Many of us prefer to put a password/pattern lock on our mobile devices, but that’s another thing that inserting the unlock password or drawing the pattern everytime while unlocking the screen is irritating as hell. And this is where smart lock on Android 5.0 comes in. Smart lock lets you add trusted devices that are often more close to you than anyone else, these devices are connected to your phone via bluetooth and whenever your phone and the device are close you’ll not have to insert boring password to unlock your phone. Brilliant, isn’t it!

This is something Motorola has been doing for a while with the Moto X, and now this being integrated to Android itself. Setting up screen locks are going to be less annoying. The smart lock feature requires you to keep Bluetooth always on your phone, this isn’t a problem however with the Android 5.0, thanks to the Bluetooth LE (low energy) technology which helps your phone use very less battery juice while keeping Bluetooth on all the time.

The Bluetooth trusted devices is one thing of the Smart lock feature while the other one is Trusted Face. You can also unlock your device by letting the front camera on your phone identify you face and automatically unlock the phone for you. But trusted faces has its own consequences, anyone who looks like you or has a picture of you, could easily fool your identity to the camera and gain access to your phone. So know that the trusted faces feature is to be used with caution.

How to Setup Smart Lock on Android 5.0

To setup smart lock you need to first set a screen lock screen with password/unlock patter nor any other option.

  1. Go to your device’s Settings » select Security » select Screen lock » and then set a screen lock that requires password or a pattern.
  2. Select “Trusted devices” » tap the red plus button and then select either Bluetooth or NFC.
  3. If choosing Bluetooth, select the Bluetooth device you want to be add as a trusted device to unlock your phone.
  4. Once that’s done, your phone will automatically unlock itself when that particular Bluetooth device is near you.

You can similarly setup Trusted faces too as your device’s smart lock.