreshing Web pages, logging into iChat, or taking photos with your Mac's iSight camera.

Airlock requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5 or higher and an iPhone or iPod touch with built-in Bluetooth support. It is priced at US$7.77 and is available for download at the MHA Web site.

 

7 Observer Comments

   Actions Khaled said on December 1st, 2009 at 1:48 PM (Edited: 12/08/2009 4:11 PM):

That’s smart. Will probably drain the battery but it’s a nice idea.

Doesn’t work so great for me. iPhone & iMac see each other, but can’t connect. Oh well.

Doesn’t this reproduce the long-standing function of BluePhoneElite 2? I guess it’s a lot cheaper though…

This is a really cool idea, but it’s not working properly yet.  Apple should implement something like this that actually works.

Can’t you guys even bother to install it and do a short review before puttitng it on your web site?  You should explain, for example, that the demo period is 3 hours, which you can reenable every three hours (which ends up being a lot more of a hassle than just using the screen saver password.)  Themha only wants $7.77 for the software, which can be run on up to three Macs.  Basic information like this needs to be in the announceement (or at least on the Themha website.)  It’s ridiculous to leave your potential customers in the dark about such basic details.

There is nothing to install on your iPod/iPhone, just turn on bluetooth if it’s not already on.

I uninstalled it (tried to at least), but it’s still locking my screen even after uninstalling it and logging out and back in.  I removed the pref pane, of course, but it must have strewn itself all over my startup disk.  There is no uninstall option.

I am going to have to do a complete format and reinstall for Snow Leopard anyhow, but I seriously would not recommend this software yet.

Brian:

Go to System Preferences>Security pane. At the top of this pane there will be a checkbox next to “Require password after sleep or screensaver begins”.

Uncheck this, and you will be good to go. A full reinstall of OS X is practically NEVER necessary.

   Actions Joenel Umal said on December 8th, 2009 at 8:30 PM:

Cool thing!, I wish I still have my iphone… frown

Another cool thing is that the Airlock and run apps upon entering the proximity range and run other apps upon out-of-range.. It’s linda like the wireless key used in modern BMW cars..

How bout letting your mac play a greeting sound or prompt whenever your near enough. OR don’t use it as a locking device, instead use it as a WIFE detector so you can stop flirting online and close your browser upon her proximity. You just need to secretly pair the Airlock with her iPhone.

They just need to fix that bluetooth bug.. I will not sacrifice my clutter free desk just to use this..

   Actions Paul Rathey said on December 15th, 2009 at 1:32 PM:

To uninstall, you have to keep the Pref Pane, open it up, go to the Advanced tab, and press the Uninstall button there.

It will uninstall itself, and remove the pref pane.

Login. Need an account? Register here.



Auto-login on future visits

Show my name in the online users list

Forgot your password?


Commenting is not available in this section entry.
 

Recent Headlines - Updated September 5th

Sat, 10:45 AM
News - iOS 4.1 Launch Set for Sept 8
Fri, 8:09 PM
News - Ping Tops 1 Million Users in Two Days
5:03 PM
News - Quantcast: Android Eats into iOS Lead of Mobile Browsing
4:24 PM
Free on iTunes - Netflix, Fotopedia, The Citadel and More
2:49 PM
John Martellaro's Blog - Particle Debris (wk. ending 9/3) A Bundle of Critical Thinking
1:26 PM
Deal Brothers - Cavalry Storage 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive:  $59.99
11:22 AM
Games - Assault Commando Hits the App Store
10:46 AM
Product News - Chronicle for Mac Adds Income Tracking
10:06 AM
Hot Forum Topic - Reader Debate: Why Buy the New Apple TV
9:30 AM
News - Facebook May Be Blocking Ping
8:51 AM
TMO Appearances - Dave Hamilton, Chuck La Tournous Discuss Apple Media Event on MacJury
8:19 AM
News - Apple Highlights Upcoming iPad Features
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Buy Stuff, Support TMO!
  • Read TMO on Kindle

  • TMO on Twitter!

Apple Stock Quote

  • AAPL: $258.77. Change: +6.60.
  • (Prices delayed up to 20 minutes.)
  • Discuss in our Apple Finance Board

Hot Topics

TMO Express

Join the TMO Express Daily Newsletter to get the latest Mac headlines in your e-mail every weekday. Find out more!

Top Deals From DealBrothers.com

Recent Features

Support The Mac Observer

We noticed you may be running AdBlock on your computer. It takes real money to run this site and to deliver the news, tips, and opinions you love to read.

If you wish to block the ads that pay for the creation of our content, we ask that you instead support TMO Directly, either with a $5 monthly recurring contribution, or a one-time donation of any amount of your choice. Thanks!

Subscribe with Paypal Donate with Paypal