Top 4 Windows Mobile Device Locking Software Programs

Clicking to lock and pressing the designated unlock button plus the # key or “Here” on the Windows Mobile display is not the most advanced method of unlocking your handset. It's a little clumsy at times and certainly not quick, effective or intuitive, and remarkably can occur by accident when your handset is tucked away in a pocket.

Taking a lead from the iPhone Windows Mobile developers have been able to introduce a selection of ingenious new methods to lock and unlock the Windows Mobile screen, preventing accidental activation of the phone and more importantly avoiding “pocket phone calls.”

Also known as Slide 2 Unlock 2, S2U2 is the second version of the popular freeware slide/unlock application for Windows Mobile.

Configurable as a screensaver, S2U2 requires the user to unlock their Windows Mobile device by the familiar thumb slide gesture.

A well made application, S2U2 comes with language pack options as well as a myriad of settings that allow the locking software to be fully configurable. Its success is entirely down to the ease of use - testament to the Windows Mobile platform that a free application can mimic the work of a well-paid Apple designer.

S2U2 can be downloaded free from FreewarePocketPC.net.

Available for the Windows Mobile 5 and 6 platform, Auto Lock (download it from FreewarePocketPC.net) can be setup to lock your WinMo handset when the screen dims.

This is useful if you're prone to putting your phone down on a table somewhere and don't want anyone picking it up to check your messages, emails, etc.

Auto Lock is a free tool which has a very small footprint in terms of RAM and CPU usage, and is well worth trying out.

If you're a lock-phobe however, Stay Unlock will let you leave your phone unlocked for a predetermined length of time. It's designed for use by business Windows Mobile users who have a group policy applied to their devices by their exchange server, and overrides both lock and timeout settings.

This is obviously a great piece of added functionality for your Windows Mobile device.

Compatible with Windows Mobile 5, 6 and 6.1 platforms, Stay Unlock can be downloaded via FreewarePocketPC.net.

This is a great screen lock application, giving the user the ability to set a shape or pattern to the 9-point grid.

Designed to work with any display resolution, (qVGA, wqVGA,VGA and wVGA), ThrottleLock works best with g-sensor enabled phones from HTC (eg Touch, HD, etc) although any Windows Mobile 5, 6 or 61 device with Microsoft .Net Compact Framework 2.0 or 3.5 installed should have no problem running it.

One word of warning however – ThrottleLock will lock your phone completely, so don't forget the unlock code otherwise you'll need to force a factory settings reset!

Download ThrottleLock from FreewarePocketPC.net.

There is a great choice of Windows Mobile device locking software out there, and these four examples are among the best.

All available for free, they're all relatively compact and will offer a new degree of security to your Windows Mobile device.

When it comes to security, you cannot be too careful - so make the right choice with these locking tools, pick the one that works best for you.

Most of all, don't forget the unlock codes!