Screen Off Pro (Screen Lock) – Certainly locks screens. [Review]

Overview

Screen Off Pro does what it sets out to do; it locks your screen at the push of a software button, negating the use of the hardware button for this use. There are a number of other options within the app, including assigning vibration, sound and animation to the screen off function, but many of these are hidden behind the paywall of the $0.99 ‘unlock’ version.

Developer: Yogesh Dama

Price: Free (Unlock: $0.99 / Unlock + Tip: $1.49)

Highlights:

• Turn off and lock screen without use of a hardware button.
• Various icons to stay consistent with your theme.
• Floating Screen Off Button. (Unlock only)
• Vibration, animation, and vibration options. (Unlock only)

Setup

Screen Off Pro requires minimal effort to set up. The app guides you through the process, which is as follows:

Tap ‘Create Screen off Shortcut.’

Activate Device Administrator* (Tap button, tap ‘Activate.’)

Choose Icon and Label.

Tap ‘Create Shortcut to home screen.’

Enjoy.

* See below.

Opening splash screen.

Tap the first option to allow Administrator Privileges.

Features

As far as Screen Lock apps go, Screen Off Pro is pretty full-featured, if limited. Unfortunately, many of these features are hidden behind the paid version of the app. These features are not marked in any way as pro features; you’re only informed of such once you try to use them. At best, this is a minor inconvenience. Below is a list of the features as provided by the developer. My annotations follow in parenthesis.

Number of best Screen off Shortcut icons (FREE)

Change the label, name of the screen lock shortcuts (FREE)

Play sound you like on screen lock (Pro Only)

Vibrate on screen lock if you like (Pro Only)

Lock with style, Choose the best animations (Some options free, most Pro Only)

Notification shortcut to easily lock the screen from anywhere  (Pro Only)

Floating screen off button over all apps, with option to set transparency and size of floating Screen off button (Pro Only)

Best UI design with minimal option for simple use

This app also requires Administrator permissions, which may be concerning to some. To see if it was an isolated incident with this particular app, I downloaded a number of other screen off apps – they all require Administrator permissions, in order to turn off the screen. Looks like if you’d like this functionality, you have to play ball. I also ran into a number of instances where the app force-closed on my Nexus 6P, possibly due to inactivity.

Lots of icon choices.

Conclusion

Screen Off Pro does what it sets out to do; provide an app that turns your phone’s screen off without using the hardware button. However, I find the app description and, indeed the app itself, to be misleading in that it does not mention that many features are hidden behind a paid app. If you’re looking for a free app that turns off your screen and little else, this app is for you; if you’re looking for a free app that does the features described, you’re out of luck.

Google Play Store – Screen Off Pro (Screen Lock)

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