When was the last time your phone locked you out? My phone did that yesterday while I was on a flight, watching a movie amid the clouds. My OnePlus 13 (review) suddenly locked itself, which did create a bit of panic, but a simple fingerprint scan was all it took to unlock it and continue my mid-flight movie session.
At first, I wondered if it was a low battery issue, but that wasn’t the case. Only when I swiped down the notification panel did the answer reveal itself. A notification read, “The device was auto-locked as it had been offline for a while,” a recently introduced enhanced theft-protection feature for Android devices by Google.
Theft protection notification on OnePlus 13. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Google has also added other native theft-protection features, such as Theft-detection Lock, where the phone will lock itself if someone snatches it and runs away, and the offline device lock feature, which automatically locks the device shortly after it goes offline.
While these features give users the freedom to choose what they want to enable, I believe Google should prompt users to set them up when configuring a new device, ensuring more people are aware of these security options.
In fact, I remember enabling this feature just to test if it really works—but I had completely forgotten about it. Since my phone is almost always connected to the internet, I discovered the feature at 33,000 feet above sea level.
These features are turned off by default, so users need to manually enable them to take full advantage of the protection they offer. Once activated, they work seamlessly to enhance the theft protection of your Android smartphone.
Interested in enabling these features on your Android phone? Here’s a quick guide:
Story continues below this ad
Steps to enable Android’s new theft-protection features. (Image credit: Vivek Umashankar/The Indian Express)
Go to Settings > Google > All Services > Theft Protection
Enable both Theft Detection Lock and Offline Device Lock
Once done, you’ve just made your device a bit more resilient against theft—not just preventing the loss of your phone, but also safeguarding personal data and even financial information stored on it.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
English
Hindi
Malayalam