- An Auto-Genstart feature is rolled out to Android phones and tablets
- This automatically restarts your device after three days of inactivity
- Your phone is more secure after a reboot, which helps prevent unauthorized access
Not long ago, we reported on how Android could get a thief defendant security feature already seen on iPhones and is now arriving this feature.
As discovered by 9TO5GOOGLE, the latest Google Play Services update includes a feature that will reboot your phone or tablet automatically after three days of inactivity. So in other words, if your device has remained locked for three consecutive days, it will shut down and restart and there is a good reason for this.
You can see, after a reboot, an Android phone or tablet returns to its ‘before first locks’ mode where its data is encrypted and it is more difficult to unlock as biometry is disabled until after the first unlock – a password is required instead.
This is set to happen after three days of inactivity because it is likely that if your phone is turned on but not used for three days that another has it – such as a thief.
Coming soon
Google Play Services 25.14 (which contains this Auto-Root feature) now rolls out, but the rollout can take a week or so to reach all phones and it is possible that the Auto-root feature may not be activated until a while after that, with 9to5Google speculates that it may take a few weeks.
As such, we are also not sure if there will be a shift or other option to activate this feature or whether it will just happen automatically. We also do not yet know if this feature will come to all Android devices, but it is likely that the latest phones will support this.
So even if it doesn’t stop your phone being stolen, at least you need to have more insurance soon that thieves can’t access your data.
