Google’s new version of Android, Lollipop, is wonderful. And now one of our very few niggles — that its smart unlocking features didn’t also react to location — is fixed.
You probably unlock your phone a lot, although you probably find there are places, like at home or maybe in your office if you trust your co-workers, where you’d rather not have to. Which is why Android 5.0’s Smart Lock now allows you to add trusted places. Define a location as safe, and your phone won’t present its lock screen when you’re in the vicinity — it will just let you get straight to Facebook or Gmail or Spotify or whatever else you were planning to use.
The feature joins trusted faces and trusted devices, that allow you to use your, err, face and other devices respectively to circumnavigate the lock screen too. It’s a lovely and welcome addition, one of those smart little tricks which will make your life more pleasant without you really noticing. You can add multiple locations that you trust, and it’s claimed that the feature adds no delays to unlocking your phone.
The new feature comes as an update to Smart Lock, itself an update to Google Play Services. The new version should be spreading to Lollipop devices now, but if you’re impatient you can download it from download it from the APKMirror. [APKMirror via Android Police via The Verge]