How to Unlock Your Moto X 2014 With a Bluetooth Device

There’s nothing more important than securing your Moto X 2014. If you’re using all of the Moto X 2014’s app and services than there’s a lot of personal information packed in it. Your contacts are being synced from other places to the People app. Your emails are being pulled down from a server somewhere and stored locally for you to read through at your leisure. You have to protect that stuff, whether it means setting up a passcode or creating a pattern unlock. The Moto X 2014 runs Google’s Android KitKat operating system and so it has another way for users to unlock their devices using just Bluetooth.

Here’s how to unlock your Moto X 2014 with another Bluetooth device.

Before we begin, of course, you’ll need a Bluetooth device. More specifically, you’ll need a Bluetooth device that’s compatible with the feature. There are dozens of things that emit a Bluetooth signal. Every laptop and mid-range tablet includes Bluetooth technology these days. The trouble is that you’re not going to know whether a Bluetooth device is compatible with the unlocking feature on the Moto X 2014 ahead of time.

As for how to choose a device. I suggest you go with anything that you typically have around you. That could be a laptop or smartwatch. There are a few people who use the system with their car. Whatever the device is, you’ll need to make sure it’s visible to your Moto X 2014. How you do that is different for each device. If you’ve never done Bluetooth pairing before you might want to consult your manual for the device in question. For the purposes of this how to, we’re using a laptop loaded with Windows 8.1.

I did so by clicking the Bluetooth icon below in the Desktop Taskbar.

Then I clicked on Settings.

Clicked on Allow Bluetooth Devices to find this PC.

Again, this is completely specific to the device you want your Moto X 2014 to pair with.

Now, let’s setup Bluetooth unlocking on your Moto X 2014.

Press the power button to turn on your Moto X 2014 and put in any passcode or pattern unlock you already have.

Place your finger on the top-edge of your screen and slide your finger down to reveal the Notification and settings area.

Tap on the icon in the top-right corner of your screen to reveal the quick access settings area.

Tap on the Settings.

Tap on Security. It’s underneath the Personal settings area. You may find that its way down on the bottom of your list. We’re talking roughly in 14th place. On your Moto X 2014 it could be in a slightly different position depending on what other options you have enabled.

Tap Trusted Devices.

You’ll now need to put in your passcode again if you created one. This is just an extra check to make sure it’s your device and someone else isn’t just changing your settings because they can.

Use the switch at the top of your screen to turn on Trusted Devices. Now tap Manage Bluetooth Devices to find the device you want to broadcast the Bluetooth signal and unlock your device.

Tap Only visible to paired devices to change it to Visible to all nearby Bluetooth devices.

Now look for the device that you setup to be visible to your phone. In this example the Windows laptop we’re using is HarlemXPS. Tap on it under Available Devices and input check to make sure the PIN number is the same. Then Tap Pair.

Press the back button on your device.

Tap the check box beside the name of the Bluetooth device you paired.

You’re all done. Now whenever your Moto X 2014 detects the Bluetooth signal from your device it’ll stay unlocked. Making it easier for you to dive into information on your device, but stay secure when you’re away from home or your laptop or car.

Trusted Devices is a great way to get around the Moto X 2014’s lock screen, but only if you’re comfortable with your device being unlocked and you can trust the people around.

Say for example, you’re a college student who lives in Dorm Room. It’s probably not a good idea to use Trusted Devices to keep your Moto X 2014 unlocked if you have a roommate. It’s an even worse idea to use Trusted Devices to keep your Moto X 2014 unlocked at the office, where leaving your phone around unlocked could mean outright embarrassment by colleagues. Definitely, think about the scenarios in which Trusted Devices would be useful, before you turn it on.

Also, keep battery life in mind. If you leave Bluetooth on your Moto X 2014 on all ready you’re used to the slight battery drain that’s caused by having it on all the time. If you aren’t, that’s something you’ll want to keep in mind.