We humans love trying out new technology and crave updates. Well fine, maybe not all of us but I sure do. But who doesn’t like more usability of their devices? Good Lock provides just that for every modern Galaxy device. I feel as if Good Lock is not really something advertised to users unless they’re really tech savvy always reading on blogs (like this one) or browsing for new features to unlock that’s hidden.
The first iteration of Good Lock was announced back in the Marshmallow days in 2016. I remember finding out about this app and tinkering with everything my phone had to offer in order to customize the UI greatly. Sadly, Good Lock did not see a return after that until Oreo was released in 2018. This is when Good Lock 2018 was revived and back to customizing our phones even further.
What is Good Lock?
Good Lock is an application downloadable from the Galaxy Apps store pre-loaded on your Samsung device. Unfortunately it is also region locked so not everyone is able to download from the app store. (That’s where Bad Lock comes in. Bad Lock offers region compatibility for all regions through the help of XDA developers.) Good Lock taps into your phones UI to either completely replace animations, change UI elements, enable/disable icons in your status bar, or even stop accidental edge touches. But these are just the tip of the iceberg, there’s a lot more Good Lock can offer. Luckily Good Lock doesn’t drain any battery from all my usage I’ve done for the past two years almost using the app through three phones of mine. Next, we will go in depth on what modules Good Lock offers and what they provide to the user.
LockStar
This module consists of customizing your lock screen to its fullest extent. There are plenty of options available to the user after installing this specific module. There are ways to change your unlock style such as from swiping from anywhere to swiping in a certain direction. You can also change how you interact with the bottom corner applications so instead of touching and swiping you can just press them like a button.
One of my favorite features of LockStar includes moving all the elements of your lock screen such as the music player or even the clock anywhere you’d like. It’s as simple as dragging and dropping with elements of letting you know when they’re lined up in the middle or not as well.
The only downside about LockStar is how it changes your notification style to icons only where you have to icons only. Most of you might know already but when notifications are icon only on your lock screen then you need to click the icons first to have the notifications drop down to see them and interact.
QuickStar
One of my favorite modules has to be QuickStar. This beauty helps you with customizing your notification pull down bar and status bar. Some ways you’re able to customize your notification pull down bar are by changing the color of it completely. You have presets available at your disposal along with a whole RGB wheel to change around to any color as you’d like.
The color control settings can be used for every aspect of the notification pull down. These include when tiles are on, tiles are off, font color, and the background color. The background can be made fully dark/black which is what most AMOLED users prefer. Or you can even make the color as pink as a tulip. My favorite I’d say is the ability to make the bar fully transparent to make it seamless with my wallpaper in my background on my home screen.
Not only do you have color control settings but also a background blur may be applied for an added effect. You have five levels of blurs to suit whichever taste you have. I myself like to keep this level on three just because I feel like the module can overdo it. Leaving the wonders of the notification pull down, we now move onto the status bar.
QuickStar not only allows you to customize the notification pull down but it also lets you customize your status bar which you see in almost every app at the top of your phone. One of the things your status bar can be customized to do is remove the clock from the bar or even move it from the left to the right side or vice versa. Now it’s not only the clock you can customize but also each and every icon. See that LTE icon you dont want up there? Well hey, QuickStar lets you toggle ANY icon on or off. Don’t want to know when Bluetooth is on? Toggle it off. It’s as easy and simple as that. Don’t you ever get rid of this marvelous feature, Samsung.
A bonus setting QuickStar has is a notification popup button that allows you to swipe notifications slightly and click the new icon. Clicking the popup window icon allows you to open the app for the notification in a popup window. Very useful to look at notifications and reply if you need to when you’re in another application.
Task Changer
Task Changer is one of my favorite modules in Good Lock. This module replicates new animations for your task changing feature on your phone. You have many different animations to choose from to fit your needs. You can also add background blur when your task changer is up along with a “mini mode” to make your card sizes smaller. Another neat feature is being able to center the currently running app so you don’t have to scroll through a bunch. There’s not much to explain since it’s pretty self explanatory for this module along with being one of the coolest ones.
ClockFace
Want more clock faces for your Always on Display or Lockscreen? Well, this is the module for you. ClockFace adds a bunch of new different types of clocks to customize your phone. All you have to do is go into the module and select whether you’d like to change your lockscreen or AoD clock. Some of these clocks are very clever, my favorite being the one that resembles a cars gauge.
MultiStar
Another great module to use and experiment with would be MultiStar. MultiStar allows you to change your phones multitasking habits. You can change the color of the splitscreen bar while multitasking to any color through an RGB wheel. Another feature allows you to using multi tasking without pausing another app. You can now watch Youtube videos while playing Fortnite!
