[Verizon] [Tasker?] Automatically Unlocking Phone

[iwoloschin]

So I've got my SGN running AOKP (B29), and it's set with a PIN Lock. I've got a couple situations where having PIN lock is either not necessary, or even actively bad.

1) I use Pandora in the car, having to type in my PIN to change a song is bad, it's on par with texting while driving.
2) I don't need my PIN lock at home.

I've got Tasker installed, and it seems to mostly work with the "Keyguard" setting, but I've read that it's not supported in ICS, and while it should work, it may also cause unexpected problems.

Ideally, the phone would require the PIN lock to be entered before going into "unlocked" mode. For example, I turn on the phone, unlock it, and start Pandora, the phone should now stay unlocked until Pandora exits. Alternatively, I come home, phone sleeping in my pocket, the phone won't unlock until I turn it on and unlock it the first time, and then it will stay unlocked until I leave home.

I've put this in the VZW - All Things Root forum because I'm rooted, and open to methods that require root. I'm also not opposed to trying to create a Tasker plugin that does this, I just have no idea where I would even start.

 

[iwoloschin]

So a bunch of views and no responses? I can't believe that no one else has had this problem before!

Anyways, I found what I think is a reasonable solution, though it's not entirely what I was hoping for. If I use the "Secure Settings" plugin for Tasker, I can disable/re-enable the PIN, which doesn't have any unexpected issues. I can also disable the keyguard, which should allow me to just hit the power button and have the phone turn on without any swiping to unlock.

Interestingly enough, Tasker seems to only recognize the application in the foreground. I suppose that's fine, so long as I make sure that my "Car Mode" profile has any application that would be open in the car (Pandora, Navigation, Maps, etc) and I think it should stay active, but I was kind of hoping that having Pandora active (music playing, with an icon in the Notification Bar) would be enough to let Tasker know that Pandora is running.

Oh well, it'll do for my long car trip this weekend. Plenty of time to experiment later.

Oh, and I think Secure Settings has an option to not disable the PIN until it has been manually unlocked, so when I come home the phone won't automatically unlock. However, once I manually unlock the phone, it will stay unlocked until I leave my house.

 

[mruno]

when i have a media app such as pandora and my phone is plugged in to a power source, i have tasker keep the screen on.

 

[iwoloschin]

when i have a media app such as pandora and my phone is plugged in to a power source, i have tasker keep the screen on.

That's not ideal though, for instance, I play Pandora in the car. Phone is powered, but I'll mostly just let it play. Occasionally I want to skip a song, so I turn on the screen and hit skip. Otherwise, the screen stays off to minimize driving distractions. No reason to leave it on, unless you want to kill the screen early.