Hey, Mikey! It works! – Near Lock Review

After being disappointed with the various apps out there that claim to lock/unlock your Mac using your iPhone and Bluetooth technology, I’ve finally found one that actually works: NearLock. It does what it says — it locks your Mac when you walk away, and unlocks it when you return. The integration between the iPhone and the Mac is very good, too, and I have my Apple Watch set to mirror my iPhone, so I get Lock/Unlock notifications on my Watch! Very cool. I purchased the PRO version for $3.99, and no regrets there, either. I did find the discussion about “background only works with the PRO version” somewhat confusing, as it wasn’t clear to me exactly what was meant by “background” — on the Mac or on the iPhone? And it wasn’t clear if I was missing some key functionality by not having the PRO version. Incidentally, I’m using this with a Late 2012 MacMini and MacOS 10.15.4 (Catalina). The disclaimer on their website about “problems with Catalina” gave me pause, but it seems to work fine with my setup. Finally, they’ve done a very nice job on the UI and guided setup, both on the Mac and the iPhone. Great product!
Review by BlueLou93 on Near Lock.