What is AppLock?

AppLock is an application written for the Nokia N900 that is designed to prevent unauthorised people from using certain programs on your phone. It allows you to select the programs that are locked and supports locking of applications that are launched through the DBus.

What does AppLock do?

AppLock listens on the phone's DBus for any messages indicating an application has been launched. If it detects such a message it compares it with a list of "locked" applications and, should a match be found, it will lock the phone. This approach allows the application to have a minimal impact on battery life while simultaneously providing almost instant locking of the phone when an application is launched.

How does AppLock work?

AppLock makes use of the N900's built in device lock functionality, thus removing the need for any complicated and possibly dangerous custom locking code. This approach means however that you are required to have set a Device Lock code BEFORE using AppLock.

Why should I use AppLock?

Quite simply put, by using AppLock you make it that much more difficult for someone who is playing with your phone to have access to any private information. For example, locking your Contacts, Conversation and Phone applications will essentially prevent someone from accessing any of the phone features available on the N900. Likewise, locking the Terminal and File Browser will prevent access to most of the file system.

How can I get AppLock?

AppLock can be downloaded from the Maemo Extras-Devel repository, once it is stable enough for everyday use it will be promoted to Extras-Testing where the average user can install the application and submit bug reports. However, should you not want to, or not be able to, add Extras-Devel as a repository on your phone, you can download the DEB file here and install it using the Terminal by entering dpkg -i applock_* from the directory you copied the file to on your phone.