This summer’s Android 16 release will add several new and updated security measures that should make it more difficult for criminals to scam Android users or take advantage of stolen Android phones. After introducing AI features in March that detect fraudulent messages based on common language patterns, Google is working on teaching its models to recognize a wider range of text scams, such as those unpaid road toll scams you’ve probably seen this year. It’s also adding faster pattern analysis to Google Play Protect so it can unmask malicious apps more quickly.
Starting in Android 16, it will be impossible to grant certain accessibility privileges while on a call with an unknown contact. Meanwhile, the new Key Verifier feature prevents scammers from co-opting your known contacts, letting you and a trusted contact swap public encryption keys to confirm each other’s identities.
Android 16 also adds new ways to protect your phone against thieves. The Identity Check feature requires extra biometric verification to change sensitive settings outside user-designated safe locations. It launched on some Pixel and Galaxy devices in January, but Android 16 will widen the rollout. These upgrades should help protect against “shoulder surfing” device thefts and bank account breaches, in which thieves learn passcodes by watching targets unlock their phones, then steal and unlock the devices themselves. Such attacks have been vexing smartphone owners in bars and other crowded venues for years.
New anti-theft features include a security question for deactivating remote locks and more restrictions on what can be done to a device after a factory reset. If a phone running Android 16 is not unlocked or connected to Wi-Fi for a while, the lock screen will hide two-factor authentication codes received through texts.
Along with the new security features, Android 16 will centralize security under a single device-level feature called Advanced Protection. While the Advanced Protection switch is active, no feature under its umbrella can be turned off.
As a final complement to the Android 16 security updates, Google is expanding its Find My Device feature into Find Hub, a dashboard that can locate basically any object with smart capabilities or a bluetooth tag. Find Hub can use ultra-wide band (UWB) on compatible devices to narrow down more precise locations, and can also communicate via satellite so its features work outside cell range.
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