Symbian in Motion

Txt2Lock: Security Solution for S60

by Zach at 2:29 pm | October 30th, 2007 | Category: Application Reviews, Utilities

Whenever I pass by a thread on a forum asking members to list their “essential apps” for S60 I’m always shocked that not many people mention any security apps. S60 devices are among the most expensive devices on the market and I don’t know about you but I always try to protect my investments, especially one as important as my mobile phone. More importantly, my phone is home to a huge amount of data that I can’t afford to let fall into just anyone’s hands. In the event that my phone is lost or stolen I need to know that my data is secure.

The solution that I now use to ensure that my data is secure in the event that my phone is lost or stolen is Txt2Lock. This app/service provides the core functionality that you need in order to protect your phone and more importantly, your data. As the name might suggest, Txt2Lock allows you to lock your device remotely by sending a simple SMS containing your secret password and a lock command. Once your device is locked successfully you receive a lock alert confirmation and you can rest a bit easier.

Txt2Lock supports two different types of locking. The first is the “Lite Lock” which can be your first line of defense. Using the Lite Lock you still have the ability to attempt to contact your device in an effort to recover it. When the Lite lock is applied all outgoing voice and SMS communications are instantly cut off but incoming calls and SMS messages are allowed though. A Lite Lock can only be lifted by entering the Txt2Lock app, inputting your secret password and changing the lock status to Off.

The second type is the “Max Lock” and when applied your device becomes completely unusable. All communications and applications are unaccessible and the screen displays the Txt2Lock notification image.

Once a Max Lock is applied the device becomes completely useless until the device is unlocked using a combination of button presses and your secret password. Leaving inbound communication lines open in the event that the SIM is switched would be useless so the Max lock is also automatically applied in the event that the SIM card is switched. It should also be noted that both the Max Lock and Lite Lock automatically encrypt your memory card so your images/personal files/etc will be safe.

Taking up a mere 29.6KB of RAM, the Txt2Lock server process is hardly a drain on any of your precious resources unlike most other options available. Since installing the app I’ve noticed absolutely no difference in battery life which is a welcome change from other options I’ve tested. Granted, there are a few features that I would like to see added to future versions of the app but even when they are added it will still be the least cumbersome option available.

A nice bonus that is most definitely worth mentioning is that with each purchase of the Txt2Lock app you also are entitled to a free premium mobyko account! I won’t go too far into explaining mobyko but essentially it’s a service that allows you to store all of your images, videos and SMS messages remotely via any data connection. Beyond that it lets you take advantage of the integrated S60 Sync app to back up all of your contact data remotely! There are a few other nice features as well such as photo sharing, content downloading and you can even send SMS messages from your PC via your device.

Add the usefulness and convenience of mobyko to the security and reliability of Txt2Lock and you’ve got a winning combination. When you consider the fact that the tandem can be had for a mere £7.00, you really can’t afford to pass by this deal. Click through to learn more or to purchase Txt2Lock and get your free premium mobyko account.

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Viewing 13 Comments

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    Nice review. However I miss something in this app. If someone "finds" your phone, how would he/she ever can return it? And what is the use of locking a device (on inserting another sim) if you can't trace the thief.
    I use for some time now Phone Guardian (recently updated to v2.0) It has some more usefull feautures:
    - you can set a lock message yourself (with i.e. you email address)
    - if sim card is changed you will receive a sms with new phone number and location (you can choose to lock the phone on sim change, or follow the thief and lock it later with a sms)
    - a build-in siren. believe me, your phone can make a damn lot of noise

    It can't encrypt your memory card, but your phone can do that by itself (at least my n95 can).....
    it's even cheaper (just $9,99) but you don't get the mobyko premium account.

    just my 10cts. Again thanx 4 the nice reviews here. very usefull!
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    Can you customize the lockout screen?

    If you could put a message stating how to contact you and a possible reward I would expect there would be far greater return percentages!

