Hi qgil && Elena,

There is any proposal to have an API where a 3rd party app can make use of it
to lock or unlock the device?

Run an application in full screen grabbing all the inputs is not an
alternative, since that kind of approach inhibits the user to be visually
alerted about new calls or messages, for example.

The current implementation has a set of options to lock the screen, w/o
password protection, and also it can be annoying to the user to type a
numeric password instead of do a gesture, for example.

It is not clear for me that an API is the best solution, since a poorly
implementation can disclose some user information. If the platform
provides that API, it will be passing the control of its security to a 3rd
party application making a "vulnerability" point, a weakness. Unless if the
platform provide a kind of capability system.

Keeping in mind that an authentication can be done by validating at least of
the following [1]:
* Something you know, such as a PIN or password
* Something you have, such as a smart card or token
* Something you are, such as a fingerprint

Maybe the platform should provide all that kind of methods that can be
selected by a "theme-able" screen saver password dialog, configured by
the 3rd party application, but controlled by the platform.

Just to startup a discussion

Thanks :P

[1] CISSP Study Guide - www.isc2.org