How To: Password-Protect Your Apps from Annoying, Nosy Friends on Your Samsung Galaxy Note 2

It starts innocently enough, with a nosy friend hovering over your shoulder to see what you're texting. Somehow, that doesn't satiate their inexplicable thirst for curiosity, so the first chance they get, they're rummaging through all of your super private photos—even though you told them not to.

Eventually, their tick metastasizes into this horrible thing, where they go on your Twitter account when you're not looking and post something stupid and mean.

Argh.

Sure, you could activate a passcode on your lockscreen, but a good friend will always know what it is, even if you don't tell them. However, there are other ways to keep those assholes off of your Samsung Galaxy Note 2 or other Android device, and my new favorite way is with HI App Lock from the Hi Mobile Team.

How to Password-Protect Your Apps with HI App Lock

HI App Lock is a new privacy app for Android 2.1 and higher that protects all of the applications on your device using a numbered passcode. While there are loads of password-protection apps (like APP Lock) on Google Play, this one excels in its simplicity and energy-saving.

A few of the cool features include:

• Widget and status bar for quick locking/unlocking.
• Re-lock policy allows you to exit any app for a short while, and then regain entry without having to retype the password.
• Prevent apps from being uninstalled.
• Hide the icon from launcher.
• Cannot be killed by task killers or be uninstalled.

One of the cooler features, which really sets this app apart from the rest (and the sole reason for me downloading it), is the Fake Error Message.

This feature (exclusive to the premium version) gives you the ability to make a fake error message pop up (like the one above) when someone tries to use an app on your phone. That way, they think the app has crashed and that you're not actually blocking them from accessing it. To type the password in and access the app, simply hold down OK and you'll be greeted with the regular prompt.

If you don't want to pay for the premium version, there is a loophole for getting this particular feature for free. If you share HI App Lock to other users, you get 15 days of the premium version for free for each share, and there is no limit to how many times you can do it. You may have to restart your Note 2 for the fake message to start appearing.

Also part of the premium (or share-premium) version is the ability to hide HI App Lock itself, so there's no trace of it on your system, and to use a random keyboard, which randomizes the placement of the numbers on the keypad.

So, next time your friends try and get on your phone, just sit back and laugh as they're unable to lurk your Instagram. Just don't laugh too hard when they throw your phone on the floor out of frustration. The app doesn't cover that kind of protection.