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Title: 3D artist
Focus: Polishing environments and props
Type: Full-time, project-based (approx. 1 year)
Last day to apply: 4th of November 2018


After 3 years of hard work, we are now close to finishing one of our new games. We want it to look amazing, and to accomplish that we need more (hu)manpower.

This is where you come in.

We are now looking for an experienced 3D artist, who will focus on environments and props for our upcoming horror game. Our ideal person loves horror, and is able to convey atmospheric environments and terrifying scenes through 3D art. The position is full-time and project-based, lasting for about a year until the new game is ready to be shipped.


What will you work on?

We are quite a small team, but we consider that our strength. As an environment artist you will get to work on every level of the game, ranging from small props to whole levels. This means your contribution will greatly influence how the final game looks, plays, and evokes emotions.

Here are some of the things you will be working on:
  • Creating basic models that make up the levels, such as walls and floors
  • Modelling props of various complexity, both with and without the help of concept art, and often having to take gameplay concerns into account
  • Constructing particle systems, both by drawing textures and using parameters in our editor
  • Combining various techniques to create special effects, such as flowing water or fire.

If you want to know more about Frictional work practices, you can check out the introduction post of Rasmus, who will be your closest teammate.


What are we looking for?

You have to be a EU/EEA resident to apply.

The person we're looking for is creative, driven and most importantly self-sufficient.

Since the position is project-based, we are looking for a person who can start as soon as possible, end of November the latest.

Here are some essential skills we require:
  • Excellent skills at adapting to a style and taking it to a finished state
  • Strong self-drive and ability to organise your own work
  • Interest in and ability to do research for interesting prop and environment solutions
  • Love for working on a variety of tasks
  • Fluency in English
  • Team communication skills
  • Knowledge of game design
  • A Windows PC that runs recent games (such as SOMA) that you can use for work (unless you live in Malmö and will work from the office)
  • A fast and stable internet connection.
And here are some more techie skills:
  • Excellent skills in 3D software. Modo preferred
  • Familiarity with Zbrush/Mudbox/similar
  • Excellent skills in Substance
  • Excellent skills in Photoshop or similar software
  • Familiarity with issue-tracking software
  • Experience in classic/non-PBR workflow.
If you want to impress us:
  • Love for horror and narrative games
  • A major role in completing at least one game
  • Great free-drawing skills
  • Experience in level design
  • Strong game design skills
  • Experience kitbashing/working with modular sets.
For this position you can work from home. We have a central hub in Malmö, Sweden, which you can use if you wish.


What we offer:
  • Flexible working hours, a no-crunch approach
  • Opportunities to influence your work flow
  • Variety in your work tasks, and ability to influence your work load
  • Participation in Show & Tell of games, having a say in all aspects of the game making
  • An inclusive work environment
  • A possibility to become a permanent employee.

How to apply?

If all of the above piqued your interest, we would love to hear from you! Send us your application 4th of November the latest - but the sooner, the better.

Please attach all the following:
  • Cover letter (why you should work with us, what do you bring to the table)
  • CV
  • Portfolio (link or PDF)
  • Examples of works that have inspired you or blown you away.
Please notice that you need to send all of the applications to be considered.

Send your application to apply@frictionalgames.com!


Privacy Policy

By sending us your application, you give us permission to store your personal information and attachments.

We store all applications in a secure system. The applications are stored for two years, after which they are deleted. If you want your your information removed earlier, please contact us through our Contact form. Read more in our Privacy Policy.

Probably the best thing about Endgame is that it's the (almost) last of the first generation of MCU movies (we still have a Spiderman movie, maybe a Black Widow movie, and I'm sure a whole 'other next-generation of MCU movies are in the works). Is it a good movie? No. Is it a good-MCU movie? It's fine, much in the same way that Harry Potter 8 was fine: it does what it is supposed to.

