Why do people steal phones? For starters, there is inherent monetary value in the phone itself. They can sell or pawn it off for money, and more high-end and popular models like iPhones tend to fetch better prices. Another reason is to gain access to your phone’s data, like personal and financial information, which they can then use for blackmail, extortion, or financial fraud. The good news is Google’s trying to fight it with newly-announced Android theft protection features.
Android is getting new theft protection features
According to Google’s latest announcement, Android is about to get some new and improved theft protection features. This includes Failed Authentication Lock, which debuted in Android 15, and now gets its own toggle in settings. For those unfamiliar, this feature automatically locks your screen after too many wrong password attempts, but now you can enable or disable it based on your needs.
Identity Check is also getting an upgrade too. Back in 2025, Google enabled it for Android 15 devices, requiring biometric verification for sensitive actions outside trusted locations. Later in the year, the company extended this protection to all apps using Android’s Biometric Prompt. That means third-party banking apps and Google Password Manager automatically benefit from the extra security layer.
Google’s also making it tougher for thieves to guess your PIN or pattern by increasing lockout times after failed attempts. To prevent accidental lockouts (like when a kid gets hold of your phone), identical incorrect guesses no longer count toward your retry limit.
More helpful recovery tools
In addition to announcing upgrades to theft protection, Google has also announced enhanced recovery tools. This includes Remote Lock, which now offers an optional security question. This ensures only you can lock your lost or stolen device from any web browser, adding another verification step to the recovery process.
Android users In Brazil will also be pleased to learn that new Android devices now ship with two key Android theft protection features that are enabled by default. We’re talking about Theft Detection Lock, which uses on-device AI to sense motion patterns that suggest a snatch-and-run theft attempt and locks the screen immediately. Then there’s also Remote Lock that comes pre-enabled too. This lets users secure their device without needing to set it up beforehand.
At the end of the day, we hope that no one has to use these features because it means their phone got lost or stolen. However, it’s good to know that there are features in place that at the very least, will protect our data.
The post Google’s Latest Android Security Update Makes Your Phone a Nightmare for Thieves appeared first on Android Headlines.
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