Its amazing that even after a year and half of iPhone's launch, it still draws attention, I have friends who want to check out my iPhone 3G. I have no problems with that, but the concern I usually have is that I don't want them to access some of the iPhone apps such as iPhone's Mail App or maybe tomorrow an iPhone App which has my bank account details etc.
Thankfully I stumbled upon a jailbreak iPhone app aptly named Lockdown which protects access to iPhone apps to address my paranoia.
Call me paranoid, but I have waiting for Apple to release a feature which gives me the ability to password protect an iPhone app or apps just the way you can set a passcode to gain access to iPhone's home screen.
iPhone app - Lockdown meets that requirement perfectly. It gives you the ability to password protect your iPhone apps.
The user interface of the iPhone app is quite simple. You need to first set the safety word which will come into picture if you have forgotten the master password. You need to then set the master password which can be used to unlock an application.
Once that is done, it provides you with an option to either:
- Lock All Applications
- Unlock All applications (applicable only if you have locked any application)
It also provides you an option to lock System Applications individually such as iPhone's Mail App, Contacts App etc or iPhone apps that you have downloaded for the App Store.
Interestingly jailbreak iPhone apps show up under System Apps. You can tap on any of the applications which prompts you to either Lock or Unlock the application, you can tap on "Lock" to password protect the App or "Unlock" to remove the password protection for an iPhone app.
So the next time you try to launch an iPhone app that you have locked, it will prompt you for the master password that you had set. After you have entered the password you need to tap on the "Launch" button to launch the locked iPhone app (assuming that the password entered is correct). I would have preferred the functionality similar to iPhone's passcode feature so that the iPhone apps launch immediately after entering the passcode rather than the additional step of tapping on the "Launch" button.
As you can see its a simple app that allows you to lockdown access to an iPhone app or apps. You can install Lockdown for free on your jailbroken iPhone via Cydia.
The developer has provided the following warning that you should remember without fail before upgrading to a new version of Lockdown:
"If you are upgrading, make sure you unlock your locked apps before upgrading or you will not be able to do so ever."
If you are paranoid about security, I would also recommend you to read the security tips to keep your iPhone secure.
Update:
Lockdown v5.3 Fixes Couple of Issues
What do you think about Lockdown? Let us know in the comments.
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Damn it! Why can't we have this stuff without the jailbreaking!!!
Ive had this forever….late post?
Hey Tony,
As I mentioned in the post just stumbled upon this app.
So yes late. But guess as they say better late than never.
It's ok but you can't lock pictures. You can still access them through Settings –> Wallpaper
theres a better one on cydia called mAdvLock
I want to address a 'security flaw' with this app. If you have the quickgold app installed, you will be able to bypass the locked applications via pressing the home key to activate it. i tried to lock the quickgold app itself, but I didn't see an option to do so.
Hey se23,
Thanks for letting us know about the app we will check it out.
Hey kDub,
Nice catch, lets hope the bug gets fixed.
no probs, i like it cos its clean and works very well and as soon as u type ur pw it launches the app
i have set the safety word and went to set master password and the app kicked me out, i went back in and it keeps asking me for a password that i have not set, i hit forgot password and it comes up as (null). i only have numbers come up and cant get passed this bit. i have uninstalled it and reinstalled it and its still the same.. any help would be greatfull.
thanks
thsts y i use myadvlock
where do i get that from ?
found it, thanks for your help
mAdvLock – as soon as u type password it launches the app? It doesnt work on mine, you have to hit ok. Also it doesnt give you the numbers right away, you have to hit .?123. So I like better lockdown.
Hey se23,
It didn't work for me either.
I would agree with smash, other than the issue where one needs to remember to unlock all apps before upgrading the app, I prefer Lockdown as well.
hi im having a problem with this app. i cant access the apps i locked and its asking me for the password and my passwords has letters in it and i cant press the letters. what do i do?
Also a securty problem with the new sb settings. Any app you put in the dock will bypass lockdown. And sb settings cannot be locked even though the option is availble!! Can someone figure out how to cut out the dock feature?? Seems pointless anyway. Thanks to anyone who can help
i have the same problem i lost the password and i cant use it anymore
i think this app is the best app ever i think u should but in the apple app store soo everyone can take edvantage of it even those who didnt jailbreak there iphone’s
HELP! Can't access the applications i locked. Been asking me for the password and my password has letters in it but i can only press numbers, no letters. What to do?
Does this application allow you to lock videos? I've been looking for a application to password protect videos on my iPhone any ideas?
Does LOCKDOWN install on iphone 2g 2.2.1???
I really wanted to use this to password protect my messages but any time I get a message a dialog pops up with the choice "View." When you push it, it goes straight into the message application where u can then move around without a password.
The only way to prevent this as I can see is to turn off notifications all together which I don't want to do because I want to know when I get a message >.<
Be nice to fix this as well
Also, to by pass SMS passcode, if contacts or phone isn't locked, you can go through the contact and select send text, no code needed
Notes, Calendar,Contacts can be accessed through search function bypassing this software!!
((
Does anyone know how to remove this from your iphone without having to do a restore?
I locked my contacts with this app when I click on the contact button it asks me for the password but when I click on the phone button to make a phone call there I can click on the contacts and it shows all the contacts without asking for any password. Not only that I also downloaded some voip apps (like icall) and when I go into contacts through that app it shows all the contacts wide open. Any way for me to lock it all????
Just go to "manage" in cydia and uninstall.
is there any way of unlocking it if you have forggoten your password and safety word
I think I deleted the app via cydia, sync's mob, then apps are unlocked, then reinstall lockdown and startEd again
instal cydelete
My Lockdown won't work. it just closes out when i click on the app!
HELP ME!
& MY CYDIA IS BROKEN ALSO!
i need to be able to sync apps that i didnt buy, withoit having to authorise my pc, with the owners password.
any tips on that?
how can i get this application……….
how can i get this application.
it say's it doesn't work with 4.0.
Will it work with iphone 4?
you can lock settings too
I went through the process of getting Lockdown from cydia but for some reason it's not launching when I try to open. Can someone please offer a solution or at least provide another application I can use?
As long as the frimware isnt 4.0 then yes
I cant find any of this apps in the app store and having a hard time downloading it from the browser safari wont let me what should i do?
Use your iPhone as a normal phone as you have no idea of the potential it has. Research before asking dumb questions.
Jailbreak
Enjoy
without jailbreak is it possible get this software?
u can also use iprotect i found it friendly but there are issues like activation key we have solution on internet search on google for it
Found app that would do this but your iphone has to be jailbroken. The app is called “lockdown pro”