We are investigating the possibility of releasing a new application called handyLock. This application will allow you to lock and unlock your Mac based on the proximity of a Bluetooth phone. I have a working prototype right now that need tweaking and proper packaging but most of it is there.

This will be a useful application that will lock your screen on its own when you are walking away from our computer while it is turned on. For example, let say you work on something in the office or living room and you need to go grab a coffee. The application will notice via your phone that you are moving away and will lock your Mac so no one can get into it. As you walk back with your mug of coffee your Mac will sense that your are close and will unlock the screen without you having to do anything. Essentially handyLock will prevent you from having to put your machine to sleep and then wake it back up every time you walk away for a few minutes.

This application would do about the same thing as what the AppStore based Keycard does. We will probably keep the application outside of the AppStore for now since we like the ability for users to “try” before donating what they feel the application if worth to them. We will also aim at making it better than the current Keycard implementation that tend to either lock you Mac for no reason or not lock it at all (or you need to walk 45 feet before it does) as reported by many users. We think we found a way around those issues and will implement them in handyLock.

The problem with the AppStore is that you can’t actually try and see if the application work. So you end-up wasting precious dollars on something that either does not work, does not meet expectation of that you simply won’t use.