Phone theft is more than just losing your device – your data could end up in the wrong hands. The good news, though, is that if you have a Galaxy phone, Samsung has built in a number of features to help protect your phone and your data in the event of theft.
Learn about Samsung's multi-layered anti-theft system
Samsung has significantly enhanced the protection capabilities on Galaxy phones with One UI 7. The update introduces three Theft Protection features : Theft Detection Lock , Offline Device Lock , and Remote Lock . There are also two Anti-Robbery features - Identity check and Security Delay . These features work in tandem to protect user data if the phone is stolen.
The beauty of this method is its multi-layered nature. Since there are multiple features operating at different levels, thieves will need to overcome multiple hurdles before they can access your data. Often, this is enough to stop them – or at least give you enough time to hold them off before remotely wiping all the data on your phone.
Samsung isn't the only phone maker offering Theft Protection features on its phones. Google introduced several Theft Protection features on Pixel phones in its 2024 Android 15 release.
Theft Detection Lock
Theft Detection Lock is an AI-powered feature that provides real-time protection against phone theft when you are in public. It uses machine learning technology and data from the phone's motion sensor to detect theft-related movements, such as when someone tries to snatch your phone and run away with it. As soon as it detects suspicious movement, it immediately locks the phone's screen to prevent the thief from using it or accessing your personal data on it.
Note that Theft Detection Lock won't activate if your phone is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network or Bluetooth device. However, when it's accidentally activated, you can unlock your screen with biometrics, a PIN, or a pattern as usual.
Offline Device Lock
Offline Device Lock automatically locks your phone's screen if it's disconnected from the Internet for an extended period of time. Once enabled, it will activate when a thief disables the connection to prevent tracking or remotely lock it. When an intruder turns on airplane mode or turns off cellular data/Wi-Fi, your phone will detect the loss of connection and automatically lock the screen after a period of time.
Samsung doesn't specify how long Offline Device Lock will stay active after losing connection, nor does it provide any way to configure it. The company only mentions that it can lock the screen up to twice a day.
Remote Lock has been present on Galaxy phones for a while now. However, with the One UI 7 update, the feature has been updated to work with other Theft Protection features. What's more, it's much more powerful and user-friendly.
This feature is useful after your device has been stolen or lost. With this feature, you can remotely lock your stolen phone from anywhere. Once done, this feature will immediately block access to your phone and data.
Enabling Remote Lock ensures that data on your device is secure, even if other measures, such as Theft Detection Lock and Offline Device Lock, fail.
Identity Check
Identity Check adds an extra layer of protection to your Galaxy phone. It prevents unauthorized changes to sensitive settings, like your Samsung account password, screen lock method, or Find My Mobile status in SmartThings Find. That way, even if a thief knows your PIN, password, or pattern, they can't change any settings, because your phone will prompt them to authenticate with biometrics when they try to access protected settings.
Additionally, if a thief attempts to reset the biometric data, the Security Delay feature will kick in and trigger a 1-hour wait before any changes take effect. This gives you more time to remotely lock your stolen phone.
Phone theft is a scary event with unpredictable consequences. However, with the proactive measures outlined above, you can significantly reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your phone and prevent your data from falling into the wrong hands. In addition, there are a number of other measures you can take to protect your smartphone from theft.
ADB is a powerful set of tools that give you more control over your Android device. Although ADB is intended for Android developers, you don't need any programming knowledge to uninstall Android apps with it.
You might think you know how to get the most out of your phone time, but chances are you don't know how big a difference this common setting makes.
The Android System Key Verifier app comes pre-installed as a system app on Android devices running version 8.0 or later.
Despite Apple's tight ecosystem, some people have turned their Android phones into reliable remote controls for their Apple TV.
There are many reasons why your Android phone cannot connect to mobile data, such as incorrect configuration errors causing the problem. Here is a guide to fix mobile data connection errors on Android.
For years, Android gamers have dreamed of running PS3 titles on their phones – now it's a reality. aPS3e, the first PS3 emulator for Android, is now available on the Google Play Store.
If you really want to protect your phone, it's time you started locking your phone to prevent theft as well as protect it from hacks and scams.
Android Picture-in-Picture mode will help you shrink the video and watch it in picture-in-picture mode, watching the video in another interface so you can do other things.
The common point of most of these AI chatbot tools is that they need an Internet connection to use. But with the article below, you will learn more tips for using AI chatbots without the Internet on your phone.
Depending on your needs, you'll likely get a set of Pixel-exclusive features running on your existing Android device.
After years of using Android phones, many people have become familiar with a number of open source Android apps. These apps are better than their closed source counterparts.
Samsung's camera app works well out of the box, but Camera Assistant adds new features that you wish were built in from the start.
Android Debug Bridge (ADB) is a powerful and versatile tool that allows you to do many things like find logs, install and uninstall apps, transfer files, root and flash custom ROMs, create device backups.
Chrome on Android is a great browser out of the box, but you can make it even better. These tips and features will help you browse the web faster.
When you compare smartphones from nearly two decades ago and today, you can't help but notice that they've gotten worse in a variety of ways.
Through your purchase history on the App Store, you will know when you downloaded that app or game, and how much you paid for the paid app.
iPhone mutes iPhone from unknown callers and on iOS 26, iPhone automatically receives incoming calls from an unknown number and asks for the reason for the call. If you want to receive unknown calls on iPhone, follow the instructions below.
Apple makes it easy to find out if a WiFi network is safe before you connect. You don't need any software or other tools to help, just use the built-in settings on your iPhone.
iPhone has a speaker volume limit setting to control the sound. However, in some situations you need to increase the volume on your iPhone to be able to hear the content.
ADB is a powerful set of tools that give you more control over your Android device. Although ADB is intended for Android developers, you don't need any programming knowledge to uninstall Android apps with it.
You might think you know how to get the most out of your phone time, but chances are you don't know how big a difference this common setting makes.
The Android System Key Verifier app comes pre-installed as a system app on Android devices running version 8.0 or later.
Despite Apple's tight ecosystem, some people have turned their Android phones into reliable remote controls for their Apple TV.
There are many reasons why your Android phone cannot connect to mobile data, such as incorrect configuration errors causing the problem. Here is a guide to fix mobile data connection errors on Android.
For years, Android gamers have dreamed of running PS3 titles on their phones – now it's a reality. aPS3e, the first PS3 emulator for Android, is now available on the Google Play Store.
The iPhone iMessage group chat feature helps us text and chat more easily with many people, instead of sending individual messages.
For ebook lovers, having a library of books at your fingertips is a great thing. And if you store your ebooks on your phone, you can enjoy them anytime, anywhere. Check out the best ebook reading apps for iPhone below.
You can use Picture in Picture (PiP) to watch YouTube videos off-screen on iOS 14, but YouTube has locked this feature on the app so you cannot use PiP directly, you have to add a few more small steps that we will guide in detail below.
On iPhone/iPad, there is a Files application to manage all files on the device, including files that users download. The article below will guide readers on how to find downloaded files on iPhone/iPad.
If you really want to protect your phone, it's time you started locking your phone to prevent theft as well as protect it from hacks and scams.
