Google is rolling out a new security update for the Android devices running on Lollipop version, and this time it is a type of smart lock feature known as ‘On-body detection’. As said by Google, the “On-body detection” feature is designed to use your phone’s accelerometers to figure out when it’s been set down on a surface, and lock — with whatever lock pattern or PIN code you’ve set — when it’s not on your person.
The idea for this ‘On-body detection’ smartlock is to let your phone detect its proximity to you in order to save itself and your data from being stolen. When you have it set up in your device, once you unlock your phone, it will stay unlocked while you’re holding it or it’s in your pocket. But if the device goes out of your body, such as if you leave it on a table or in a bag, it gets locked automatically. This means if you leave your phone sitting on a table or forget it somewhere, it will lock, preventing would-be thieves from easily accessing your data (which ultimately makes you and your smartphone more secure).
As said during the update, the feature uses the device’s accelerometer to detect whether you are holding your phone or not. This means, it will detect only if the device is at rest or in motion (it will be in motion if somebody is holding it), and not the person in particular. So, if you hand the phone to someone else while it’s unlocked, it will not lock – the feature isn’t able to recognize that you specifically are holding the phone.
Though for now, the update is currently being rolled to the Android devices running on the Lollipop 5.0 or higher version only, it does not precisely mean that you should be on the stock ROM. However, you need to have the latest version of the Google Play Services installed in your device, which is 7.0.97. And here, we can see that this was the reason why Google updated its Play Services a few days back.
See our article on: How to set up ‘on-body detection’ feature in Android Lollipop?
