At this year’s Google I/O conference, the Mountain View-based company announced a new series of anti-theft features which will arrive with Android 15. Among them, an anti-theft detection lock, an offline device lock and the ability to lock your terminal remotely.
We knew that Google was going to start launching them in Brazil and they are already a reality: Google has started rolling out theft detection blocking to a group of users and we have already been able to see it in action, even with the first images. What exactly does it do? Use multiple sensors to block unauthorized access before it even happens.
New Android 15 Theft Detection Lock Is Now A Reality
The choice of Brazil as the test country is no coincidence, but as Android analyst Mishaal Rahman explains in Droid Life, it is one of the places in the world where most cell phones are stolenwith more than one million units per year.
A review of What these three new Android 15 security measures offer. The Anti-Theft Lock feature activates when the mobile detects that it is stolen, locking it instantly. With Remote Lock, it is possible to protect your data by locking or erasing your data remotely after verifying your identity on another connected device. Finally, Offline Device Lock adds another layer of security by automatically locking your phone if someone tries to keep it offline for too long.
How do you do it? The system uses artificial intelligence to detect possible theft by recognizing suspicious patterns, such as sudden movements of the device. Specifically, it analyzes the data recorded by the accelerometer and gyroscope to see if they match what usually happens during a flight. It also takes into account other factors such as unusual internet activity. For example, if your phone connects to a new network or is away from your usual network for an extended period of time, the system automatically increases security.
Tap to access X/Twitter post
In the images provided by Rodrigo, one of the users from Brazil, you can see the anti-theft protection screen and the different toggles to activate these functions.
Google has been rolling out this automated anti-theft feature in recent Android test builds, but it’s not just coming to Android 15, but plans to integrate it into previous versions of its mobile operating system. According to Rahman, the idea is bring it to phones with Android 10 and later using Google Play Services. Of course, we don’t know what the official date of the global rollout will be.
Cover | Montage with photo of Iván Linares and anti-theft icons created by Freepik – Flaticon
In Xataka Android | The 13 best Android tips according to Google itself
