WaveSecure: An App Every Android User Must Know and Use
By: @Hilzfuld
There are all different types of mobile apps out there. There are apps that offer a wow effect when showing them to your friends. Then there are apps that offer a fun and completely pointless gaming experience. There are apps that actually help you develop skills and there are apps that help you communicate. Now that I managed to sound like an Apple commercial, I will get to the point.
There are not many apps that can be described as a must-have, not because of the fun game they offer or the comprehensive communication solution they provide, but because they will actually save you when you are faced with the most unfortunate situation of losing a phone or even worse, having it stolen. WaveSecure for Android is one such app. An app that includes all your security needs. It is an all in one tool that provides many important features geared toward that very sad day of losing a phone. I actually had not heard of WaveSecure until a friend who had had her Android phone stolen this week forwarded me an email her dad had sent to her about this app.
So what does it do? Well, the app is perfectly complimented by an online Web-based application that enables you to perform various operations in the case that your phone was either lost or stolen. So, let’s discuss the Web interface, then we will talk about the phone itself. From the website, you login using your mobile number and the 6 digit pin you create when you register your phone. Now, it is important to note that upon registration, WaveSecure sends you an SMS to verify your number. For this reason, I was surprised to discover that when I was using the app on Wifi with no SIM card installed, the registration did not work. The entire concept works on your mobile phone with a mobile number and mobile data. Just keep that in mind.
Moving along, the website enables you to do the following:
- Lock: Imagine the scenario. you come back from a long day of shopping, only to discover that your mobile phone is not in the pocket it was in twenty minutes ago. That leaves only one possibility, it was stolen. Alternatively, if it was lost, this is also a great solution. You can remotely lock your phone preventing anyone from using it. Not only is it completely locked down, but it will display a Lock Message on the screen notifying the finder/thief to return it to its owner. The app also enables you to choose up to nine friends that the person can call to notify that they have found (or stolen, although, not sure most people would do that) this phone. The locking mechanism is highly customizable including the ability to automatically lock the phone every time a new SIM is inserted, as well as many other options.
- Unlock: Obviously, if you can lock the phone from the Web interface, you need to be able to unlock it too. And so you can, using your 6 digit pin number.
- Yell: Yes, this is no joke, you can have the phone begin to yell upon lock just in case the phone was actually stolen. I am assuming this is the same concept as an alarm, which is meant to frighten the person enough to leave your house, or in this case get rid of the phone, although, not sure what the thief throwing the phone away will do for you. I guess it is sort of like a “If I can’t have it, no one can” kinda thing. The yelling is very loud and annoying especially when you are testing the app out and it starts yelling with your kids sleeping in the next room. The yelling is cancelled as soon as the phone is unlocked either remotely or on the phone itself.
- Track: You can also track the SIM card that was recently inserted into the device enabling you to identify the culprit. When pressing on Track, you are immediately shown the phone number of the new SIM, which will enable you to contact the person or report them. There is also a tracking log to show all the operations performed on the phone. You can also see all the calls and SMS messages sent from the phone by backing all that data up, but more about that later.
- Locate: You can also find the location of the device, although, at least in my case, it did not give me an exact location, but rather a general area. It also took a little too long, so if my phone were stolen, by the time the location was displayed, the thief could have been in another state. However, to be honest and transparent, I will say I tested this feature while the phone was indoors, so I am assuming it would have all worked better had I been outdoors.
- Backup: This serves two purposes. The obvious one is to back up your data so if the phone is lost, you still have your contacts, SMS messages, call logs, and media. The second purpose is to easily find the person who is using your phone. I have heard stories about stolen phones used to take pictures that were then uploaded to the Web. This enabled the owner to locate the thief based on the pictures taken. In this case, you can also see who the person is calling or texting. I am pretty convinced that with this feature, you will find your phone in no time.
- Wipeout: This is for those of us who keep personal info on their phone. If it is lost or stolen, and you do not want the finder to know your bank account info (ok, bad example, terrible idea to store that on your phone), you can remotely wipeout all the data on your phone.
- Restore: Of course, when you find your phone and all the data is wiped out, that is not going to be a happy day. So, you can simply restore all the backed up data with this feature, and enjoy a happy ending.
OK, that is the Web interface, the phone app includes most of those features. From the phone, you can Backup, Restore, Lock, and Wipeout. The phone app also includes a Settings screen that enables you to customize how and when the phone is auto locked, whether the yelling (referred to as alarm in the app) feature is enabled, how the phone sends the location, what lock message appears when the phone is locked, as well as many other user settings such as email and your nine contacts that are notified when the phone is stolen.
I hope you understand by now why I said every Android user must download this app. I know most of you might be thinking “It won’t happen to me”, I thought the same thing, but given the fact that WaveSecure is free (I always wonder how developers pull that off), what do you have to lose? I heard a rumor that it will not be free forever, which makes sense, since as you can see, this is a very comprehensive and advanced tool, so I would highly recommend you get this app now. You gotta be nuts not to.
Our Rating: 5/5
Developer: WaveSecure
