Tools · Utilities
Three small utilities that solve specific things
A random PIN, a unique identifier and a QR code to share your Wi-Fi without reading the password out loud. None of it leaves your device.
Local generation
The Wi-Fi QR code, the most useful of the three
Sharing the Wi-Fi password usually ends in one of two scenes: dictating it letter by letter while your guest mistypes it, or writing it on a scrap of paper that stays stuck to the fridge for three years.
A QR code solves both. Point a camera at it and the phone connects by itself. You can print it and leave it on display if it is the guest network.
One warning worth keeping in mind: the code contains the password. It does not encrypt it, only encodes it. Anyone who photographs it has access to your network, so a QR taped to a shop window is the same as the password painted on the wall. For a home or a small venue, the sensible move is to use it with the guest network if your router offers one.
About PINs
A four-digit PIN has exactly ten thousand combinations. That sounds like very few because it is: a computer runs through all of them instantly.
What makes it acceptable on a phone is not its strength but the attempt limit: the device locks after a handful of failures and wipes after many. That restriction is what holds the security up, not the four digits.
The practical consequence: a PIN works where a device counts attempts, and nowhere else. Even then, avoid the combinations tried first — birth dates, 1234,0000 and repeated digits.
If you are offered six digits instead of four, take it: you go from ten thousand to a million combinations at no extra cost in memory.
About UUIDs
A UUID is a 128-bit identifier used in software to name things without coordinating with anyone: two separate systems can each generate millions and the odds of a collision stay negligible.
The usual confusion, and the one worth avoiding, is treating it as a secret.A UUID is unique, not unpredictable. It works as a name, not as a key. If something has to be secret — an access link, a session identifier — use a value generated from a cryptographic source, not a UUID.
Frequently asked
Common questions
Does the Wi-Fi QR code store my network password?
The code is generated in your browser and the password is never sent or stored on any server. The code itself does contain the key, so treat it exactly as you would a piece of paper with the password written on it.
What is a UUID for?
It is a unique identifier used in software to name records, files or sessions without any risk of two colliding. It is not a secret and it is not a substitute for a password.
Is a four-digit PIN secure?
It has only ten thousand combinations, so its security depends entirely on the device limiting attempts. On a phone that locks after a few failures it is reasonable; as a password for a web service it would be unacceptable.
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