Android App: Screen Off And Lock

As of this posting, I'm sporting a Nexus S 4G From Sprint. Many newer devices that were made in the last year or so seemingly have a minimal amount of hardware buttons. With screen "real estate" (I hate using that cliche term for mobile devices) increasing more and more with each new production, it becomes economical to move those buttons that would normally be hardware buttons onto the touch screen.


This holds true for all of the Google Nexus phones that were produced in the last year, as well as for the Galaxy Nexus. On my Nexus s 4G, the only physical buttons I have are a Power Button (which seconds as the Standby/Airplane Mode Button, etc), and a volume rocker. The remaining "Android" buttons are touchscreen-ish (soft buttons). So, whenever I need to wake or turn my phone screen off, I'm stuck pressing the power button all of the time.


Pressing the power button, and only the power button, constantly really got me thinking: "What if this button wears out before the life of my phone is up?". There is where I found the app, "Screen Off and Lock" very useful. I could at least cut my power button presses in half from using this app. I will explain how this works.


First, I'd like to inform you that if you're currently running a Cyanogenmod-based ROM on your Nexus Phone, you probably will not have to use this app, reason being that Cyanogenmod ROM has a version of the power widget built into the Notification area, which conveniently has an option to turn the screen off and lock it. Still though, if you wanted, you could install Screen Off and Lock and enjoy a few extra features. Also, Motorola Phones running a stock ROM are not supported.

In this screenshot, notice the two similar icons at the top center of my screen. The left one is simply a short cut that, when pressed, will shut the screen off and lock it (without having to hit your power button). To turn your screen back, just press your power button as your normally would. At least we've eliminated half of our presses. Even better, if your phone has a trackball, you could use that instead to wake your phone, therefore never having to press your power button when using your phone!


The Screen Off icon to the right has a little wrench on it. This will not shut off your screen, but it will take you to the settings for this app. I think it's pretty cool that this tiny app, weighing in at 313k (as of this writing), even has some customization features.

I've squashed a few more screenshots to display all of the options in this version of Screen Off And Lock - This version is FREE. First you'll see that you can chose to "Enable shortcut in notification area". It's important to realize that this doesn't add a running app in the background, even though you'll constantly see it in the notification area. This will just keep the app's shortcut visible in your notification area, therefore saving some space on your desktop. The remaining settings are self explanatory.


In the remaining screenshots, it shows you can enable Sounds and/or vibrations while locking your screen. I think that's pretty neat. Say you're in a loud club, watching a Hard Rock band and you are quickly putting your phone into your pocket while locking your screen, if you want to feel (haptic feedback) your phone responding to your locking of the screen, you can have that. That sounds dorky, but it can be useful!


I think this is a great app, especially for the great price of free. If you're concerned about excessive button presses wearing out your Power button, or if you prefer some extra bells and whistles while locking your screen (while using minimal space!), get this app now.


Direct Android Market Link: Screen Off And Lock