Protect your phone with Android theft detection features

After Google beta Tested in Brazil, the initial set of theft protection features for Android smartphones is now available widely available—But you have to choose.

Why doesn’t the company automatically add the protections to each compatible device? Information of the Brazil Beta Test He helped the company’s developers make this decision. “We learned that users behaved very differently in metropolitan areas and in rural areas,” says Jianing Sandra Guo, Android security and privacy product manager at Google. She doesn’t want to add unnecessary friction for users who aren’t as interested in anti-theft software.

Three features that many Android owners can activate now are theft detection lock, offline device lock, and remote lock. Are you curious to use these protective features on your Android smartphone? Here’s a look at how detection happens using artificial intelligence and steps on how to activate anti-theft features.

How does Android theft detection work?

Since many thefts can be violent or involve sudden, unpleasant movements, Guo sought out Google’s activity recognition team’s advertising vice, which worked on a somewhat similar feature available on Pixel smartphones to car accident detection. “At a very high level, it starts with motion sensors,” she says. But, an approach focused solely on sudden movements could lead to so many false triggers, users would likely find the option more annoying than beneficial, and that’s where machine learning, a segment of AI focused on pattern recognition, comes into play.

Google developers investigated smartphone theft methods used in different parts of the world and modeled the thefts for training data. “We recreated those scenarios. Then we collect the device trace,” says Guo. “We use AI to compile those traces into a model to try to predict the next time a boot occurs.” For Android owners, this process is done using on-device models.

The AI ​​model is not static, and the developers plan to continue adding new smartphone theft scenarios to the training data as criminals modify their behavior. Furthermore, with the global launch From these anti-theft features, you can now learn more about how a diverse group of smartphone owners actually interact with these options.

How do I turn it on?

Go ahead and see if your phone is running a recent version of Android OS. Your device must be on at least Android 10 to run these three features, and the latest Android 15 software gives you access to more security options. It’s a basic first step, but if you haven’t already, also add a passcode to your device by going into privacy settings.

Then open the Settings app on your phone and search Protection against theft. Opening this tab will display the three lock screen security features. “It is very common for the cell phone to assume that the person who has access to it is the rightful owner,” Guo says. By adding more ways to activate the lock screen, users have more protections if their phone is caught while open. When the Theft detection lock will toggle, the screen will automatically lock if it detects potential theft, based on motion patterns, as well as if your Wi-Fi or Bluetooth remains connected.

With Lock device offline On, your phone will go to the lock screen, up to twice a day, if the Internet is suddenly turned off for a while or airplane mode is activated. “From our market research, that’s a common attack they perform after grabbing an unlocked device,” Guo says. Why would thieves do this? When a device is offline, you cannot reboot remotely via find my device To delete your personal information from the device.

The third lock screen security option available on this page is Remote lock. You will have to click on the name to see this toggle, unlike the first two options. The feature is designed to give you a quick and easy-to-access option to lock your phone by visiting android.com/lock on any device and entering your phone number. However, the remote lock will only work twice a day and will be activated when the smartphone is online.