Since the last update of Unlock With WiFi, I’ve been getting this question a lot. The answer is that it doesn’t. If you don’t like it, simply turn off notifications in the settings. It’s that easy.

One thing that changed in the last update is that notifications are enabled by default. This is because having notifications turned on makes the app more reliable. Why? The answer is complicated, and a bit technical, but if you are curious, I will try to explain it.

Smartphones are computers, just like your desktop or laptop computer. However, they tend to have much less RAM (memory) than larger computers. To make up for this, the Android operating system has a memory management system that tries to make this limitation less noticeable. To understand how it works, there is one key concept to note: An app can run in either the foreground, or background. When an app is running in the foreground, it is visible to the user, and the user can interact with it. This is how most apps normally run. Some apps, like UWW, run in the background. That means that they are running even when the user is not viewing them. UWW must run in the background at all times in order to function properly.

Since smartphones have limited RAM, sometimes there’s not enough to go around. All running apps use some of the device’s RAM, and when the RAM is full, the Android operating system has to free up some of the RAM in order to keep running properly. It does this by killing background apps, therefore freeing up the memory that they were using. Android assumes that background apps are less important than foreground apps, because the app in the foreground is the one the user is currently using. This is perfectly logical, but it presents a problem for UWW. If UWW is killed by the operating system, it can no longer function.

Android knows that sometimes a background app is too important to be killed. That’s why it allows some background apps to be considered foreground apps. If an background app is considered a foreground app by Android, then Android won’t kill it to free up memory. If you want a background app to be considered a foreground app, then the app must have an icon in the status bar. This is the rule that Android imposes, and I have no control over it. The reasoning is probably that if an app is too important to be killed, then the user should be aware that it is running. When notifications are enabled in UWW, then the icon is shown in the status bar, and UWW will be considered a foreground app.

What this all means is that UWW is less likely to be killed by Android if it has an icon in the status bar. Some phones have more RAM than others, or have less apps running that use up the RAM. In such a case, UWW may not need to be considered a foreground app, since Android won’t need to kill background apps very often. However, if your phone has less RAM, or a lot of background apps running, then UWW may need to be considered a foreground app in order to avoid being killed. Whether you enable notifications is up to you, but if you find that UWW is unreliable on your device, then try running it with notifications turned on.

You may be wondering why I don’t just make UWW work without running in the background. This is simply not possible. In order to keep the phone unlocked, and to monitor events like wifi connection/disconnection and screen on/off, UWW must be running. That is the way Android works, and I can’t do anything about it. It’s unfortunate, and I consider it to be a weakness of Android, but that’s what I have to work with.

Unlock With WiFi 2.3.1 has been released on the Android Market.

• Changed the name of the notifications settings to Notification Icon, to avoid confusion. It’s on by default, but you can turn it off in the settings if you want!

Apparently some people didn’t realize that you can turn off the notification icon. Maybe this was because the notification setting didn’t have the word icon in it, so people didn’t know what it was for. Hopefully this will help avoid confusion, and stop the one star ratings in the Android Market.

Unlock With WiFi 2.3 has been released on the Android Market.

• Keeping notifications turned on improves reliability on devices with low available memory. This is because Android requires an app to show a notification when it’s running in the foreground. Also minor bug fixes.

Unlock With WiFi 2.1.1 has been released on the Android Market.

• Dutch translation. Thanks to Karel B. for the help!
• Chinese translation.

If you’re not interested in these languages, you don’t need to update.

Unlock With WiFi 2.1 has been released on the Android Market.

• Bug fix where the app would remain disabled after a successful validation retry.
• Improved Tweet button functionality. You can now use a native Twitter client to tweet, instead of the Twitter website.

Unlock With WiFi 2.0.1 has been released on the Android Market. It just has a bug fix for some HTC phones. During a phone call, the screen would not stay on. It would flash on for a moment, then turn off again.

If you have a smartphone, and it’s not protected by a password, you’re taking a huge risk. Most likely, you carry your smartphone with you everywhere. What happens if you lose it, or worse – it’s stolen? Your first thought might be that your private text messages will be exposed, or that a stranger might post something embarrassing on Facebook. However, it can get much more serious than that.

When someone has access to your email, they have access to your whole life.

Most people access their email on their phones, and when a malicious person gains access to your email, they essentially have access to your entire life. Say this person goes through your emails, and notices that you have some emails from Bank X. All they have to do is go to Bank X’s website, click “I forgot my password” and enter your email address. Ding – an email arrives on your phone with your bank password. Obviously, that’s bad.

It’s not just your bank account that could be compromised in this way. Paypal, Facebook, Twitter, Ebay, Amazon, your blog, your work email, you name it – they could all be at the thief’s fingertips. Not only that, but they can impersonate you to your friends, family, or colleagues by texting or calling from your number. This is complete identity theft, with all it’s associated nightmares. Your credit could be ruined, your reputation damaged, and even your job could be at risk. If someone wanted to completely destroy your life, the best thing they could do would be to steal your smartphone. Are you starting to see why you need a password on your phone?