That it broke box office records is understandable since the last movie was a cliff-hanger. Less understandable is its rave reviews, unless the reviews are based on its "must see" quality. Because, even from a Marvel perspective, the movie just barely makes sense, is disjointed, has too many scenes that are just sketches, has too many underused characters, and has an ending that is somewhat anti-climactic. What it has going for it is some emotional impact (a bit), some humor (not all of it good), some flashbacks to previous MCU movies, some nice visuals, and a sense of an ending.

PLOT: Following the last movie where half of the universe is wiped out, the characters are upset. The survivors track down Thanos who has already destroyed the stones so that his work can't be undone, so all they can do is kill him. Five years later Ant-Man is accidentally rescued from the quantum realm but has experienced only 5 hours, which leads him to think that the Avengers can use the quantum realm to go back in time - and space (???) - to very specific times and places in order to steal the infinity stones from the past, undo what Thanos did, and return them to their timelines. Unfortunately, while in the past, future Nebula's presence and memories alert past Thanos to this plan and he travels into the present to destroy the universe and remake a new one that won't try this plan again.

REACTIONS: Let's put a pin onto the obvious time-travel paradox problems, and even the rest of the insane problems for one minute and take the movie as is. This movie takes a little time to show us Hawkeye's family, Iron Man's daughter, and a few other character-relationship moments, which is a little more than we get in most MCU movies and which was nice. There was at least some attempt to deal with the failure and loss of the last movie, although, other than an argument from Iron Man and a sense of purpose from Captain America, these attempts were laughably badly done. Thor's gut belly and indifference was supposed to be funny, but other than the quick visual punch it really wasn't. On the one hand it was nice to see an overweight superhero. On the other, too many jokes were made about him being out of shape.

Now we have to take the pin out, because this movie's basic plot, premise, and how it deals with what happened is just insane:

  • If you wipe out half of all "living creatures", what about the animals and vegetation?
  • If you wipe our half of all living creatures, far FAR more than half of the remainder are going to die, and pretty soon. Half of all airplane pilots of mid-flight airplanes and half of the air-traffic controllers are gone. That's thousands of crashed flights. Half of all drivers of cars and trucks are gone but their cars are still speeding. That stops EVERY car and truck on the road, killing millions of people and instantly blocking every major and minor thoroughfare. Who's left to un-jam the roads? Half of all surgeons are gone mid-operation and nurses mid-care. Half of all single-parents with dependents that can't get help. Half of the people that care for remote villages.
  • How about every religion? How many of them could deal with half of their flock, including their pope or chief or most of their cardinals, dying? No riots? No looting? No new cults or major overthrows? How are the governments still working? How are buildings? How is food and medicine getting delivered, let alone produced and harvested and supplied?
  • How about financial markets and the collapse of industry? How about the collapse of all national security? How about rogue nations and terrorism? How about ...
  • Let's talk about what it would mean then to reintroduce half of the population again five years after the world has moved on without them. Where are they reintroduced into the world, including the ones that were mid-flight or mid-driving? Up in the air, at their destination, or at home? Who owns what? Who is married to whom? Who is producing food for them and where do they live?
  • The point is that this kind of disaster is a mcguffin, something that you can't think about even in the most shallow terms because it doesn't make any sense, but the MCU just throws it in and expects you not to think about it.
And that's not even considering the loony ways that time-travel is dealt with, screwing around with multiple timelines with no concept of how to resolve any of the changes. But that consideration is, at least, par for the course for bad sci-fi movies. Also, how does time travel = infinite space travel?

