[Android Apps and Games] PseudoBob:
WL, Acer Breeze, Stock lock screen, Security

Purchased WL yesterday (or 2 days ago, not too sure), ran into some quirks, and thousands of posts ( here, the 'FAQ' thread - which is not much of one, sadly - and the Themes thread - which was a worse mess) later, I saw most of my questions answered but still left with a few of them (mostly confirmation).

I have an Acer Liquid MT (aka Acer S120), running the T&L ROM. The T&L ROM is essentially the stock ROM (a Gingerbread 2.3.6 ROM) with a bunch of the bundled apps removed and some others (yandex maps? not sure what the ROM cooker was thinking) inserted.

Acer wrote their own launcher for their devices which is actually pretty nice (multiple pages in app drawer, notification bar is pretty sweet) and lock screen (which they call an 'idle screen') which also accepts widgets.

However, while the Liquid E version supports 3rd party widgets, the Liquid MT does not. Just a few stock widgets, even though they give you 3 screens worth to put them on. There doesn't appear to be a reasonable way to allow 3rd party widgets back on Acer's lock screen.

In trying to find that information, I actually stumbled onto WL and figured I'd give it a shot as a replacement lock screen. I guess that's where the trouble started alongside the glee in being able to put more useful widgets up there than Acer's allowing on theirs.

The main two issues I ran into are....

Interference with the Stock lock screen

Lack of security features

The 'interference' one probably rings a familiar bell; users going through multiple screens:

WidgetLocker -> Stock lock screen -> pattern/pin/password (PPP) -> home/app

In fact, it came up so often that I saw the WL author pondered some solutions:

Implement security within WL.

Perform some trick acrobatics on rooted devices.

Option A doesn't appear to be implemented as of yet, due to technical limitations - mostly at boot - and the fact that it may not be 100% secure anyway. Between those two posts it seems what little enthusiasm there was to add security faded even further.

Q1. Is adding security features - such as a PIN, password or pattern - still on the list of things you're considering?

Option B was explored instead, culminating in what's known as the AutoSwipe option for rooted users. AutoSwipe allows certain lock screens to be bypassed by having WL fake a slide/swipe of the finger across the screen. This seems to work for the lock screens it was designed for, but unfortunately none of the ones implemented in the current release version (2.2.7) work with Acer's Breeze 'idle screen'. Some of them do manage to nudge* the page curl a bit, but none go far enough - or far enough but too slow - to actually cause it to be flicked** away.

( * actually, it only seems to do this when my security option is Pin or Password. If I use Pattern, I see no such nudging. Not sure if that's related to another issue with the pattern lock )

Q2. Is there any chance you could add an AutoSwipe for Acer's Breeze 'idle screen'?

** The motion required is really a just a flick - in practically any direction between up, up&right and right. In the example image you can see just how little is actually needed (more might be wiser), as long as one's finger doesn't linger (or, if it does, then flicks from there), it will then continue to curl the page up itself and present you with either the Home or the Security option of choice.

Perhaps an obvious suggestion to me at this point would be to disable the Acer Breeze 'idle screen'. Unfortunately, it can't easily be disabled - there's no option to do so like there is in CM7.1+. There's a ROM mod that claims to remove the Idle Screen (reverting to the Gingerbread lock screen, for which an AutoSwipe exists) without also killing half a dozen other things, but I have not yet tried that (something to try when I hit Recovery again, perhaps.)

And no, moving to CM isn't much of an option either, as the Liquid MT is not well supported (an unofficial port of CM7.1 exists, but lacks the FM Radio support (I actually use that, yes) and has some other quirks such as with tethering).

However, as others have pointed out, AutoSwipe may not be the way to go anyway. Some feel that it's sluggish.. I think I could live with it, though. I did notice that if I fall within the '5 second rule' and the Stock 'idle screen' pops up first, I can flick that pagecurl - the PPP blinks into view, and then WidgetLocker appears - and then unlock via WidgetLocker, it goes straight to the PPP.

Q3. Is it possible for WidgetLocker to perform the AutoSwipe on the stock locker in the background so that it doesn't have to do so when actually going to unlock WL?

I would guess not, or if it is - it might not be desirable (as the PPP would probably pop up, replacing the WL view?)

Those aforementioned others instead point to No Lock to enable/disable the security features (and with it, the 'idle screen') completely. This means that unlocking out of WL gets me straight to Home/Lats used app, and launching apps from WL saves going through the Security features.

( WL author points out a few times that No Lock isn't needed because the 'Easy Wake Mode' does the same, but given that's buried in WL's settings, rather than e.g. a widget that's a quick press away and instantly gives feedback about its current state - it's not quite the same. )

It does carry with it the down side that you have to remember to properly enable / disable the lock. Another suggested app is Delayed Lock to essentially perform the same as No Lock, but automatically re-lock after a certain timeframe. That should prevent accidentally forgetting to re-lock, but within that timeframe the device would still be open to all, and - like with No Lock - I'm not sure what happens when the device panics and reboots.

So yet others suggest that - in combination with the above or just on its own - one should use an App locker such as App Protector, Ultimate App Guard, Perfect App Protector (and many others) or even Tasker to just lock down the more sensitive apps (texts, phone, agenda) while leaving games, say, available to your pranking buddies.

Q4. off-topic for WL specifically, but WL is part of the setup here: Does anybody know if you can actually lock the Launcher with one of these apps?

Given that you'd then bounce around between WL and a protected-Launcher, this sounds like a security feature in theory, as no apps other than those accessible through WL could be accessed, but without incurring stock Lock screen wrath.

That would then also deal with another issue with WL, the Home button. By default, if you go to an App from WL, then press the Home button - you end up at your Home launcher, even though WL was not 'unlocked'. A feature was added, HomeHelper, to deal with this. Pressing Home while WL is locked causes HomeHelper to be launched which in turn bounces back to WL (if I understood that correctly), while with WL unlocked it bounces to your regular Home launcher.

Of course this comes with a down side that actually resulted in a single post saying "Don't use the HomeHelper" and "Do use the HomeHelper :-/" in consecutve replies :D ; by registering HomeHelper as the default, your regular Home launcher may get deprioritized and unloaded - making every 'home press', in a worst case scenario, load your regular Home launcher from scratch, including live wallpaper and widget initialization, apps, etc.

Q5. Ditto as q4: Does anybody know of a way to (help) keep the Home launcher from getting deprioritized so that the situation described does not happen (as often)?

Finally, I didn't notice any posts regarding the power button long press popup dialog (power options/airplane mode, etc.) suppression failing, but at least on my device it works on the first long press - but long pressing it again causes the popup to show, as does a third time, etc. However, if I long press once, then interact with WL, then long press a second time, it is suppressed.

Q6. Long press power dialog pops up on consecutive long presses - is this a bug?

Long post, I know - intended as a bit of a "here's some gotchas and what some people have suggested" post, specifically within the Liquid (MT) context - and I realize the author is quite busy (hiatus between May and August?), so I'll happily accept answers/pointers/"you missed this awesome thread on WL with another 2,000+ posts, go read it" (challenge accepted) from anybody able and willing to help :) TIA!