mclear/android_nfc_ring_unlock

Issues and Wiki for the Android NFC Ring Unlock app

For Common Questions, Answers and other reference please see the wiki

Please file any bugs/issues in our bugtracker

android_nfc_ring_unlock's Issues

NFC Unlock lock appearing even though disabled/inactive

I am running across an issue where if I input my android pin wrong once and then enter the correct pin the second time, the NFC unlock screen shows up even though device security is inactive/disabled in the settings for NFC unlock. I don't have NFC unlock enabled because I don't have an nfc tag yet to test with. Luckily enough I can use the secondary input with my google credentials to get by the screen.

Feature request: disable lock screen when connected to home wifi

It would be great if the user could unlock the device with a simple swipe, whenever it is connected to the home wifi.

It seems likely that at least some users will not wear the ring 24/7, for example at home, where they don't necessarily require the security of the ring unlock. Having the ring based unlock deactivated would be more convenient than placing NFC stickers at strategic locations (e.g. the nightstand or the kitchen).

Similar functionality is provided by the SkipLock app.

Unable to change "disconnected phone call behavior"

Always I change this settings and exit, it changes back to "do not re-lock the device" option.
I have Samsung S III

Lockscreen has white actionbar title

Confusingly, the lockscreen of the app was displayed with the white actionbar title as pictured below:

NFC ring control app

I used the app to write text onto the ring, all fine. When coming to read the text with the same app, it always reads the text with "en" at the start of the text.
Example write hello, comes out enhello.

Show App version # in app

NFC ring unlock app frozen

Hey John
It's Tim S from Kickstarter.
I just downloaded your NFC ring unlock app, I have has a few issues where the unlock screen does not accept the ring or manual pin entry. It's not like the app is frozen per se, just not changing state. I can see the animation and move to hover over the keypad, but it won't change.

I have a Note 2 GT-N7100, android 4.1.2, rooted.
I've used a standard NFC tag.

Update;
Just deleted all the data and redone it again, all seems ok so far, but still I thought you might like to know about the issue.

On another note, I use an app called Cerberus to take a picture of a person if so many unsuccessful attempts have been made to unlock the phone. It will email me this picture. Is there any way that this app can interact with cerberus if the same case was to happen. I have a feeling I know how the response will go, but I thought I would ask.

Splash screen

The app has a superfluous splash screen. It is highly recommended to not have splash screens on Android.

Better integration into Android lockscreen.

I was under the impression this app would add another unlock method into the options within the OS settings. I would love to be able to use this with my standard android unlock methods as a backup, in case I lose my ring. Also, being able to use standard android lockscreen widgets would be huge. Unfortunately, it seems that if you want to enable a standard android unlock method and/or lockscreen widgets, you will need to use it in addition to NFC unlock? (for example, you'd have to enter your pattern AS WELL as tap your NFC ring?)

Can you let me know if there are plans for tighter android integration, or is this not currently possible?

• I'm sorry to open 3 separate issues in a row here, but I don't know of a better forum to ask them in.

Design Request: PIN pad theme

Please, theme the PIN pad screen the same way as the lock screen. (black background, white text)

user defined app allowed list

Hi, you closed my bug about having to unlock the phone to allow responding to the alarm because there was nothing for the app to listen to.

so how about a user defined allowed list of apps that can run without having to unlock the "NFC_Ring_Unlock" app

for example I could specify my alarm app and my camera app to be allowed to run without having to unlock the "NFC_Ring_Unlock" app first.

I guess this is a feature request now, not so much a bug.

Does not work with google two-factor authentication

I thought I set up an NFC tag but when try it says Invalid Credentials.
Sliding unlock icon to the left for the keyboard prompts for the gmail email and password but fails since I have 2 factor authentication setup and the app does not appear to fallback to the web login screen like other google apps to handle this.

Also, how do I reset the ring unlock so I can startover and get in again? :-(

Edited to add: Nexus 5 phone running Android 4.4.2

Ring will not unlock phone

Two issues.

1. If a pop up window/notification is on the screen behind the unlock app, the phone will not unlock by NFC in this scenario. Will unlock by pin though. (tone heard to say NFC read)
2. It seems some times (1 hour of testing) that the app does not unlock. I can hear the NFC tones but does not change from the main screen. Not related to the above issue. Pressing the power button to bring it up again does not change this. If I unlock the phone by pin and place phone back into standby it still does not work. The only thing that changes this is a hard reset.
   version 1.5.7
   note 2 gt-n7100

No sound on unlock

as per https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/nfc-ring-beta-testers/YiVYud54GC0

Hi,

one issue that makes the unlock app disadvantagous in certain environments is the unlock sound.