As far as characters go:
  • Iron Man is well acted and has a good show. It was nice to see his callback to the end of the first movie
  • Captain America has definitely grown as a character and had a good show.
  • Black Widow / Hawkeye: yes, it was a better choice for her to die, since he has a real family, but the movie doesn't make you feel that that was more than a plot consideration. Her death was more tragic than Iron Man's, but she is only given a few words of remorse while he is given a whole ending funeral and condolence scene. Which just goes to show that the MCU still doesn't consider the women to be as important as the men.
  • Captain Marvel has barely 15 minutes of screen-time after her big movie. It's entirely unclear how she rescues Iron Man at the beginning. The nice shot of all of the remaining women characters was nice, but it shouldn't be: there are tons of shots of all men characters that we simply take for granted, but the MCU makes us wait for a big, dramatic shot of women characters. I will be more excited when there are so many scenes and shots of women superheroes that we don't notice them anymore.  Which just goes to show that the MCU still doesn't consider the women to be as important as the men.
  • Thanos' powers are never explained. Why would the God of Thunder and several of his weapons have no effect on him, why is he able to break Captain America's unbreakable shield, and why can't even Captain Marvel put a dent in him? Plot, is the only reason. The MCU dug themselves into a hole when they gave superheroes so much strength and then could not think  of a way to create tension without simply ignoring all of that strength. Tension with an overly strong superhero is supposed to come from moral complexity, deception, and self-actualization, not from Something Even Stronger.
  • Hulk: They keep finding new ways to present him to keep him fresh, which is nice. But he's still pretty boring as a character.
  • Ant-Man: I kind of forgot where he was, once the time travelling started. Oh wait, I think I saw him flying around with the Wasp here and there. Whatever.
  • Nebula and Gemora had a lot to do, and they were the stars. Too bad they were pretty boring in their previous movies.
  • Pepper: Gwenyth stole the scenes she was in just by being a better actor and presence than anyone else.
  • Black Panther, Spider-man, Doctor Strange, etc all showed up just to be there, but served no other purpose.
As a movie qua movie, the movie exists only to complete what happened in the last movie. It contained no real moral dilemmas, no real character tension, no real insights, no real inspiration or sacrifice (Black Widow's sacrifice was antiseptic and Iron Man's was accidental), and nothing really interesting story-wise other than its utter mangling and refusal to deal with the more interesting ramifications of story that was supposedly occurring around them.

Was it entertaining? If you ignore all of the parts than made my brain hurt, then it was entertaining. I wanted to see how it ended, which is about all one could have hoped for and no more. Infinity War was more entertaining and more satisfying (not that it was good, per se, but it was a better MCU movie). This was just okay.

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Although the last game was enjoyable in itself, there were various issues that had been sidestepped rather than resolved in order to get the game on the table. After considering a host of practical issues and reviewing a bunch of games over the last few years, I decided to give the well tested Square Brigadier another go. Since everything from unit foot prints to terrain are still geared to 4" squares, which happen to give me effectively a "bigger" table top, I decided to use virtual squares, measuring in 4" increments and checking alignment now and then.

Turn 3: The Dominion forces advance and engage a Rebel outpost as Rebel reinforcements begin to pour onto the table on the other side of the hill.

The scenario was inspired by the Reinforcements On Table scenario from CS Grants's Scenarios for Wargames (which is now available again), crossed with a relevant small historical action from 1866.
The Grenadiers line has been broken up by terrain and the Rebels defending the village have been stubborn. 
To be continued......








 

Amanda Pakade is an active advocate of gender equity.
Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is always mindful of the contribution made by its female athletes and administrators.

MSSA is thus the only gaming organisation world-wide that effectively puts its gender equity into practice.

MSSA's Board currently has 50% of all board positions held by females, and since 2012, MSSA has always had a female component to the national Protea team.

With the highest position in MSSA held by a female, Amanda Kwaza, MSSA has found itself transformed.

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Also read:

Written by Alexander O. Cuaycong and Anthony L. Cuaycong


Title: Resident Evil 3
Developer: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Publisher: CAPCOM Co., Ltd.
Genre: Action
Price: $59.99
Also Available On: Steam, XB1



Capcom has been on a roll of late, with such notables as Monster Hunter World and Devil May Cry 5 proving to be critical and commercial hits. And with last year's Resident Evil 2 remake likewise making waves, not a few quarters have justifiably looked to Resident Evil 3's release with heightened expectations. While technically a remake of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, the direction the Osaka-based publisher, along with creative partners K2, Redworks, and M-Two, took through its three years in development all but made it a new game. Most notably, crucial elements from its source material were removed, and designs of the characters and settings reimagined, to promote its pronounced bias for action




In Resident Evil 3, players take control of Jill Valentine, one of the few members of the STARS team who survived the Spencer mansion incident in the Arklay Mountains. Its premise is the same as the original: She's stalked by a killing machine designed to hunt her down and silence her, and she must use her wits, her training, and what weapons she has at her disposal to stay alive in Raccoon City. In practice, it plays similarly as well: She has access to the same arsenal, and she's able to traverse the same locations. And for all the attention it pays to action in combat, it thankfully retains the oppressive atmosphere fans of the survival horror franchise have come to consider as standard.

