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Android: Add a Trusted Place for Smart Lock Unlocking

If your Android phone stays locked at home or at the office even though Smart Lock is supposed to keep it open there, the trusted-place radius or GPS accuracy is usually the cause. The zone around a saved address covers roughly 80 meters, so your actual front door can sit just outside it. Location signals can also be spoofed, which is why Smart Lock never counts as a full security replacement.

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Add Trusted Places for Smart Lock – Android 14: step 1 – Tap on Settings
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Android

Add Trusted Places for Smart Lock auf Android

Smart Lock is part of Android's Extend Unlock options and keeps the device unlocked while it stays inside a location you mark as trusted. The system relies on GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell signals to estimate whether you are still inside that zone, which is why the detected radius is roughly 80 meters and not exact.

That imprecision explains two common complaints: the phone stays unlocked slightly outside your actual address, or it locks again while you are still standing inside your home. Weak GPS reception indoors or overlapping Wi-Fi networks in apartment buildings make the estimate less reliable.

Add a trusted place

Open Tap on SettingsTap on Security & privacyTap on More security & privacyTap on Extend UnlockTap on Trusted placesTap on Add trusted place and follow the on-screen instructions to search for or drop a pin on the address.

Because location signals can be manipulated with spoofing tools, treat Smart Lock as a convenience feature rather than a security layer. On a device carrying sensitive data, a fingerprint or PIN unlock stays the safer default, especially when the phone is used in shared or public spaces near the trusted zone.

Frequently asked questions

The saved trusted place has an accuracy radius of about 80 meters, and Android uses GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell data together to estimate your position. Weak GPS indoors can push the estimate outside the zone, so the phone falls back to a manual unlock.