Rotary: a telephone dial for your passcode

A telephone dial, on glass

Rotary is a telephone dial that works with any numeric passcode of 4, 6 or 9 digits.

If you grew up with a wall phone, you know the motion. Put a finger in the hole of the digit you want, pull the dial round until your finger meets the stop, and let go. The dial winds home with a run of clicks, one for each step it travels, and the next digit is ready. Do that once for each digit of your code.

Two habits from old phones still apply. On the Rotary dial you pull each number round to the stop, and a number let go before the stop is not dialed. And wait for the dial to come home before you reach for the next hole: a finger that lands while it is still turning is ignored.

Any length of code

A lock with rings or wheels has one ring per digit, so it only fits codes of one length. A telephone dial has one hole per digit value, so a longer code is just more pulls.

Sealed’s default passcode is 6 digits, and you can choose 4 or 9 digits or a password instead. So Rotary is the dial to pick if you have moved to nine digits and still want to turn something.

Why a long code suits this dial

A nine-digit passcode is about the length of a phone number, and a phone number is what a rotary dial was made for. Split it the way a phone number is split, three and three and three, and say it in your head as you pull. Many people find a number they once dialed easier to keep than nine loose digits.

Longer codes are slower to guess, too. At that pace, trying every possible 6-digit passcode takes about 114 years. Nine digits take a thousand times longer again. The guessing guide has the numbers.

The pace of a phone call

A zero is the longest pull on the dial, and a one the shortest. A code full of high digits takes a few seconds longer to dial than one full of low digits. That makes no difference to how hard the code is to guess, only to how long it takes you.

When speed matters more than the ritual, tap Use Keypad under the dial. It types the same digits, so a hurried day costs you nothing.

Putting it on your lock screen

1. To choose a lock screen, open Settings, then Passcode & Unlock, and tap Lock Screen: each style has its own page to try it on, with a Use This Lock Screen button.
2. Swipe to Rotary and dial a practice number a few times to learn where the stop sits. Nothing you dial there is saved.
3. Tap Use This Lock Screen. Your passcode stays as it is.

Where Sealed helps, and where it doesn’t

It helps if you want a dial and a long code at once. Rotary is a telephone dial that works with any numeric passcode of 4, 6 or 9 digits.

It doesn’t do these things:

• Make a code stronger by dialing it. Six digits are six digits on any lock: the guessing guide shows what length buys.
• Take letters. A word needs the Cryptex.
• Keep a dialed code from a watcher. The holes are big and easy to follow. Break-in alerts react only to wrong tries.