Indeed, zombies still stalk the streets, and the series' more dangerous creatures — from the skittering Drain Deimos to the notorious Hunters — lie just out of sight. Resident Evil 3 likewise retains the dodge-roll function, Nemesis' constant interference in Jill's plans, and even the Carlos segments. At first glance, Capcom has seemingly both made a faithful remake and updated facets for the contemporary crowd. Which does make the whole experience worthwhile. It's visually stunning, thematically engaging, and technically impressive. And, by all accounts, it ticks off the requisite boxes of a game veterans of, and newcomers to, the genre will enjoy.




That said, players who remember the original may have some qualms about the changes Resident Evil 3 makes. For example, the Carlos portions are much longer in nature and duration. Meanwhile, others in the original — among them the graveyard and the clock tower segments — have been reduced or cut out entirely; in their places are old locations that have been expanded. Another notable change: The Gravedigger boss in the graveyard portion has been excised, and a completely new boss, with a unique set of gimmicks, has been put in its place.

The changes aside, Resident Evil 3 has a few glaring problems, most specifically in regard to its length and replay value. The first run figures to take upwards of seven hours to complete, but successive play-throughs will be shorter. While not a problem in and of itself, it becomes cause for concern given the absence of "The Mercenaries — Operation: Mad Jackal," the much-lauded mini-game in original. True, it tries to fill the gap by having two extra difficulty settings in Nightmare and Inferno. Then again, they succeed in little more than ramp up the challenge; they do little in encouraging players to finish the game more than a few times. Which, all things considered, may leave those who enjoy extra modes and extra content wanting for more.




Still, Resident Evil 3 is worth playing through. It may not be as good a remake as Resident Evil 2, but it nonetheless pulls its weight as a worthy update to a highly regarded title.



THE GOOD
  • A grounded and interesting take on Jill Valentine
  • Graphically impressive while still playing smoothly
  • Able to consistently provide tension and dread even as it ramps up the stakes
  • Additional difficulty settings (with two of four initially locked until completion)

THE BAD
  • Missing "The Mercenaries — Operation: Mad Jackal" mode
  • Changes sequences from the original, making it feel more like a reimagining than a remake


RATING: 9/10

We've all been there. You accidentally enter the wrong password into your phone too many times, and suddenly, you're locked out of the device for good. Maybe your kid or a friend of yours took your phone and, as a joke or an accident, entered the wrong code one too many times. Maybe it's your secondary phone and it's been sitting in a drawer for a couple months and now you need it – but you forgot the code. With photos of our friends and family, our entire music collection, and our contacts library saved on our devices, one can't just be expected to hard reset the phone if something goes wrong with the passcode on the device.

Being locked out of our phones feels a lot like being locked out of our entire life. That said, you don't have to worry about trying to find a way out from phone purgatory. If you've accidentally triggered a permanent lockout of your phone, or you're not quite there yet but you know you've forgotten the password, you might feel the need to start panicking. Maybe you haven't forgotten the code to your phone, but you're looking for a smarter way to unlock the device when you're using it day-to-day. If you're curious about how phone unlocks work, whether trying to get into your locked device or just trying to make sure you don't accidentally lock yourself out, you've come to the right guide. With any luck, we'll be able to get you back into your phone without losing an ounce of data. And for those users who haven't lost their passcodes but are simply trying to use their phones in a smarter, more secure way, we have some tips for you too. This is how to unlock your Android phone.