So maybe you’re convinced that you need a password now. The only problem is that typing in a password every time you turn on your phone is going to be annoying! Well, if you’re an Android user, there’s an app that can make having a password on your phone much less painful. It’s called Unlock With WiFi, and it turns your password off when you’re connected to your home WiFi network. This means whenever you’re at home (or work, etc), you don’t have to enter your password when you turn on your phone. When you leave home, it turns your password on again.

It also has a lock delay feature, so that when you’re not at home, and your phone has only been off a short time (configurable by you), you won’t have to enter your password. For instance, if you set the lock delay to five minutes, then you won’t have to enter your password unless the phone has been off for more than five minutes. This is really convenient when you’re having an SMS conversation, for instance.

Unlock With WiFi takes the pain out of having a password on your phone. Try it!

I’m proud to announce the release of Unlock With WiFi 2.0! This is a major update that adds some often requested features. The biggest new feature is Device Admin mode. DA mode uses a different method of unlocking the phone. Why use a different method? Well, here are some of DA mode’s advantages:

• Preserves the slide-to-unlock screen – If the power button gets pressed when it’s in your pocket, the slide-to-unlock screen prevents random screen presses from launching apps or calling someone.
• Blocks the volume and other buttons from turning on the screen – With the original unlocking method, the volume buttons could turn on the screen, which could waste battery if you’re accidentally hitting them in your pocket.
• Solves a problem some devices have with the screen turning itself on when lock delay is enabled – Hopefully more people will be able to use lock delay without problems.

DA mode does have one disadvantage: It only works if you use a password or PIN to unlock your phone. Pattern locks are not compatible with DA mode. This is a limitation of Android itself, not UWW. Sorry, there’s nothing I can do about this.

In addition to DA mode, version 2.0 includes these new features:

• Turn on Bluetooth when you leave home – Maybe you use a headset in the car, or you car has a bluetooth hands-free unit.
• Turn off Bluetooth when you get home – Saves battery power
• Turn off Auto Sync when you leave home – Saves battery and reduces your cellular data usage. This is especially useful if you’re on a limited data plan.
• Turn on Auto Sync when you get home – Once you’re on WiFi, you don’t have to worry about data usage.

I hope you enjoy the new version. If you find a bug, please be patient and email me about it. I will fix it right away. Don’t go leaving negative comments just because of one little bug. If you work with me, it will be solved!

I frequently get emails about this question, even though it’s covered in the FAQ. I’ll try to give a more detailed explanation than the FAQ provides. From the FAQ:

Q: The GPS doesn’t turn on or off, even though I have those options enabled in the settings.

A: The GPS on/off function is considered experimental, and is not guaranteed to work on all devices.  Android normally doesn’t allow apps to turn the GPS on/off, but UWW uses a hack that works on some devices. If you have a device running Android 2.3 or above, it’s likely that this function won’t work for you. However, it may work if you’re running a custom ROM like CyanogenMod.

In Android 1.0, apps were able to turn the GPS on or off. In Android 1.6, Google decided that apps shouldn’t be able to do this anymore. Why they decided to do this is beyond me. Apps can turn WiFi and Bluetooth on and off – why not GPS? Apparently Google thinks that the GPS poses some privacy risk to the user. OK, perhaps a malicious app could turn on the GPS and then track the user’s location. That would be bad, but to keep things in perspective, if you have a malicious app on your phone, it could do far worse things than track your location. Google provides an API for completely erasing all the data on the phone. Surely this is a bigger risk than toggling the GPS. Come on, Google, why not let users decide for themselves if they want to allow an app to toggle the GPS? OK, that’s the end of my little rant.

If Google disabled GPS toggling in Android 1.6, how does Unlock With WiFi toggle the GPS? Well, there is a bug in Android 1.6 to 2.2 that allows apps to toggle the GPS via manipulation of the Power Control widget that comes with Android. It’s a well known bug, and many Android apps use it to toggle the GPS. Such apps include automation apps like Locale and Tasker, and third party power control widgets as well.

In Android 2.3, Google fixed this bug. Does that mean that Unlock With WiFi can’t toggle the GPS in Android 2.3 and above? The answer is maybe. In a stock 2.3 ROM, UWW probably can’t toggle the GPS. However, many custom ROMs, like CyanogenMod, still include the old, buggy version of the Power Control widget. This is deliberately done to enable apps to toggle the GPS. So UWW might be able to toggle the GPS in Android 2.3+, if you have a custom ROM. If you’re on stock Android 2.3+, then I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do.

Check it out – the first real review of Unlock With WiFi! IntoMobile.com gave it a 9 out of 10. I’m so proud!