MultiStar users are also now able to force any two apps into multi tasking mode even if they aren’t supported natively. This setting being ticked requires a restart of your phone to fully work.
NavStar
Don’t we all just use gestures nowadays? NavStar allows you to customize your navigation bar to the fullest. You’re able to add buttons to your navigation bar as well as change their icons to anything you’d like. Yes, you can upload your own pictures to use as your buttons. Some buttons you can add other than your regular navigation buttons can be a screenshot button or even a screen off button. Unfortunately the background color cannot be changed to black due to burn-in issues so you have your regular colors as default. Overall this is a great module to customize your navigation bar if you have still kept using it.
Nice Shot
Nice Shot now adds the ability to screen record natively which has not been seen on any of their flagship phones yet. Nice Shot not only allows you to screen record but has advanced screen shot options. One of the features are changing the save formats from JPG to PNG if you’d like to. Another great feature is where you’re able to exclude the SystemUI after you take a screenshot. Enabling this setting would not show your navigation bar or status bar in any screenshot.
Another setting that might be useful within Nice Shots module would be the “Delete file after share via”. This allows you to have the screenshot automatically deleted after you share the image without saving it.
The screen recording feature can have systems sounds enabled along with a mic, just system sounds, or mute all sounds. Quality can be set as well between high, medium, or low. You’re able to get to the screen recording option by either taking a screenshot and clicking on the corresponding icon or by adding a shortcut through Nice Shot to your home screen.
There is also an additional Tag Menu which allows you to tag pictures and screen recordings you take. This tag menu allows you to search up your tags to be able to find the specific image or recording you’re looking for.
NotiStar
NotiStar provides you with a notification management service that can be accessed only from your lock screen. This allows you to save notifications or even search for text to bring up a certain notification you’re looking for. I feel as if this module should replace the main notification bars features instead of adding a new option to your lock screen. But then again, if you’re one who gets too many important notifications you should definitely get the module to be able to keep track of everything.
Nice Catch
Do you ever feel a vibration and think it was just your imagination? Well fear not because Nice Catch is able to log every single notification or even toast in its logs to allow you to view them. Its very handy to see which application is causing ghost vibrations at times.
One Hand Operation +
Are you like me and use your device with one hand? Please, get this module within Good Lock! One Hand Operation + provides an experience that you’ve never seen with all its functionality. I can start naming all the functions it can provide but I’ll bloat this blog up. This module allows you to set a handle on either the left, right, or both sides. The handle can be customized to be thin or thick to your likeness along with where you would like it on the sides of your screen. Thankfully if you choose to not want the handle visible, you can make it completely transparent with the transparency slider provided to you within the settings.
The handles have options for a straight, diagonal up, or diagonal down swipe you can set for different actions. On top of the swipes, you can set for a long swipe where you swipe and hold for another action. Each side of your screen can be customized for up to 6 different actions per handle this way.
I myself have my handle only on the left set for a straight swipe as my back key. My diagonal down brings down my notification bar (very useful since there is no more fingerprint scanner on the back of the device). I also have my diagonal down long swipe set to pull my screen down for easy reach at the top. My last favorite one I’ve set is a diagonal up long swipe to turn off my screen.
There’s no reason you should not install this module if you love to navigate your device with one hand. Go on, give it a try!
EdgeLighting +
We all love the futuristic style of notification that Edge Lighting provides us. If you’re a fan of the feature, then EdgeLighting + is a must have due to the other styles of lighting’s it gives you. Go on, check them out. You won’t regret it!
EdgeTouch
Sometimes the curved glass of Galaxy flagships could get in the way and we accidentally click on something we did not want to. EdgeTouch allows you turn off specific areas on the edge so you don’t accidentally click them. It has different modes you can set it to with visuals. Don’t like the modes? You can set your own modes to customize to your preference. This is a very useful module for the long run if you’re annoyed by the curved glass nature of your flagship.
SoundAssistant
Good Locks SoundAssistant module has to be one of the more useful ones. This module allows users to control the volume of each application individually. On top of that, the volume can be fine tuned to 150 steps which is great to pick your specific volume you’d like. I love this! This module also supports to give you mono audio along with left/right balance.
Another setting allows you to set personalized sounds for different times in your phone. Think of it more as a Bixby Routines type of setting. The setting allows you to name it, set the time, and which days you’d like for it to repeat.
Why are you still reading? Go on! Head to the Galaxy App store and get Good Lock today!