Forgotten Passcodes

You've picked up your phone to check your text messages or your email, only to realize that something is wrong with your passcode. Despite knowing that you've set the password to be, let's say, your first child's birthday, nothing seems to be working. Your phone continues to tell you the password is wrong, but you've checked the spelling three times. Finally, your phone alerts you that you've been locked out of the device for the time being. What to do when you need your phone to pay for groceries, call an Uber, or check Instagram while waiting in line at the bank. If you've forgotten your passcode, you aren't completely out of luck just yet.

Try Variations on Your Passcode

Are you entirely sure you aren't misremembering your password? The first piece of advice we would give you is to ensure your passcode isn't being mixed up, or that you aren't forgetting a key piece of your passcode that happens to come at the end of the phrase. Plenty of us often forget about little tweaks to passwords we've added in order to ensure that our devices are as secure as possible. Here are some tips to making sure you're remembering every piece of your passcode:

  • Capital letters: If you're using a passcode phrase, you might've forgotten to add in any capital letters to your text. Make sure you remember to place the capital letters correctly as well; we've all forgotten the correct word or letter to capitalize in passcodes like this.
  • Numbers: Sometimes you forget about the number you added on your passcode a couple days ago. If your passphrase spells out "WaterInJuly382," you'll want to make sure you remember to enter the "382" part of the password. Don't be surprised if you accidentally forget to add the numbers onto your passcode. It happens to the best of us.
  • Special characters: Just like the capital letters, sometimes we add special characters into our passcodes to make them as complex as possible, only to forget the characters just hours later. Think back to decide whether you added an exclamation point, a dollar sign, or any other special character to your code in order to protect your data. It might make the difference between a lost passcode and saving your data.

Find My Mobile (Samsung Devices Only)

Are you using a Galaxy S9 or a Galaxy Note 8? You might be in luck: Samsung's own Find My Mobile tool features an additional feature not offered by Google's own Find My Device tool. Find My Mobile is similar to Find My Device or Find My Phone on iOS, but developed by Samsung specifically for their devices. For the most part, it does the same stuff you'd expect: Find My Mobile can locate your phone using GPS, make the device ring when you lose it in your couch cushions, and can even backup your data remotely using the web app offered by Samsung. More importantly, however, is the app's ability to unlock your device from your computer even if you've forgotten the passcode for the device.

There's a catch: if you haven't set up your Samsung account on your Galaxy S-device, you won't be able to do this. Like most of Samsung's tools, you need a Samsung account to log into the site and to unlock your device. Assuming you have set up your Samsung account—and haven't forgotten the passcode to that account—you should be able to unlock your device using the Find My Mobile web app here. All you need to do is sign in with your Samsung account, select the option to remotely unlock your device, and you'll be all set to go.

It's important to note that unlocking your device remotely does clear the biometric data off your device, so any fingerprints or iris scans you have saved on your device will have to be added back to your phone – small price to pay for saving your device's data in the long run.

As we mentioned, Google has a similar utility for all Android phones called "Find My Device," which only features the option to lock your device, not unlock it. If you've forgotten your passcode, all Find My Device will do is locate the device by GPS, re-lock the screen, and erase data; it won't be able to unlock the screen from the cloud.

Last Resort: Resetting Your Device

Unfortunately, thanks to the security enhancements added to Android 5.0 and above, most modern devices that aren't made by Samsung will have to be reset in order to bypass the password. Yes, this means you'll need to set your phone up again from scratch, re-downloading apps, music, and any other content you have saved on your mobile device. Being locked out of your device makes it difficult to back up any content on your phone, but if you already have some backup methods put in place, you can trigger them by plugging your phone. Both Google Drive backups (Pixel only) and Google Photos backups are often triggered by plugging your phone into a charger, so making sure your device is plugged in is ideal for guaranteeing that your software is saved. We recommend waiting until morning to reset your device if you're locked out; plenty of these backups happen overnight, including most SMS backups if you have an SMS backup app installed and running on your device.

