Work while locked

OverviewCopy Anchor Link

Work while locked lets Coral work on what you ask from your iPhone even when your Mac is locked. Coral unlocks the Mac for that turn only, covers the screen while it works, and locks it again when the turn ends.

• It's opt-in and off by default.
• It's macOS only. It applies to Your Mac from your iPhone and nothing else.
• Each unlock needs your approval with Face ID on your iPhone.

Without it, a message to Your Mac while the Mac is locked is refused, and your iPhone tells you how to turn this on. macOS blocks apps from reading or controlling other apps' windows while the screen is locked, so there's no way to do the work without unlocking.

Turn it onCopy Anchor Link

1. On your Mac, open Coral's iPhone window (choose iPhone… from Coral's menu).
2. Under Your Mac from your iPhone, turn on Work while locked.
3. Read the risks Coral shows you. They're the same as Risks below. Choose I Understand, Turn On.
4. Enter your admin password when macOS asks. Coral needs it to install the plug-in.

When it's done, the window says Plug-in installed.

How it worksCopy Anchor Link

Turning it on installs an Apple authorization plug-in. macOS asks it during the unlock flow, before it asks for your password. The plug-in says yes only when Coral confirms a turn you approved; otherwise it steps aside and the password prompt runs as usual.

When you send a message to Your Mac and the Mac is locked:

1. Your iPhone asks first. An "Unlock your Mac?" card shows your message. Approve with Face ID. If you don't answer within 60 seconds, the message isn't sent.
2. Coral covers every display, wakes the screen, and starts watching the keyboard, mouse and trackpad.
3. Coral unlocks the Mac. It takes about a second.
4. Coral works on your message behind the cover, with the same rules as any Your Mac turn.
5. Coral locks the Mac again when the turn ends, when you press Stop or End, when the turn pauses, and when Coral quits. The cover stays until the Mac shows as locked.

If the unlock doesn't work, Coral locks the Mac, pauses auto-unlock and tells your iPhone: "Coral couldn't unlock your Mac. Unlock it, then try again."

SafeguardsCopy Anchor Link

• Only for a turn you approved. Coral is ready to answer the plug-in for 5 seconds, once, right after you approve on your iPhone. Any other time, it says no.
• Spaced out. At most one unlock every 20 seconds, and 30 an hour.
• Hands on the Mac lock it. Any key, click or trackpad input at the Mac locks it at once, stops the turn, and pauses auto-unlock until you unlock the Mac yourself with your password or Touch ID. Your iPhone says "Someone used your Mac, so Coral locked it."
• Password fields lock it. If a password field becomes active while the Mac is unlocked, Coral locks it.
• A guardian watches Coral. A separate small process locks the Mac if Coral quits, crashes or stops responding for a few seconds.
• The plug-in only trusts the real Coral. It answers only to a Coral app with a hardened signature from Coral's developer, checked against Apple's certificates. Builds that can be debugged, or are signed by anyone else, are refused.
• Your password always works. The plug-in comes before the password step and never replaces it.

RisksCopy Anchor Link

These are the risks Coral shows you before you turn it on.

• Anyone who can pass Face ID on your iPhone can unlock your Mac and use it.
• During a turn your Mac is unlocked. The cover hides the screen and any touch locks it, but someone at your Mac could still interfere in that moment, for example by plugging in a display.
• The AI can make mistakes in the apps it uses while you're away, and you won't see them as they happen. Coral never types passwords and blocks System Settings, password apps and terminals.
• It changes how your Mac unlocks. Coral adds an Apple authorization plug-in before your password. Your password keeps working, and turning this off removes the plug-in.
• Software already running on your Mac as you could try to pose as Coral. The plug-in only trusts a Coral signed by its developer and checked against Apple's certificates.

Turn it offCopy Anchor Link

Turn off Work while locked in Coral's iPhone window. Coral stops answering the plug-in at once, then removes it, which asks for your admin password again. The window then says Plug-in not installed.

If you delete Coral without turning this off first, the plug-in stays installed, but with no Coral to answer it, it can't unlock anything and your password works as usual. To remove it, install Coral again and turn the setting off.

LimitsCopy Anchor Link

• It isn't a remote unlock. Only a Your Mac turn you approved can use it. No other app, and nothing else in Coral, can unlock your Mac with it.
• It can't get past admin prompts. Anything that asks for an administrator password still needs you at the Mac.