A simple way to get owner contact information on Lockscreen

[kingstannis]

I recently went with CM7 and love it. I actually have the January build, but it's pretty stable. As easy as it was to put on CM7 from stock, I don't really want to update it again right now, especially because the phone is working pretty good as is. I realize if I updated I could just change the carrier name to my name and contact number, and that would get it to appear on the lockscreen. But as I said I don't want to mess around with flashing things right now, so I came up with a relatively low-tech solution. This may apply to people in my position or people running stock.

If you don't want to add a widget from widget-locker on your lockscreen to get the owner return information, simply modify the wallpaper. It's ridiculously simple to do. Just download the wallpaper (preferably high-resolution) you want in an editing program. I just used regular old Paint. Format the wallpaper to the size, I think it's 960*800. Then center and type your contact information on the top or wherever you want. Load it into your picture file on your SD card, open in on your phone, and choose it as your lockscreen wallpaper. CM7 allows you to choose a different lockscreen wallpaper.

I know this is a crude way to do it, but it works and you don't have to tinker around too much with the phone itself. All the work is done on your computer.

Here is mine. I run my lockscreen on gesture only, and the wallpaper I downloaded fits in nicely with my GoLauncherEX paper (Glass, world map). Obviously if you have photoshop, you can do a much better job jazzing up the wording at the top.

I hope this maybe helps someone out there. I ain't a techie, but this place has been a huge help to me. I figured I would try and help someone in my position if I could.

 

[Tokens210]

I recently went with CM7 and love it. I actually have the January build, but it's pretty stable. As easy as it was to put on CM7 from stock, I don't really want to update it again right now, especially because the phone is working pretty good as is. I realize if I updated I could just change the carrier name to my name and contact number, and that would get it to appear on the lockscreen. But as I said I don't want to mess around with flashing things right now, so I came up with a relatively low-tech solution. This may apply to people in my position or people running stock.

If you don't want to add a widget from widget-locker on your lockscreen to get the owner return information, simply modify the wallpaper. It's ridiculously simple to do. Just download the wallpaper (preferably high-resolution) you want in an editing program. I just used regular old Paint. Format the wallpaper to the size, I think it's 960*800. Then center and type your contact information on the top or wherever you want. Load it into your picture file on your SD card, open in on your phone, and choose it as your lockscreen wallpaper. CM7 allows you to choose a different lockscreen wallpaper.

I know this is a crude way to do it, but it works and you don't have to tinker around too much with the phone itself. All the work is done on your computer.

Here is mine. I run my lockscreen on gesture only, and the wallpaper I downloaded fits in nicely with my GoLauncherEX paper (Glass, world map). Obviously if you have photoshop, you can do a much better job jazzing up the wording at the top.

I hope this maybe helps someone out there. I ain't a techie, but this place has been a huge help to me. I figured I would try and help someone in my position if I could.

i like this idea, but in my opinion its kinda putting to much info on ur phone, since ur phone is running a rom, u have CWM recovery on it, so if someone were to steal ur phone, or find it and decided to just keep it, they could reflash which would remove ur lock, then they now have ur cellphone, cellphone number, name, and other phone number which im guessing is ur home number, there only missing ur pin number which if they somehow found would enable them to steal ur entire account, changing the password and locking you out, which would be a wave of trouble for you

 

[kingstannis]

That is certainly something to think about. Would it be any different if you had an owner contact widget via widget locker though? And the contact information is for a good samaratin . I am assuming a dedicated hacker would be able to defeat any feeble countermeasures I could come up with.

 

[shmackshmack]

ok, sure, someone COULD theoretically steal or find the phone if he lost it legitimately, and wipe the rom and use it with another rom.


but you arent looking at the facts.

its all on the situation

if the phone is STOLEN, the thief may know about phones and know how to circumvent the lock screen. having the contact info on the lockscreen might not matter or make a difference at all.. the thief knew what he did and wont care. so in this case it doesnt matter one way or the other whether its there or not

if he legitimately loses his phone, the odds of someone finding it who knows how to get past the lock are much lower. could be an old lady, could be an average non-techie person. in THAT event, having the contact info on the lockscreen would be good, becuase the chances are higher that someone will return it.



also, in NONE of these scenarios would having the contact info on the lockscreen be BAD. the only consequences of it are that its either useless or helpful.

so makes sense to at least have it rather than not have it.

at least its something. not everyone knows how to flash a phone. thousands of android phones are activated every day but only a small percentage of smart phone owners join a forum to find how to ROM it. that should give you an idea about how many people actually dont know how to flash or wipe it.

btw i havent thought of this before and its a great idea. Im doing it to my phone as well. cheap insurance, wont protect against EVERY possible person who finds the phone but if the right person finds it and returns it than at least it worked.

 

[agentc13]

Okay folks, let's remember that everyone can have their own opinion on this sort of thing, and someone disagreeing with you does not make them wrong. We all have to decide what info we want available on our phones if someone else were to grab it (or if we forgot it somewhere), what that info is will be different for all of us.

Remember to attack issues and not each other.