Automagic Forum

I'm thinking of developing a flow to dynamically set the PIN calculated from/based on the current time, updated each time the display comes on or the time advances. So anyone who sees the PIN being used won't be able to use the same PIN if they try soon after.

This is a recipe to lock myself out of my phone - especially when I'm developing the flow!

Some questions:

1. Is this action known to work with Lollipop? I saw the comments about the action associated with the L preview, but I'm unclear what the current status is. I'd be trying to overwrite the PIN, not to activate or deactivate it...
2. Can variables be used in the Password field in this action?
3. If the PIN is updated by the flow as the (lock) screen comes on, will the lock screen use the newly updated PIN (or the last one that was set, or the one that was in use when the screen locked)? Even worse, will this be an unpredictable race condition?
4. After a reboot, it will take a while for Automagic to restart and run the flow. When it updates the PIN, will the lock screen automatically use the new PIN, or will I have to use the old/previous PIN once/first to unlock the phone?
5. The best 'failsafe' I can think of is to detect many failed logins and then stop the flow and overwrite the PIN with a preset 'failsafe/default' PIN. Any better ideas for 'getting out of a mess'? Maybe using the Android Device Manager to remotely lock the phone will override any PIN the action sets - is this correct?

Problem is, to try all this, I'm likely to have to factory reset my phone if it doesn't go as expected! :-S

Hi,

1. Switching the PIN should also work on Lollipop as long as the PIN is not deactivated. Switching from PIN to password and back could also be a problem.
2. No, variables are not supported.
3. PIN should switch when the screen is off or when the screen is locked. It even seems to work when the PIN entry is already displaying (Nexus 5 with stock Lollipop).
4. I think it will update as soon as Automagic was started (see 3.)
5. You could also create a flow that resets the PIN when an SMS with a specific text is received or by using some kind of trigger that works when the device is locked, for example by turning airplane mode, wifi or bluetooth off/on in the quick settings drawer.

Since variables are not supported, you could also use 12 pre-configured actions to use 12 PINs depending on hour of day (or switch the PIN every 5 minutes). This would also ensure that you don't have to test too many combinations when the unlock flow from step 5. does not work for some reason.

Regards,
Martin

Thanks for the quick response. Would you consider adding variable support as an enhancement request?

John

I'll add it to the list of features under consideration but I'm a bit scared that some users could lock themselves out when the variable contains null or some other unexpected value.

Martin

I would love this feature too. It'll keep me on task and I can disable it if I leave where I'm working or at a certain time!

Hi,

This feature is available in version 1.28 of Automagic that was released yesterday.
Please be careful when using a variable to set the lock code. Maybe use a trigger 'Login Attempt: Failed the 10th time' to reset the pin/password to a fix default or something like that.

Regards,
Martin

Thanks Martin!

Just as a note: if you have an antitheft app (I know Cerberus works). You can go on the website to disable a password or simply unlock the phone.