Android Phones Can Now Detect When They’re Being Stolen

Google is announcing a ton of new security features as it releases its second Android 15 beta. This includes a feature that can detect the moment your phone is swiped from your hands.

Some of these updates will be included with the Android 15 stable build when it arrives this fall, but, theft detection and a number of other features will be available to phones with much older OS versions as well.

So, what does this new theft detection feature do?

This feature basically works by recognizing any unusual motions that would indicate that someone has yanked the phone out of your hand or a table in front of you. So, to prevent any thief from being able to access information on your device, the screen will automatically lock out any other person trying to get into your device.

Aside from this, the system will also look for other signs of foul play. For example, the phone will lock itself for protection if someone tries to take it off the network to prevent remote access.

Google is also introducing a new way to lock your phone remotely if it ends up in the wrong hands. So, if your phone gets stolen, you can also go to android.com/lock, where you can enter your phone number and respond to a security challenge to lock your device.

All of these features will be coming to Androids very soon via a Google Play services update for phones running Android 10 or later.