Android will detect when your phone is stolen and lock it automatically

During 2022, 5.3 million robberies or assaults were committed on the street or on public transport. In 63.5% of cases, what was stolen was money, credit cards or checks, while in 57.2% of cases it was cell phones, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).

That is why Google launched three new features for Androidwhich highlights the use of artificial intelligence to detect possible theft and block access to your data instantly. These advanced anti-theft protection features are now available to people around the world through Android 15 and Google Play System updates (available on Android 10 or higher devices).

How does Android auto lock work?

Santiago Monjaraz, Google Technical Solutions consultant, pointed out that there was a record time in the development of these new functions, since they were presented at Google I/O in May of this year and after a brief beta test, they reached the entire world on today.

Theft detection lock

This powerful new feature uses Google AI to detect if someone snatches your phone out of your hand and tries to flee by running, cycling, or driving. That is, if a motion commonly associated with theft is detected, the phone screen is quickly locked, preventing thieves from easily accessing the device’s data.

According to Monjaraz, in the case of strange movements that could be similar to this type of action, the user will be able to unlock without major problem, although part of the movement that is evaluated is the force with which the object is snatched and many times he perceives whether who He snatched it, ran or fled.

Remote lock

The ‘Find My Device’ feature allows you to remotely lock or wipe a lost or stolen phone: now with Remote Lock you can lock your device through the portal only using a verified phone number on the device. Additionally, people will gain time to recover their account data and access other useful options, such as sending a hard factory reset command to completely wipe the device.

To do this blocking, users will need another Android phone or go to the Google page to do the blocking with just their phone number. In case someone wants to maliciously block a phone for another user, the technology specialist points out that secure questions and a padlock can be set to prevent anyone from doing this remote blocking.

Offline device lock

If a thief attempts to unplug a phone for extended periods, Offline Device Lock will automatically lock the screen to protect sensitive data. Android will also be able to recognize other signs that devices may be in the wrong hands. For example, Android 15 includes a feature that will lock a cell phone screen when excessive failed authentication attempts are made.

“With more than 3 billion users trusting Android worldwide, we know that the security of your data is paramount. In Mexico, we understand that our ecosystem is part of the daily lives of many people who use Android to manage their finances and more. functions that make the device attractive to thieves,” mentioned Olivia Maloney, leader of Strategic Alliances for Android in Mexico.

These anti-theft protection functions are available for all phones that have Android 15 available in the world, although it should be noted that they require certain technical criteria to be able to detect with AI, since not all of them will be able to have the detection accuracy, however the Remote or offline locking functions are available for more devices.