Because you can't access the settings menu to factory reset your phone, you'll need to either use the hardware buttons on your phone to trigger a reset or use Google's Find My Device page in a web browser to reset the phone. Here's how to do each step:

If you're using Google's Find My Device page, load the URL here, sign into your Gmail account, and make sure your phone is selected. On the right side of the display, you'll see a Google Maps layout with a display showing the current location of your phone. On the left side of the display, you'll see a tab with three options: Play Sound, Lock, and Erase. Hit the Erase option to automatically trigger a device reset. Remember that your phone has to be powered on and connected to the internet in order to use this method.

Now, if you don't have access to the phone and can't use Find My Device to restore the phone over the web, you'll need to rely on the second method. To manually erase the device and reset the phone, you'll need to use the hardware buttons to load into your device's recovery system. This is accomplished a little differently on every phone, so your best option is to search for your phone model on Google with the keywords "boot into recovery." Some devices, like Samsung's lineup of phones, are fairly easy to boot into recovery with; you turn off the phone and press and hold a specific button combination to boot into recovery. Other phones, like Google's Pixel 2 XL, are much more finicky, requiring you to press and hold on one key and press and release another at the right time in order to boot into recovery. There are so many various methods for each Android phone, it's basically a requirement to search for the correct method for your phone to do this.

Once you've booted into recovery mode, use your device's volume up and volume down buttons to scroll through the list until you reach "Wipe Data/Factory Reset." Use the power button to select this option, then confirm your selection on the next display. Your phone will begin to reset; make sure the phone is charged enough to ensure it can last at least 30 minutes without dying. Once your phone has rebooted back to the menu screen, you can set up your device by logging back into the Google account you use for your phone. It is vitally important you use the same Google account you used on your phone prior to resetting. Android has a built-in security protocol known as Factory Reset Protection that requires a recently-reset phone to have the same Google account as previously used on the device in order to prevent a thief from immediately using the stolen phone. If you don't have the password for your Google account, you can reset it, but that means you won't be able to log into your phone for 24 hours after the reset.

Backup + Factory Reset

Probably the best combination of things to do does require you plan ahead, and set up a backup of your phone's data to the Google Cloud. This way, even if you have to reset the phone for whatever reason, a reasonably current set of your phone's data will be available, intact, and ready to get your phone back into action. I will walk you through how to set this up. You will need a Google account for this.

To set up backup, follow these steps.

  1. Go to Settings on your phone.
  2. Select System->Backup.
  3. Select Google backup.
  4. Select "Backup Now"

Your phone will now copy the critical data to your Google account.

Restoring from backup is simple. After you reset your phone and attach your Google account to the phone again, it will automatically restore your data from backup. Running a backup takes only a few minutes on a WiFi connection, or even less if you keep your phone regularly backed up – get into the habit of setting off a backup every night when you go to bed and you will always have a near-realtime backup of your phone.

(Want to backup more than just your phone? You can with one of these speedy 4-TB portable hard drives from Toshiba. You can back up all the computers in your household, and still have room for a thousand movies.)

Unlocking Your Phone with Speed

If you aren't having trouble getting into your phone, but you want to make sure your phone is secure while simultaneously unlocking your phone with some serious speed in order to make your day easier, we have some advice. There are plenty of options for unlocking your device, and they all help to make unlocking your phone easier and to prevent a situation where you forget the code for your phone.

Smart Lock

Smart Lock is one of our favorite tools on Android that is unavailable on other platforms. It makes it easy to make sure your phone is always secure, while simultaneously working to stay out of your way when you want access to your device. Basically, Smart Lock offers Android users several ways to unlock their phones when they're using it, while keeping it locked when it's not near them. To turn on smart lock, you'll need to open up your settings menu on your Android device and head into the Security submenu. Under "Device Security," you'll find an option for Smart Lock. Type in your passcode or password to enter Smart Lock, and you'll be greeted with (as of writing) five unique options for unlocking your phone. Let's break each of these down:

  • On-body detection: This setting allows you to unlock your device once before disabling the lock for as long as the phone is in your hand or on your person. Using your smartphone's array of sensors, the device tracks when your device is in use, so you can turn the display off but keep the phone unlocked while it's in your hand. When your phone realizes that it's been set down, your phone will automatically re-lock, requiring a password. This isn't the most secure method Smart Lock offers, but it is pretty cool.