1.) During meetings and any quiet surroundings I can't access my phone with the ring because of the beep. PLEASE make it optional in the settings.

2.)Secondly please make the PIN option securer by adding a digit, making 5 instead of 4. Or accept any length of PIN.

For my use number 1.) is an absolute requirement.

Apart from that I like where this is going!

What do you say?

Cheers,
Stephan

Status bar and soft keys in Android 4.3 still accessible

Device Nexus4, CM-11-M2

When configures without Android lock screen, the unlock app is not full screen. The status bar is visible and accessible. Also the soft keys (back, home, taskMgr) are still working as device default and not caught by the unlock app. When seeing the NFC lock screen, I can still open the task manager and go to home screen, etc...

When Inactive app still requires unlock when unlocking phone.

As above. I've set the app to "inactive" yet I've had it fire up 3 maybe 4 times in the past 2 days.

A few minor text issues

• User-facing text reads "Pin" instead of the abbreviation, "PIN"
• Some options end in a period ("."). e.g. "Manage application passwords." (which is also not in Title Case.

Cannot uninstall NFC Ring Unlock app

It is impossible to uninstall the NFC Ring Unlock app from my Xperia Z Android 4.2.2.

When I go in Settings > Applications it appears as "co.mclear.nfcringunlockpro" (package name) while all the other apps appear as their app name. Then when I tap to display the app details, both buttons "force stop" and "uninstall" are grayed (?)

Screenshot here: http://imgur.com/JBhm9rs

Also the Sony phones offer an uninstall option from the app menu, and here too the uninstall is deactivated for NFC Ring Unlock (although here it is listed under the correct app name).

Screenshot here: http://imgur.com/dqJv06c

Lag time between screen wake & unlock app

Not sure if bug or feature but there's between a 1 & 5 second delay (depending on background apps) between lighting the screen up and the lock screen appearing.

If it's a long delay then it could provide enough time for someone to use an app killer shortcut to kill the lock screen before it loads.

Store a tag without writing it

Say I have a motox and I want to use the ring to unlock my motox and my s5, well I can't.. Because the motox has a differnet ndef requirement than my s5 would as the motox uses motorolas login screen. Either motorola or the nfc ring unlock app would need to budge OR the nfc unlock app allows new tags to be stored without them being written.

Unlock app enable even if no unlock key is present

I installed the unlock application to test it even thought I still don't own any nfc thing. I activated the application for fun. I turned off the screen and locked my phone

1. When I turned on my cellphone, the unlock application was there, digilently doing it's job. However there is one problem with this : I had not entered any key to unlock it.

I know that I am a stupid user that did not take the time to read the notice... but should the app really activate it when there is no unlock keys to make it work???

I know that there is a unlock with google authentification.. but I had the two factor authentification and it did not work... :) kind of screwed. I killed the application from adb to disable it. Seems like from the issue list that I can activate a pin unlock so I will do this in the future.

Avoid activity transitions

The lockscreen Activity properly holds the system modal (save being able to interact with the status bar and home, back, etc. buttons). However when it starts the PIN unlock activity or google entry Activity, there's a transition where it shows whatever's underneath.

I've been able to successfully interact with the items below during this transition enough that were I malicious, I could have made a phone call or other single-tap actions.

Perhaps the lockscreen and PIN entry functionality could be encapsulated in Fragments to prevent this Activity transition from occurring? Then the Activity could just swap out the Fragments. It'd look slicker, too, and you could even add a fade animation if desired.

Crash launching the NFC Ring Control App

When starting the app and pressing the home button directly after the launcht the following error orrcures:

"java.langIllegalArgumentException"
"forgetReceiverDispatcher"
in line 667.

Strange behavior with "Use With No Lockscreen" when an android lockscreen is actually enabled.

If you are using a pattern unlock (or any other standard Android unlock method) and enable the "Use With No Lockscreen" option, the app sometimes will not let you swipe to the Google sign in backup method, and when trying to do so, temporarily flash the underlying android lockscreen, then go immediately back to the NFC ring unlock screen.

The only way to get out of this loop is to reboot the phone.

I am using Cyanogenmod 11 on a GS3.

Crash closing NFC Ring Control app

The app crashed with the "Unfortunately NFC Ring Control has stopped ... " dialog. Did not capture the screenshot -- but it's the system dialog.

