Antitheft lock screen by emergency

[REDACTED]

Avast antitheft is a great product, however it is missing one critical feature:

***Ability to dial 911 from lock screen***

This error can potentially have catastrophic effects during an emergency situation.
Please fix ASAP!!

[REDACTED]

        I'm supprised this is an issue!

  Ability to bypass lock screens for the purpose of dailing emergency services is (or SHOULD) be standard.

       Even a requirement to comply with law in some countries!

[Eddy]

There is no need to shout.

If 911 (or 112 in Europe) can be called when the screen is locked has nothing to do with avast but with how the phone manufacturer has configured the hardware/software.

2fasr4you,
it is not a error/bug at all.

[REDACTED]

 Apologies. The large font was more of an expression of surprise, than a shout. 

On execution of phone lock the Avast software changes the screen lock pin to your Avast pin.  You would need to clear the Avast 'This phone has been lost or stolen' window to get to the screen lock pin entry pad from which the Emergency Dialler option will be visable.

Does the 'Lock message' window obscure the 'emergency dialler' button on some devices, posibly leaving somebody confused. Will they realise that they have to chose the option 'Enter Avast PIN' (which they maybe be adverse to doing so, because they don't know it)?

[REDACTED]

OK so I marked my phone as lost and activated lock via an SMS while my phone was switched off. Shortly after switching it on the phone locked "This phone has been lost or stolen!" The normal screen lock was obscured (drawn over) completely by the avast anti theft message window. I had two options, enter my avast pin or send a recovery pin to a friends number by SMS.

There was NO way for me to make an emergency call. The OP therefor has a valid point.

[Eddy]

Not really a valid point.
Why allowing a stolen phone to be used to make a phone-call ?
If you would do so, it wouldn't be too hard for malware to override the security so the thief can make phone calls to other numbers as well.

Reported stolen phones are stored in (police) databases.
Ok, thieves are stupid or they would not be thieves 
If the phone was stolen and they make a call with it, the police will see it.

The main mistake you and the OP are making is that you look at things from a honest and decent person sight of view.

[REDACTED]

Hmm.. With this in mind maybe locking the phone as part of its lost/stolen state isn't a the best option. This puts the phone in an unusable state making it more likely for it to be left switched off. Obviously hampering efforts to locate it. In addition to alerting the thief to software that might get him caught, so decides to destroy the phone instead, further hampering recovery efforts.

In summary the answer is not to check 'lock phone' in the protection behaviour, although checking 'prevent USB debugging' is a good idea in case the thief is slightly tech savy. 

[Eddy]

Again, you are looking at things from the wrong side.
Does a thief wants a phone that is not usable?
No, he doesn't !

So what if he destroys the phone?
It only means he screwed himself.

[1234ava]

I don't give a damn if the thief cannnot dial emergency numbers using my stolen phone!
If a number had to be allowed in AAT lock screen, that should be the owner's.

Besides, on my phone, I can get to emergency dial anyway by rebooting. After the device reboots, Android lock screen shows for a while before AAT lock pops up.

[REDACTED]

Again, you are looking at things from the wrong side.
Does a thief wants a phone that is not usable?
No, he doesn't !

So what if he destroys the phone?
It only means he screwed himself.

Thats what I said... Having your device 'Lock' with the 'lost or stolen' window as part of its "Protection Behaviour", which can be triggered remotely (sms, web interface) OR by the thief changing the SIM card will reduce the chances of you getting the phone back.

A carefull re-read will probably help you realise that I'm agreeing with you, and pointing out a feature people should think carefully about before enabling.

[1234ava]

Thats what I said... Having your device 'Lock' with the 'lost or stolen' window as part of its "Protection Behaviour", which can be triggered remotely (sms, web interface) OR by the thief changing the SIM card will reduce the chances of you getting the phone back.

Depends.
There are some situations where you might actually get your phone back, for instance if it was taken by a kid from another kid in a school, I guess.
But in other situations I don't see it happening.
Personally, I don't think I would ever be able to get back a stolen phone, unless I am very very lucky. So, I don't see AAT as a way to get my phone back. I mainly care that nobody can use my phone and mess with my data, email and so on. In this scenario, locking the stolen phone is my best option.
On the other hand, if the phone was lost and found, they can see my contact number in the lock screen.

[REDACTED]

My phone was stolen. A sms was sent to my girlfriend phone. However she can't find the sms. How else can I locate the new number that was put in my phone

[Eddy]

https://my.avast.com perhaps...