Google starts rolling out new anti-theft features to Android phones

Android anti-theft features: Google has significantly enhanced the security on its Android devices in the past couple of years. Now, the company has started rolling out new features that protect users' Android phones and their data when their devices get stolen. As per reports, Google has started rolling out three new features, theft detection lock, offline device lock, and remote lock, to Android devices that lock the data and the device when a theft is detected. Together, these features ensure that users' data remains safe, and that the criminals are locked out of their Android phones.

The feature called Theft Detection Lock was announced earlier this year. It uses Google's artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms to sense if someone has snatched a user's phone from their hands and is trying to run or drive away. According to the details shared by Google, when the on-device AI detects the motion associated with theft, it locks the screen of the device, which, in turn, prevents thieves from accessing a user's data.

The second feature, which the company has reportedly started rolling out to users is called Offline Device Lock. This feature automatically locks a user's Android phone to protect the data when a thief tries to disconnect it for a prolonged period of time. “Android can also recognize other signs that your device may be in the wrong hands. For example, it will lock your device screen when excessive failed authentication attempts are made,” Google had said while announcing these features.

Reports also suggest that the company has started rolling out a third feature called Remote Lock to Android devices. This feature enables users to lock the screen of their Android phones using their phone numbers and ‘a quick security challenge using any device’. “This buys you time to recover your account details and access additional helpful options in Find My Device, including sending a full factory reset command to completely wipe the device,” the company had added at the time.

Reports suggest that these features are available on Xiaomi 14T Pro and select Google Pixel smartphones and that the company would make these features available to all its users in the coming days.