    What would be even better though is if you send the encrypted SMS it unknowingly automatically calls a certain number regardless of who is called. ie. if someone picks up your phone and tries to make a call it is automatically re-routed to the number of your choice you would hopefully be able to talk your way into getting your phone back!
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    In the UK (not sure about rest of EU) isn't it like 95% of stolen mobiles are blocked within 48 hours. By blocked I mean they can't use your phone unless they change your IMEI, (possesion of any IMEI changing devices is also illegal). The only problem here is that nothing stops your phone being shpped off to Africa and used there, as this blocking is only within EU.
    None of these Apps features actually gets your phone back, do they? especially if in Africa !
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    I use PhoneGuardian. I use it because I can define a message to be shown when the phone is locked - this message contains info about how to contact me and a note about a reward, which should help getting the phone back if it's stolen.
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    Really nice review.
    I've also tested this application and I do like it. I hope that they will add some new features like ''Where's my phone'' and other stuff. However, one time I listen to music and suddenly my phone was ''Max Lockes''. I didn't do anything, I didn't received any SMS - that's strange.

    Norman John
    www.symbianworld.de
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    @jasper I had been using a dev version of Phone Guardian 2.0 for a long time (review can be found here) but I ended up bailing on for several reasons. Among them were battery life impact, resource impact, and the fact that it basically screwed up every phone I put it on after a while. I haven't yet tried the release version but I plan to at some point.

    All of the bells and whistles are fine and good but really the only one that I'd like to see implemented in T2L is the configurable pop-up message for the Max Lock. This feature and several others are already in the development schedule for v2. Things like the alarm are pretty useless IMO - think about it from a thief's point of view. If the phone starts making all kinds of crazy noise he's just going to pull the battery, try it one more time, and then smash it and move on. It really won't help you get your phone back at all.

    @RMR The call rerouting is actually a really good idea and I'm sure it's completely doable. I know that Ed (works with T2L) will have his eye on the comments here so I think this suggestion will definitely be passed along.

    The concept as I see it with T2L is that the Lite lock is your first line of defense. Send the Lite Lock as soon as you realize that your phone is out of your possession and then attempt to contact it. If you get through to someone via SMS or voice, you're good to go. If not, Max Lock it and know that your data is secure. That was their goal with v1. Add a pop-up message to that and you've got a recovery method that completes the package. I do fully agree that they need it ASAP.
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    i agree on the reroute call! Must be doable!
    But also the feature of sending a sms with the new phone number if sim card is switched.
    Again, encrypting data on storage card is not neccessary. Build in feature on N95
    (and battery life....well the battery of the N95 s#cks BIG TIME, with or wothout any other app....)
    Will keep my eyes open for T2L v2!
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    "Whenever I pass by a thread on a forum asking members to list their “essential apps” for S60 I’m always shocked that not many people mention any security apps."
    Nice point made here and that is why I like reading your blog.
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    @Jasper

    I completely agree with you. I have been using Phone guardian from long time and I would call it as a panacea. You can get the person who has your phone also he can contact you.
    Purpose solved...
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    STOP using txt2Lock on N95, if you;re also using SkyeQuikey.

    These 2 are conflicting. so if you have txt2lock and SkyeQuikey AND if you have SkyeQuikey installed in phone Memory. IF maximum lock becomes activated, there is no way in this world you can unlock your phone as their incompatibility makes you unable to enter your password or even your PIN2 code.

    it seems that even though the phone is locked by txt2lock, skyeQuikey is capturing the input so txt2lock never gets the password it needs.

    i just had this problem. lucky for me i had my SkyeQuikey installed in memory card. so i just pulled out my memory card and was able to enter my password! Be careful guys.
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    Whew! Good tip John - SQK definitely has a lot of conflicts due to the nature of the app...
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    How is this different from the built-in locking? (At least it's built-in on my E90, and my other half's E51 - not sure whether this extends to other FP1 devices or only other FP1 E-series.)

    I can set up a numeric code, define and auto-lock timeout period, allow a remote lock (by sending a pre-defined text message), and automatically lock if the SIM card is changed ... all from Tools|Settings|General|Security|Phone & SIM card.
    Having recently lost my phone (and replaced under insurance), I decided that I could live with a bit of inconvenience (having to enter the code when I switch on and if I haven't used the phone for a while - I've set it to lock after 60 minutes) in exchange for keeping my data private.

    Julie
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    Thanks for your comment Julie. It's true that there isn't much difference - in fact after further investigation the integrated security is much more difficult to circumvent. A better option might be Phone Guardian 2 by Symbian Guru which I reviewed a while ago (and it's discussed in the comments above). There are also some new security options out there that I should be covering in the near future.

    The developer of this app had a lot of interesting things planned for it but development appears to have stopped. :(

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