The sequence of events was:

1. install the app
2. open the app
3. app warns about NFC being off
4. turn NFC on via the statusbar pulldown
5. hit menu key
6. hit back
7. open "Advanced Task Killer" to see whether it was still running.
   Boom!

I am not sure where the relevant entries are in the logcat and it is too large to post here in its entirety (not that I would want to do that anyway). I can send an excerpt via email if desired. Or if I am missing an obvious way to attach the log output - let me know.

I am running a Samsung Galaxy S4 (Sprint) with Android 4.3 (kernel 3.4.0-1927016).

PIN pad shown after NFC unlock

DEVICE: Nexus 4, CM-11-M2

1. Configure without Android lock screen
2. configure application PW in NFC Unlock app
3. power off
4. power on
5. swipe right to show PIN pad (do not enter PIN)
6. power off
7. power on
8. use ring (NFC tag) to unlock
9. PIN pad is still shown and can by bypassed using device's back button

Check security highlights incoming calls

Hi, using a HTC one on jellybean. App inactive due to no tag yet.

When I check security it says that it is 19/20 incoming calls deactivate lock. The option is set to do not unlock but still detects wrong option. Tried change off then change back nothing.

Will not unlock with registered tag after installed a new app for NFC

Info: Nexus 7 2013, Android 4.4.2.

All worked fine with my test tag and it did unlock fine.
But then I installed NFC retag after setting up NFC unlock.
And then when I tried to unlock again with my tag it DID not work.
When I unlocked it with my Google user and pass I did see that Android was asking me what APP to do an action with. So I did select the unlock app and it all works fine now, but just though you should know.

Ove

Tasker or broadcast intents

Would it be possible for the control app and unlock app to link tasker somehow? What I would like is some tags (like in the car) to be placed that can not only unlock the phone for me, but to start a set of events unique to that key. Likewise I would love the public side to start tasker events. (I know of NFC taskers, but would be nice as an enhancement in these apps) Maybe just to broadcast an intent for tasker to pickup when the ring has unlocked.

NFC ring unlock app feedback

NFC ring unlock app feedback
there is a spelling mistake on the personalised security report

it says Enabled lockscreen widgets NFC unlock is most secure when the "incoming phone call behaviour" option is set to not diable the lock
missing the s :-) in disabled
under lock screen customisation the custom lockscreen message "custom message to ndisplay on the lockscreen"
extra n on the start of the word display

when i had to do a manual login with email and password for the unlock app I understand the password being case sensitive but the email address is as well
mine is all lower case but as my email is also my name my phone always auto corrects it to capitalise the first letter and I have to over ride it.

took me many attempts to discover this when I could not find my tag. ( no my tag is not on my finger I don't have my ring yet )

Under key storage i get a message Failed to backup keys database. File not found. when trying to back up they stored keys.

I also don't seem to be able to store more than one key to unlock the device is this working as designed? I would prefer to have a couple of tags able to unlock the phone.

Double Unlock

Nexus 5
4.4.2

Our company requires (via policy) the use of pin unlock on my device. When I install NFC Unlock app I now get the standard Android unlock (with pin) and then the NFC Unlock screen. Is there anyway to have NFC unlock replace the standard Android one?

Permissions

The list of permissions required by this app is pretty scary. Could you please provide an explanation in the Google Play listing of why each permission is required?

Re-enabling security enforcement after auto update

This was posted on the forum, is this supposed to happen?

"Incidentally, I'd scanned the spare tag into the NFC Ring Unlock program and tested it. I then disabled security enforcement as I didn't want to carry the spare tag around. After the last auto-update, it re-enabled security enforcement without being told to!

Fortunately you can type your gmail credentials to unlock, otherwise I would have been severely stuffed. Bug in the update, perhaps?"

http://forum.nfcring.com/post273.html#p273

Possible inspiration

Decided to test a theory while I'm waiting to get the ring. The Samsung Galaxy S4 will happily read (and unlock) through the strap on a pebble. I think this will be my master unlock tag until the ring arrives.

25mm NTAG203 stickers through 4mm of silicone strap.

Check security level warns about lockscreen widget being activated even on 4.1.2 devices

Going to "Application Security" -> "Check Security Level" on a 4.1.2 device the app will still warn you about a security issue caused by lockscreen widgets being enabled.

Going to "Device Secirity" and checking "Disable Lockscreen Features" removes the warning, but I think it shouldn't be necessary on those cases.

Tested on a Razr i running 4.1.2.

