Android phones are getting snatch protection, private space, 5 more security features this year

Google, on the sidelines of its ongoing developers’ conference, Google I/O 2024, has announced a bunch of new security features that will be coming to Android devices this year. These new security features will not only be available on Android 15-powered devices but also on phones running up to Android 10.

“To help keep your device and your data safe before, during and after a theft attempt, we’re introducing a new suite of advanced theft protection features. These features will be rolling out through Google Play services updates later this year to the billions of devices running Android 10+, with some features available in Android 15,” Google wrote in its blog post.

So, here are all the new security features coming to Android phones this year.

7 Security features coming to Android phones

1 Factory reset upgrade

This feature prevents a thief from forcefully resetting your phone to factory settings. With this feature, if a thief forces a reset of the stolen device, they will not be able to set it up again without knowing the original owner’s device or Google account credentials. This will render a stolen device unsellable, which will ultimately help in reducing incidents of phone theft.

This feature will be available with Android 15 later this year.

2 Private Space

This feature creates a secure space within the phone for sensitive apps such as banking apps. Users can also set a separate pin to hide these apps and make them completely inaccessible.

This feature will be available with Android 15 at the time of its official roll out.

Image: Android

3 Making sensitive device settings difficult to change

Google is also adding another layer of security to make it difficult for thieves to change sensitive device settings in order to prevent them from keeping the device unlocked or untraceable.

This feature will be released to select devices later this year.

4 Enhanced Authentication

When enabled, enhanced authentication will require biometrics for accessing and changing critical Google account and device settings, such as changing the phone’s PIN, disabling theft protection or accessing Passkeys, from an untrusted location.

This feature will arrive on select devices later this year.

5 Theft Detection Lock

Theft Detection Lock is one of the most interesting features coming to Android phones this year. This feature will use on-device AI to detect if a phone has been snatched from the hands of its owner by a thief who is on the run.

“If a common motion associated with theft is detected, your phone screen quickly locks – which helps keep thieves from easily accessing your data,” Google added in its blog post.

This feature will be available on devices running Android 10 or newer Android versions through a Google Play Services update later this year.

6 Offline Device Lock

This feature will automatically lock the screen of the phone to help protect a user’s data even when the device is off the grid, when a thief tries to keep the phone offline for long durations.

This feature will be available on devices running Android 10 or newer versions later this year.

7 Remote Lock

This feature will let users lock the screens of their phones with just their phone numbers and a quick security challenge using any device.
“This buys you time to recover your account details and access additional helpful options in Find My Device, including sending a full factory reset command to completely wipe the device,” Google explained.

This feature will be available to devices running Android 10 or newer versions later this year through a Google Play services update.