  • Trusted places: Sure, it's one thing to keep your phone locked when you're out on the town, but what about when you're sitting in your apartment watching Netflix and you just want to be able to use your phone without constantly worrying about your password? Trusted places works to use the GPS in your phone to detect that you're in a secure location of your choosing, and automatically keeps your phone unlocked for you. As soon as you leave your location, your phone relocks, keeping things safe and secure for you and your device.

  • Trusted devices: This might be the best of the five Smart Lock options, because it's ideal for keeping your devices safe when you're nearby and keeping your phone locked when you've left. Do you own a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a set of wireless headphones, or any other device that syncs over Bluetooth? Trusted devices might be the option for you, allowing you to keep your phone unlocked when your phone is paired with your gadgets. Smartwatches and fitness trackers are ideal for this, but it also helps you keep your phone unlocked when driving in your Bluetooth-equipped car, when running with Bluetooth headphones, or when paired with a set of Bluetooth speakers.

  • Trusted face: Plenty of phones have had a face unlock feature, though none of them are quite as secure as the FaceID method on the iPhone X. Still, if you want, you can enable Trusted Face on your device in order to allow your camera to automatically unlock your phone when it recognizes you. However, Trusted Faces is much more easily fooled than the above methods, especially since a photo of you—or even a lookalike—could unlock your phone without having to use any security. Use this one with caution.

  • Voice Match: Voice Match is a bit different than the other options on this list, because largely speaking, it's used to activate Google Assistant more than unlock your device. Here's the deal: turning on Voice Match allows you to access your Google Assistant every time you say "OK Google," even while the screen is off. Once you've enabled that ption, you have a second choice: "Unlock with Voice Match," which allows you to automatically unlock your phone when the sound of your voice saying "OK Google" matches the saved voice model on your device.

You can enable just one or all five of these, so don't worry if you like the idea of Trusted Devices but don't want to use On-Body Detection. If Smart Lock makes you feel like you can't properly keep your smartphone secured while enabling these settings, you don't need to worry. Every Android smartphone with Smart Lock enabled has the ability to lock the device manually, requiring a passcode or fingerprint in order to use the device properly. At the bottom of your lock screen is a small lock icon that allows you the choice of manually locking your phone. How you use it is actually a little different depending on your device; for example, Samsung devices have you press the icon to lock the app, but the Pixel phones have you press and hold the icon.

Once you've done this, your phone will give you a small notification alerting you that your device has been manually locked, and that the device will stay locked until you're ready to manually unlock with either your fingerprint (if you've turned this on) or your passcode. Manually locking your phone disables all smart locks, so even if you turn on a trusted Bluetooth device, you'll have to either input your passcode or password, or use your fingerprint to unlock the device if you have biometric security enabled. We'll talk more about fingerprints in the section below, and more specifically, how you can keep your biometric data from being used against you on upcoming versions of Android.

Smart Lock is one of those features that seems like a no-brainer, since it's so damn easy to setup and use to your benefit. That said, using Smart Lock obviously raises security concerns overall, since it does keep your phone unlocked more often. You'll want to play around with Smart Lock to find the right combination of security and ease of use for you. Maybe that means unlocking the device when it's attached to your car's Bluetooth and when you're at home, but keeping it secured at work and leaving on-body detection disabled. Whatever the right combination is for you will likely be a personal decision, but with five different modes of Smart Lock available, you have plenty of options and combinations to choose from.

Fingerprints

Almost every Android device in 2018 has a fingerprint sensor equipped on the body of the device, allowing you to easily access your content without having to go through the hassle of entering your passcode every time you use your phone. Fingerprints aren't a perfect unlocking method, but they're fast, secure, and can be equipped with up to four fingerprint entries on most phones. If you aren't using the fingerprint sensor on your device, you should enable it if only to create a backup option. Even if you prefer to unlock your phone by using an unlock method like a PIN, pattern, or password, fingerprints are perfect if you're ever in danger of accidentally locking the device without knowing the proper password.

