How do I set up a pattern lock on my Samsung Galaxy S4?

 One of the top news items right now concerns information and what's happening with it. The story (as I'm sure you are aware, thanks to Edward Snowden) is that the US government is tracking everything we do online. Whilst we can't stop that, we can stop nosy people from looking at things on our phones. One way to do that is to use a "pattern lock" lock screen.

This guide will show you how to set up a "pattern lock", lock screen on a brand new Samsung Galaxy 4S.

First things first. You will need to access the phone's menu settings. To
do this you need to be on a home screen and then press the menu button on your phone. This should open a screen like the one at the
top of this guide.

From the pop up menu you need to select on the "settings" option will will open a new screen (similar to the one on the right). From that screen you need to select "My device" from the tabs at the top (as you can see in the picture it should be the second one along.

From the "My device" screen you need to select the "Lock screen" option which should be at the top (see the image on the right for guidance if needed).

After clicking on "Lock screen" you will will be taken to the lock screen menu which is full of various options and settings for you to play with. For the sake of this guide you need to ignore all the options and just select the top setting of "Screen lock".

Once you've selected the screen lock option you will be taken to a sub menu with a list of options for you to select from.

By default the Samsung Galaxy S4 is set to the "Swipe" lock screen. What you need to do change it is to select one of the options provided, such as "Face unlock". For the sake of this guide however we will be selecting the "Pattern" option.

Having selected the pattern option you will be taken to a screen with 9 dots. You then have to decide on a "pattern" involving at least 4 dots. Once you've selected a pattern you will be asked to repeat it, just so that you can make sure it's the pattern you want.

After setting up your pattern you will also be asked to select a PIN in case you forget your pattern. Make sure this is a memorable number (i.e. your date of birth) because with out this you may well be stuck with a very expensive and hard to unlock handset.

Once you've selected your PIN and re-entered it your phone will have a "Pattern lock" lock screen in place the next time the lock screen is used.

To unlock the phone afterwards you merely need to enter the pattern you have selected (or if failing that, you will need to enter the PIN you entered).

Hopefully this guide will help you stop snoopers from looking through your phone!

How to use the lock screen shortcuts on a Samsung Galaxy S3

If you've recently got yourself a Samsung Galaxy S3 Android powered smartphone you may have noticed that the lock screen typically features some icons at the bottom of the screen. On most other (older) Androids these icons aren't present however they act as easy to access shortcuts which allow you to jump immediately from a lock screen to the app in question. What this effectively means is that you don't need to unlock your phone, scroll to the app you want to use and select it instead you just need to use the shortcut.

So the next question is "How do I use them?" Well that is an easy question to answer. To use the "Shortcuts" on the lock screen you simply need to hold your finger on the relevant icon (for this example I'll be using the "Camera" icon) then swipe, or drag, the icon for a second or two into the middle of the screen.

After swiping the shortcut icon you will instantly be taken to the app you wanted to open. As you can see in the image to the right I dragged the Camera icon which then
opened up the Camera app (as seen on the left).

You are actually able to select which icons appear as shortcuts, allowing you to have shortcuts to any app that's on your phone. If you wish to change the shortcuts then give this guide a read.

How to hide your lock pattern on your Samsung Galaxy S2

Last summer we did a guide on setting up the pattern lock screen on a Samsung Galaxy S2 and since then we've learned something new about the pattern lock screen, how to "hide" your entry. Firstly you will need to set a pattern lock screen on your phone (guide to doing that can be read here) and then you need to go back to the "Location and security" settings screen (where you found the lock screen options).

When you are back in the "Location and security" menu you will notice some new options in a sub menu called "Screen unlock settings". Amongst these options is the "Use visible pattern", if you untick this check box and then lock your phone and go back to the pattern screen you will notice that the lights don't light up if you slide your finger across them.

Whilst this may seem like an unnecessary extra step it does stop people from seeing you entering your pattern and as a result it does make your phone more secure in the case of someone else getting a hold of it.

If you wish to get the lock pattern made visible again just tick the box and the visible lines will return next time you go to your lock screen.

How to change the lock screen on a HTC Wildfire

As we all want out phones to be really "ours" we like to tinker with things like ringtones, fonts and wallpapers. With many phones however you can also change the lock screen wallpaper independent of the normal wallpaper, this guide explains how to set a lock screen wallpaper for the classic HTC Wildfire smartphone. This lock screen wallpaper will show up in the background behind the clock on the lock screen of your phone.

Firstly you need to press the phone's "menu" button and then select "Wallpaper" and then simply choose "Lock screen". After this you will be given 2 options "HTC Wallpapers" or "Gallery". If you want to just change the image to something generic feel free to have a look at the HTC Wallpapers, though I advise it's more fun to use a photograph of your own and searching your Gallery for a picture to enjoy.

Using a picture you've taken can add not only a nice personal effect by allowing you to display things such as a garden, your family, a sports team or yourself but also a smart little visual effect using pictures that were taken with added effect. In the wallpaper to the left the wall paper image was taken in sepia giving a rather antiqued look to the phone behind the clock and battery warning.

