New AI feature
Android smartphones will soon be “unstealable”
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With Android 15, Google is introducing a new function that is intended to make it almost impossible for thieves to grab a smartphone and run off with it unnoticed. If you do, you won't be able to do anything with the device.
It is already pointless to steal an iPhone or Android smartphone. One of the reasons for this is that you cannot unlock the device without a PIN and you cannot reset it to factory settings without account information. But Google wants to make life even more difficult for thieves and is introducing an AI function with Android 15 that recognizes when a thief is trying to make off with a smartphone.
Using the device's sensors, the on-board AI detects movements that indicate theft, for example if the smartphone is snatched from your hand or pocket and someone runs or drives away with it. In such a case, the phone screen will be locked immediately.
Save time with “remote lock”
Otherwise, you can use “Find my device” to track down the phone and lock it remotely or delete data from it. It is also no use to thieves to disconnect the internet connection, because then the new offline device lock kicks in.
Because stolen users may be too stressed to remember the account information needed for Find My Device, Google is also introducing Remote Lock. A telephone number and a short security query are enough to block the lost smartphone. According to Google, this will give you time to recover account data and access other helpful options in Find My Device, including the factory reset command to completely wipe the device.
The new anti-theft features will initially be introduced with the upcoming Android 15, but over the course of the year all devices with at least Android 10, which was released in 2019, will receive corresponding updates.
