Google Is Bringing These Three Anti-Theft Features to Android
Back in May , we learned that Google was planning some interesting security features for devices running Android 10 and later. These options have been specifically designed to prevent thieves from accessing your smartphone data if it’s stolen, which is quite useful even if they won’t necessarily prevent that theft in the first place. Six months later, these features appear to be spreading around the world.
Tech reporter Mishaal Rahman first shared the news in a post on r/Android . Rahman said they saw two features, theft detection lock and offline detection lock, appear on their Xiaomi 14T Pro on Friday. Other users noted that they also have a third feature – remote locking. While at the time it seemed like the rollout was isolated to just the US, it now looks like these features will be released worldwide.
If you have an Android device, check out these three new anti-theft features:
Theft detection lock
As advertised, Google’s Theft Detection Lock is honestly pretty cool: the feature uses artificial intelligence to detect if someone snatches your phone out of your hands and tries to escape by running, biking, or driving. The AI is trained on “common theft-related actions” and if it detects this, Android will lock your phone.
If a thief doesn’t know your smartphone’s PIN, it actually means they haven’t been able to break into your device. Basically, they just stole a very expensive paperweight.
Remote blocking
Let’s say the theft detection lock didn’t work and your phone is vulnerable to whoever stole it. No problem: you can remotely lock your phone using Find My Device as long as you know your Google Account password. If you pull out the form and can’t remember it, there’s now a fallback: With Remote Lock , you can verify yourself using your phone number and a “quick security request” on any device. This way, you can remotely lock your phone even if you forgot your credentials in a panic.
Offline device locking
Remote locking is a great option, but it requires your phone to be connected to a network to work. However, if a thief intentionally disables your device, you will not be able to contact them and the remote lock will not work.
Google’s new offline device lock feature aims to address this vulnerability. If Android detects that your phone has been turned off for an “extended period of time” it will automatically lock it. One minute your thief thinks he has all the time in the world to steal your data. Next time they screwed up.
Obviously, none of these options will stop the theft. But these three features will help keep your data safe: By locking your phone, you block thieves from accessing your photos, banking information, contacts, and everything else you store on your device. Getting the phone itself back may be a challenge, but at least your information will be safe.