Lock screen: passcode and biometrics
By the end of this article you know when the app locks, how to get back in without signing in again, and what each message on the lock screen means.
Why the app locks
Your phone holds your customers’ names, addresses and phone numbers, and it gets put down on car roofs, dashboards and workbenches. So the app locks itself when it has been in the background for a minute or more, and every time it starts cold. Locking hides everything until you prove it is you; the lock screen says so — Your jobs and customers stay hidden until you unlock. Nothing was signed out.
Nothing is lost when it locks: no sign-in, no download, no sync. Unlocking takes one glance or one touch.
The lock uses the security your phone already has. If your phone has no screen lock at all — no passcode, PIN, pattern, fingerprint or face — the app has nothing to check against and does not lock. There is no switch for this inside the app; set up a screen lock on the phone and the app starts locking on its own.
Unlock
- Open the app. The lock screen shows Signed in as your email.
- The phone’s own prompt appears by itself: Face ID or Touch ID on an iPhone, fingerprint, face or iris unlock on Android. Look at the phone or touch the sensor.
- You are back exactly where you left off.
If the prompt did not appear or you dismissed it, tap the button — Unlock with Face ID, Unlock with Touch ID, Unlock with your fingerprint, and so on. On a phone with a passcode but no biometrics the button just says Unlock and asks for the passcode.
Biometrics not recognized? The phone offers its fallback on the same prompt — Use passcode on iPhone, the PIN or pattern on Android. Either one unlocks the app.
The first time you use Face ID with the app, iOS asks once whether to allow it. The app never sees your face data; the phone does the checking and only tells the app yes or no.
When it does not unlock
- Not unlocked. Try again when you’re ready. — you canceled the prompt. Tap the unlock button to try again.
- Too many failed attempts. Your device paused biometric unlocking. — the phone, not the app, has paused Face ID or fingerprint. Wait a moment and try again; if it still will not, unlock the phone itself with its passcode, PIN or pattern, which turns biometrics back on, then come back to the app.
- Something went wrong unlocking … — try again. If it keeps happening, use the password route below and write to support.
- This device can no longer unlock …, so your session ended. — the phone’s screen lock was turned off, so the app has nothing to check against. You land on the sign-in screen; set a screen lock and sign in again.
- Your fingerprint, face or screen-lock settings changed … on the sign-in screen — you added or removed a fingerprint or face, or changed the passcode, and the phone cleared the saved sign-in for safety. Sign in again.
Sign in with your password instead
Under the unlock button there is Sign in with your password instead. It is the way out when the phone’s lock will not cooperate — but it is a full sign-out, not an unlock, and the confirmation says what that costs: it clears the app’s downloaded data from this phone, any work that hasn’t reached the server yet will be lost, and you need a connection to sign back in. Tap Stay locked unless you mean it; tap Sign out only when you have no other way in.
Good to know
- A minute in the background is the threshold. Switching to the camera or a phone call and coming straight back does not lock.
- Locking is per phone. A tablet you also use locks and unlocks on its own.
- The lock is not a session: the app still signs you out after a full day without using it — see Sign in, and choose your company.