Still fiddling around with passwords to log into your Mac? Quit with the age-old keyboard routine and check out this fresh new way to get past your lock screen.
New to the app store just last week, this clever new app called Knock allows you to unlock your Mac computer simply by knocking on a paired iPhone. Using a Bluetooth LE connection, your phone communicates with your computer and knows when you’re nearby. If you walk away and go out of range, your computer automatically locks behind you. When you return, you don’t even need to whip your phone out of your pocket – just tap it twice in your pocket and your computer will magically unlock.
Truth be told, this has always been possible – it just hasn’t always been this simple. Adam Dachis over at Lifehacker has some great tutorials on how to set up Bluetooth proximity locks on your desktop, but they require multiple app downloads and a bit more technological legwork to pull off. Knock, on the other hand, is practically foolproof. Just install both the iOS and desktop apps and follow the simple directions – it’ll guide you through the setup process in just a couple minutes.
We gave it a shot and it seems to work smoothly. It picked up on our phone’s presence from a good distance away, and although we were expecting a bit of lag between knock and unlock, it worked almost instantly. And no need to worry about getting locked out of your computer if your phone dies; if you run out of juice you can always revert back to the primitive keyboard/password method
