A Google logo is reflected on the screen of a Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone in this photo illustration taken in Prague January 31, 2014. Google Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which are frequently involved in patent infringement lawsuits but not agains (Photo : REUTERS/David W Cerny)
A new feature for Android units is presently being rolled out by Google. According to PC Mag, this new feature allows the Android unit to lock itself whenever it senses that it is no longer near its owner.
This prevents thieves from gaining instant access to the device’s contents. Although thieves have possession of the smartphone, the data is presumably kept protected by the lock screen.
According to the report, the feature makes use of the “devices accelerometer to detect whether the device is still being carried on the body.” Basically, the note from Google read that if the device senses that it is no longer being held, the unit will immediately lock itself.
Android Central tried out this new feature on the Nexus 6. Just as advertised, it locked itself once continuous movement was no longer detected. However, the only bad side was that it did not lock itself as quickly as it should have. There was a bit of a timeout of several seconds.
This new on-body detection mode has already been spotted on some, but not all, of Lollipop devices, such as units on Android 5.0 and the all-new Android 5.1. The feature may be rolling out through a certain system in signature Google fashion, but all units will most likely get it in time.
The feature can also be manually detected. Users need to go to Settings, Security, and then check out Smart Lock.
Sadly, it cannot detect whether or not the hand holding it is the owners’ or not. Once the owner immediately passes off the device to someone else, or a thief suddenly swipes it off from the owners’ hand, it will remain unlocked.