Whilst this is a little bit pointless it's a nice little thing you can change if you want to personalise your phone that little bit more with out downloading apps to really take a hold of your phone.

How to set up a "PIN" lock screen on a Samsung Galaxy S2

 In the past I've looked at one of the 3 types of security lock screens that the Samsung Galaxy S2 has (the Pattern lock) so I thought it was time to try one of the others, this time the PIN system. Like the Pattern lock screen we start with the same basic steps. Firstly we need to press "menu" on the home screen then settings before opening the
"Location and security" options and then when that menu opens you need to select "Set up screen lock". On the image to the left here you can see that option right in the middle, in a section called "Screen unlock settings".

When you click on the "Set up screen lock"  option you will open a new screen with 4 options (as you can see to the right):
None-No security just a plane lock screen
Pattern-Draw a pattern on the screen to unlock it
PIN-Set a 4 digit passcode number to access the phone (read one)
Password-Set a password to get onto the phone.

As we are looking at the PIN system click on that and you'll open a screen like this one on the left where you are asked to input a 4 digit PIN number. Enter the code you want to use then press "Continue" and re-enter the code. Just make sure you remember it because as soon as the phone's screen locks you'll be greeted by a screen like the one on the right hand side and
you'll be forced to enter the PIN number to get access to the handset.

Although this is a pretty straightforward method of security and is familiar thanks to things like banking, you'll still need to make sure you remember your code. I'd advise using something memorable, such as your year of birth in reverse (i.e. if you were born in 1984 you would use 4891). Remember, however you set the PIN there is 10,000 possible combinations, so a person grabbing you're phone could well take a very long time to crack your code, plenty of time for you to report your phone stolen.

How to add a security pattern to the lock screen of a Samsung GalaxyS2

Considering the fact that we all love a bit of privacy on our phone you may love to hear that setting up a simple security lock on the Samsung Galaxy S2 is incredibly simple and in fact the phone has several different types of locking system.

This guide is going to show you how to put on a simple "Pattern" lock using the phones in built security settings. To start this we need to open the "Settings" screen so press the phones "menu" button and then "Settings". At the settings screen scroll down to the "Location and security" option (see the picture to the right for guidance if you need it).
Whilst in the Location and Security menu you need to select "Set up screen lock" and after this you will find yourself with a new menu opening up. This new menu will feature 4 settings
"None", "Pattern", "Pin" and "Password". For the purpose of this guide we will be using the "Pattern" option.

After clicking on "Pattern" you will see 2 screens guiding you on what you need to do and explaining how the system works. If you click "Next" on both of those screens you will be asked to "Draw an unlock pattern" on the screen over a 9 dot display (see left).

At this point the pattern must be at least 4 dots long so draw your pattern linking 4 (or more) dots together in what ever pattern you like. After you've done this you will need to click on "Continue" and repeat the pattern to help make sure you remember it. If you are the forgetful type I would advise you write down you pattern in someway, perhaps number the dots 1-9 and writing the way you've linked them. I.e. 1-2-3-6 (top left, top centre, top right, middle right). After confirming the pattern (bottom right after re-entering the pattern) it will be put in place.

 The next time you lock your phone you will see the 9 dot display sitting over the top of your regular lock screen wallpaper (see the image on the right). You will now need to enter your pattern before you are able to access the phone.

This is a brilliant and simple way to deter family and friends from trying to access you're phone, if you've some of those embarrassing pictures on there this maybe the perfect protection for you just make sure you remember it.

How to set a lock screen wallpaper on your Samsung Galaxy S2

Everyone loves to customise the way their phone looks, and acts when it's in full working operation but you can also customise how it looks when it's it's locked with a lock screen wallpaper. This guide will show you exactly how to use a lock screen wallpaper.

To start with you will need to open the Settings screen (press the phone's menu button and then settings). From the setting you will need to open the Display options (the 4th
option from the top). In the Display menu you will see the "Screen display" option at the top (refer to the picture on the left) click this one.

If you've been following these guides for a while you'll notice that the Screen display options was earlier used for the guide on changing fonts on a Samsung Galaxy S2, this time you need to click "Wallpaper" but the one that is found in the "Lock screen" section. If you're confused on which of the two to click on it's the one at the bottom of the menu.

After selecting "Wallpaper" you'll be asked to select where you want to choose a wallpaper from. This is either the inbuilt Wallpaper gallery or the normal Gallery (any pictures you've taken or downloaded). You'll then have to select the size of the picture in question which is simple to do.

After you've selected your picture and size click save, after this
you will just need to lock the screen and check that it's working. If it is working it should look something like the image to the right with the time and date showing on the screen but no shortcuts or apps there to click on.

As with many of the personalisation settings this doesn't really effect the phone a great deal, it may run the battery down slightly quickly and add a moment of lag to the phone though on the whole these will be hard to actually notice.