--- title: Unlocking the phone description: Edges are special to us. We use them for finding apps, tools and system services, so using the edges will be second nature to Ubuntu phone users. By using the launcher, how to launch your favourite app will become ingrained in your muscle memory of the left edge. The design vision behind Ubuntu for phones includes […] url: https://canonical.com/blog/unlocking-the-phone?format=md --- 1. [Blog](https://canonical.com/blog) 2. Article --- [Canonical](https://canonical.com/blog/author/canonical "More about Canonical") 2 July 2013 # Unlocking the phone [Design](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/design) [recent work](https://canonical.com/blog/tag/recent-work) --- Share the article Edges are special to us. We use them for finding apps, tools and system services, so using the edges will be second nature to Ubuntu phone users. By using the launcher, how to launch your favourite app will become ingrained in your muscle memory of the left edge. The [design vision](http://design.ubuntu.com/apps/get-started/design-vision) behind Ubuntu for phones includes the use of fast and natural interactions, so taking that to the welcome screen means that if your phone is locked, you can still access the launcher, system services and the right edge. If you have a pin set up, you only need to enter your pin when accessing private data, in the Gallery app or the Dash for example. If you’ve flashed your phone recently, you will be able to activate the lock screen for the phone using a temporary hack (love it!). You’ll notice that the blur has not yet been implemented, but will be added later. Thanks to Michael Zanetti for originally posting instructions to the [Ubuntu Phone mailing list](https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone). Here they are: To enable the pin lock, log into the phone and create a file /home/phablet/.unity8-greeter-demo, with the content: password=pin If you want to see the password unlock screen instead, put this into the file:  password=keyboard For now, the pin is hardcoded to “1234” and the password is “password”. Note that this functionality can (and will) disappear at any time as we bring all the bits and pieces together. This is a temporary, simple way to enable the visual part of the lock screen for us all to have a play with. Let us know what you think on the [Ubuntu Phone mailing list](https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone) and the [IRC channel](http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=ubuntu-touch). [Get in touch Interested in running Ubuntu in your organization?](https://ubuntu.com/about/contact-us/form) ## Sign up for our newsletter Get the latest Canonical news and updates in your inbox. Work email: \*I agree to receive information about Canonical's products and services. By submitting this form, I confirm that I have read and agree to [Canonical's Privacy Policy](https://canonical.com/legal/dataprivacy). Sign up ## Share on --- ## Related posts [### Challenges designers face in open source (and how to fix them)](https://canonical.com/blog/challenges-designers-face-in-open-source-and-how-to-fix-them) Open source powers up to 90% of modern software, yet many projects lack usability. Canonical’s Design team surveyed 115 cross-functional professionals to uncover the 4 core... [Kola Ojoodide](https://canonical.com/blog/author/kola-ojoodide) 26 June 2026 [### Why web engineering is great](https://canonical.com/blog/why-web-engineering-is-great) Hi, I’m Johann! I’m an engineering manager in Canonical’s web team. For the larger part of my 15 years of work experience as engineer, I’ve been working in web development.... [Johann Wolf](https://canonical.com/blog/author/johannwolf) 27 April 2026 [### Canonical’s recipe for High Performance Computing](https://canonical.com/blog/canonicals-recipe-for-high-performance-computing) In essence, High Performance Computing (HPC) is quite simple. Speed and scale. In practice, the concept is quite complex and hard to achieve. It is not dissimilar to what... [Igor Ljubuncic](https://canonical.com/blog/author/igorljubuncic) 24 January 2024 [### Web team – hack week 2023](https://canonical.com/blog/web-team-hack-week-2023) Today, around 96% of software projects utilize open source in some way. The web team here at Canonical is passionate about Open source. We lead with an open-by-default approach... [Anthony Dillon](https://canonical.com/blog/author/ya-bo-ng) 25 October 2023