If you aren't one to use fingerprints to unlock your phone, one step you could take to ensure you never forget your passcode is set the fingerprint on your phone to unlock with a finger that isn't your thumb or index finger. For example, try using your pinky finger or your ring finger as a way to program a fingerprint without making it obvious. You'll always have the option to use your fingerprint as a backup if you forget your code, but otherwise, you'll be good to go when it comes to always having a way to unlock your phone. You could also try using the fingerprint of someone you intensely trust, like a partner or a child, if only to keep a backup that doesn't happen to be with you all the time. This is especially good if you're worried about being forced to unlock your phone by law enforcement, a pressing matter that is becoming more prevalent all the time.

Finally, if you're still worried about logging your fingerprints on your Android device due to security concerns, the upcoming release of Android P has a security feature built-in that allows you to quickly disable fingerprint scanning if you find yourself at risk of being forced to unlock your device. Called "lockdown" in the settings menu, the option allows you to immediately disable both fingerprints and Smart Lock, just by using the option that appears within the power menu on the lock screen. It only disables those features for one lock, but if you're in a place where you're worried your biometric or smartwatch lock features might be used against you, it's a great option to feel more secure.

Notes and Reminders

If you're the type of person who likes to use a complex password on their phone and balks at the idea of using any of the smart unlock features we highlighted above, you might want to consider using the lock screen text display as a way to leave yourself helpful notes and tips to make remembering your password that much easier. Every Android device on the market today has support for placing a message on the lock screen, and you can display some pretty long messages. While most people use this as a way to label their phone (the example in Android is "Joe's Android"), you can also use it to set what amounts to old password hints from Windows and other desktop operating systems.

So, for example, if you've set your password as the name and birthdate of your daughter (ie., "elizabeth1217"), you could set the reminder on your lock screen as "ebbirth", for "elizabeth1217." This can be done for any password, even if it's a random phrase. "Candy90erring60Blinders," for example, could be hinted at on your lock screen with "Reese's, Jewelry, Sunlight." You'll still have to work to remember the numbers and the correct words that match up with the other content, but it can go a long way in helping you to remember what your password is without giving it away. Again, this is totally optional, a way for users to remember their long passwords without having to deal with giving it away or writing it down.

Password Managers

This final tip is for those among us who have a reputation for forgetting passwords and passcodes. If you're always worried about losing your password to your phone and getting locked out, you might want to try using a password manager like Lastpass or 1Password, which allows you to save all your passwords in one place with a single unlock, typically requiring a fairly long phrase in order to gain access to your passcodes. We recommend Lastpass for password manager beginners, because it's free and works with all your devices out of the box. We recommend writing the passcode down somewhere safe and secure in your house, then saving your phone's password inside of Lastpass for safekeeping. It might seem like an odd choice, and certainly won't speed up the unlocking process if you do manage to forget your password, but it's always good to have a backup unlock method to keep your phone's data safe.

***

Losing access to your phone is a nightmare. It's where all of your personal data, from bank account information to photos of your family and friends, lives and is kept safe. Being locked out of your data can feel like the end of the world, but luckily, it doesn't have to be. Whether you're worried about locking yourself of your account, or you've recently updated your phone's password and want to make sure you don't lose it, there are plenty of options to ensure you don't lose access. And even if you have, you aren't completely out of luck, thanks to the various options that exist for getting back into your account.

If you're looking for a way to unlock your phone faster, there's all sorts of opportunities to make sure your Android device is ready for you to login without having to enter your password every time. Biometric security has become fairly commonplace in the mobile arena, and likewise, Smart Lock on Android has made it easy to keep your device secure when it needs to be and unlocked when it doesn't. Overall, the security options on Android have become so plentiful that there's no reason not to keep some kind of security on your Android device. Just make sure you remember the password before you save the account information.

@EVERYTHING NT

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