Google introduced a new way to unlock your Android device with Android 5.0 Lollipop called Smart Lock. This feature allows you to set security bypasses when you are in a specified location, connected to a certain devices and even with your voice or face, allowing you to skip the lock screen thereby giving you quicker access to your device. When you set your Android Lollipop (and above) device to automatically unlock under certain circumstances, you don’t need to manually unlock with your PIN, pattern, or password in those circumstances.
This location of this feature varies between devices and may not available on some. Also note that your trusted location is just an estimate. Thus, your trusted location may extend to a radius of 80m from your set location. This guide will focus on how to set your Trust Places to enable you unlock your device in specific locations and we’ll focus on just stock Android and Samsung’s TouchWiz UI.
Method 1: Setting Up Trusted Places On Stock Android
- Open your device’s Settings app.
- Under the Personal section, tap Security
- Under Advanced, tap Trust Agents and make sure that Smart Lock is enabled.
- Go back and tap Smart Lock under Device Security.
- Enter your credentials when prompted. Follow the on-screen prompts to set up one if you don’t have any. You’ll need to enter it any time you want to change your Smart Lock settings.
- In the Smart Lock options, tap Trusted Places. Tap Home and then Turn on this location. If you want to set any other location apart from you Home or Work, you can also set a custom location by tapping Add trusted place under Custom places.
To delete a trusted place, tap on the location and tap Turn off this location or Edit > Trash > Clear.
Method 2: Setting Up Trusted Places On Samsung Touchwiz UI
This method covers Samsung devices running on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
- Open the app drawer and launch the Settings app.
- In the Settings, tap Lock Screen and Security.
- Select Secure lock settings and then Smart Lock. A list will appear with the Smart Lock options. Tap Trusted Places.
- Tap Add trusted place, choose your location from the map and then tap Select this location.
To remove a trusted place, select the location and then tap Turn off this location.
The steps are slightly different on Samsung devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop. Follow these steps if you’re running Lollipop.
- From the settings go to Security > Trust Agents and toggle on Smart Lock.
- A new option for Smart Lock will now appear under the advanced section of the security settings. Tap Smart Lock.
- Enter your PIN or password when prompted. You’ll have to create one if you don’t have any.
- Tap Trusted places > Add trusted place, choose your location from the map and then tap Select this location.
- To remove a trusted place, select the location and then tap Turn off this location or Edit > Trash > Clear.