Cant respond to alarm or use camera without unlocking NFC phone app

on the normal unlock screen I can usually respond to an alarm and use the camera without logging in, however I cannot do this without unlocking the NFC app.

which is particularly annoying when trying to snooze an alarm in the morning.

Phone stuck after deep discharge: SIM PIN screen + NFC Unlock on top cannot unlock!

After being too low battery my Xperia Z shut down itself. I recharged it, then upon reboot I see the SIM PIN code then immediately after the NFC Ring Unlock screen, the huge problem is the app seems unefective! I tried unlock with the ring half a hundred times, in all sort of positions, it never works (it worked fine before reboot).
If I slide the unlock button, I see the SIM PIN code screen some milliseconds, then the NFC Ring Unlock screen appears again. Unless I'm mistaken, my phone is bricked, no way to recover except a factory reset! Any feedback on how to bypass would be more than welcome.

Back button doesn't work in app

Hi,

The back button does not work in the unlock app at this stage. Once you select a option/menu item you have to close the app to go back. Bit of a pain =)

HTC One
Android 4.3

'App killers' really kill the unlock function

I have an app called 'Clean Master' running which clears out cache and background tasks on screen wake. It stopped the unlock screen from loading until I added the app to the white list. It may be worth adding a warning to remind users to do the same.

"Use with no lockscreen" option confusing

I'm confused by this option. What does it mean? The language is very confusing.

Lockscreen easy to disable

I was able to disable the lockscreen permanently with only physical access to the device and not the NFC tag. Steps to do this:

1. Start with a device that only uses the NFC Ring Unlock as the lockscreen and is currently locked.
2. Hold the power button and then hold the "power off" button to go to safe mode
3. Once the device is restarted, go to Android system settings → security → device administrators, disable NFC Ring Unlock from being an administrator.
4. Go to Settings → Apps → NFC Ring Unlock → Clear data
5. reboot device and there's no more lockscreen!

If you can do these steps very quickly, you can reboot the device without going to safe mode and do it before the NFC Ring Unlock app gets its boot triggered.

This is on a Nexus 5 running stock 4.4.2.

Sometimes when you are on the lock screen using the correct NFC Tag doesn't work

The tag registers but no events are fired, you have to use the fallback gmail login to access your device. We need to find steps to consistently replicate.

Poor initial UX - Back button not going to login page when it should

It just took me 20 minutes to realize that to log in to the app, my email can't have ANY capitalization, even though your email showed that I should input my email address with a capitalized first letter. Please fix that!! It doesn't make any sense to prevent someone from logging in just because they have a capitalized letter. Also, "This app comes at no cost to the owners of NFC Ring. Without proper verification this app will not be usable" is definitely not a helpful error message. And pressing the back button should go back to the log-in screen instead of completely exiting the app. I had to re-open the app every time I wanted to try and log in!

Prompt if we already detect NDEF Record before writing

Just a warning prompt.. Hey you are about to overwrite the contents on your ring...

Might be useful :)

Homescreen Icon Text

The NFC Unlock app currently reports its name on the home screen icon as 'co.mclear.nfcringunlock'

Some places the text is lockscreen, some places it's lock screen

Also Go intoLockscreen Customisation and then the description under "Custom Lockscreen Message" says "Custom message to ndisplay on the lockscreen". When I last checked "ndisplay" wasn't a word!

Google Two Factor Authentication breaks backup lockscreen method

I have two factor authentication enabled on my Google account, so when I don't have my ring and try to use this as a backup authentication method, I have no way into my phone until I disable two factor auth from google (which might be impossible if i'm not signed into Google already, since the Authenticator app is on my phone)

Double unlocking

Occasionally the app prompts for unlocking twice in a row. I believe it's when the configuration screen is showing and the configuration app locks. I'm not sure, though, as I recall having that happen when I didn't have that app open.

UI is very hard to use

As a new user, I found it very hard to set up the app. There are a ton of options and new concepts which are presented independently, which together work in concert to provide the desired experience.

I would find it very helpful to have a "wizard"-style setup flow that walks the user through the most common options. I'd like to see:

1. Add a new tag/ring, enable it
2. Explain the options for lockscreens and provide links to the Android settings to let the user tweak their existing lockscreen configuration
3. Link to the Android device administrator settings to allow it to be enabled.

After the user has gone through this setup, then they can go through all the options to tweak the configuration. I suspect most users won't care about most of the options, though; they just want their ring to unlock their phone.

Key Storage Page Title ("Active Keys") Text is white