Google warns Android owners to 'update phones' or have thieves access it

Google has warned all Android device owners to update their phones - to stop thieves from targeting their devices and managing to break into them. The US search giant has issued an urgent update to Android users, telling them to update sharply.

Google says the next Android update will block thieves from breaking into stolen phones using a fresh Theft Detection Lock feature. The new feature, coming to Android 15, was announced during the Google I/O developer conference last week.

Google says its Artificial Intelligence (AI) model can detect when a smartphone has been snatched from the owner’s hand. Google said its AI has been taught to detect “common motion associated with theft”.

READ MORE Spain warns UK tourists Majorca and Ibiza 'can't take' their 'type' of tourism

Android Vice President of Engineering, Dave Burke said: “Some pretty scary statistics I learned fairly recently (were that) in Sao Paolo, a phone is stolen every five minutes, and in London a phone is stolen every six minutes. That is a really serious issue, and we started thinking about it, what we can do, and we started studying (the issue).”

Using AI, it works out if your phone has been grabbed by a thief and it can automatically lock your handset, requiring a PIN to unlock again with Google saying the free update is scheduled to launch worldwide later this year.

Remote Lock will be available to Android 10+ devices through a Google Play services update later this year. Find My Device is available on Android 5+ devices. "We're committed to keeping your device and data secure on Android. We’re constantly developing new protections to help our users around the world. Look out for more security and privacy features and updates from Android," Google said in a blog post.

Theft Detection Lock and Offline Device Lock will be available to Android 10+ devices through a Google Play services update later this year.