Android 17’s latest anti-theft feature stops thieves who already have your PIN

Google is enhancing Find Hub‘s Mark as lost feature in Android 17 to allow locking a phone with biometric authentication, in addition to the regular device passcode or PIN, as we spotted previously. This means that thieves who may have obtained your passcode or PIN won’t be able to turn off device tracking or re-access your phone if you mark it as lost.

Triggering Mark as lost also enables additional protections, such as hiding Quick Settings and disabling new Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.

Further, Google is also expanding the default-on theft protections globally, following a successful pilot test in Brazil. This mainly refers to Remote Lock and Theft Detection Lock features, which will now be enabled by default on all new Android 17 devices, as well as those that are freshly reset or upgraded to Android 17.

That’s not all, as Google is also expanding these protections to all devices running Android 10 or higher in high-demand markets, such as Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and the UK. Google didn’t mention whether these protections will eventually extend globally to older devices, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed, since everyone can benefit from a bit more protection.

With Android 17, Google is also making it harder for thieves to access your data. On supported devices, Google has significantly reduced the number of attempts required to guess a PIN or password. The wait times between failed attempts have also been extended. This shuts down attackers who try to rapidly guess their way into your phone. Google has also refined how the lock screen displays information after failed attempts. In all, there’s plenty of reason to upgrade to Android 17 when it becomes available for your phone, if only to make it harder for someone to profit from stealing it.