By Hanno Labuschagne

Best smartphone features to combat thieves

Android smartphones and iPhones have several useful features that protect them against use and data exfiltration by thieves — including locking mechanisms and location tracking.

Many apps and services available on smartphones require sensitive or personal data and documents to function properly.

They can also support powerful features like payments from your bank account, including through growingly popular digital wallets.

Fortunately, they come with several security features to prevent unauthorised access to your files and apps, which is a big threat in a country like South Africa.

However, many of these features are not enabled by default, and some users might consider them unnecessary during initial setup.

When it comes to protecting your device, it is imperative that you have a locking mechanism enabled.

While you can choose a secret PIN or pattern to unlock the device, repeatedly entering this will sometimes leave markings or smudges on the screen that thieves can use to figure it out.

It is also easier for thieves to get you to share your PIN once and then have near unlimited access to your phone than to require that you provide biometrics.

Most modern Android smartphones offer optical or ultrasonic fingerprint readers, typically located under their displays or on the rear of the phone.

Some also have facial unlocking support.

However, on most Android phones, this method is not deemed as sufficient verification for accessing sensitive information, changing important settings, or opening apps for mobile banking or payments.

That is because Android facial recognition typically relies on a single front camera and, in some cases, a depth sensor.

While Apple does not offer fingerprint readers on its iPhones, its facial recognition feature, Face ID, is regarded as far more advanced and secure than the options on Android.

The Face ID system uses three sensors in the iPhone’s notch or “Dynamic Island” to accurately verify users — even in the dark.

It uses a combination of a laser dot projector, an infrared flood illuminator, and an infrared camera to scan, store, and read a 3D pattern of your face.

Apple says that its system is so meticulous that there is only a one-in-one million chance that another random person will have features similar enough for Face ID to fool them into thinking they are the verified users

Location detection

Another way to protect your phone against thieves is to enable location tracking services, which allows you to monitor the location of your device from another device where you are logged into the same account.

For Apple, this is called Find My iPhone, Android’s iteration is Find My Devices, and Samsung’s version is SmartThings Find.

These features can track your smartphone via its GPS and use low-power Bluetooth tracking, pinging from various other devices on their networks to pinpoint your device’s location.

Apple and Google’s Find My networks are not enabled by default, but Samsung’s is.

Therefore, if you have a non-Samsung smartphone, be sure to turn on the feature in your phone’s settings.

It should also be noted that Samsung users can benefit from both the Find My Device network and SmartThings Find network.

It is recommended not to try to track down dangerous criminals who might have your smartphone, but it can assist law enforcement or professional private security in tracking down the culprits.

The networks also allow you to remotely lock and wipe your device, which is very useful if you have sensitive data on it and have a secure backup on the cloud.

Unfortunately, thieves can simply turn off the device to take it offline and prevent your device from updating its location.

However, certain smartphones — including recently released iPhones and Google Pixel devices — can be tracked for some time, even when turned off.

This capability is enabled through a special provision that preserves a part of their batteries for offline Bluetooth Low Power tracking.

To use it on iPhones, be sure to turn on “Find My Network” under your “Find My iPhone” settings.

On Google Pixel devices, users must turn on the capability under “Find your offline devices” in the “Find My Device” section.

Specialised anti-theft features

Apple’s iPhones also have a Stolen Device Protection feature, which is not enabled by default.

This feature implements a time delay for certain security-sensitive actions, like changing your Apple account password.

To use it, you must enable two-factor authentication for your Apple account and have the following enable:

• A device passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID; and
• Significant Locations (also known as Location Services)

To turn Stolen Device Protection on, head to your iPhone Settings page, and tap Face ID & Passcode.

You will be required to submit your passcode or biometrics before turning Stolen Device Protection on or off.

Google recently began rolling out a slew of new anti-theft features that will become available on millions of smartphones running Android 10 or later through a Google Play Services update later in 2024.

The first big upgrade is a new AI-powered theft protection lock.

Google said this can detect whether a phone was potentially snatched out of your hand by a thief and they tried to run, bike, or drive away.

“If a common motion associated with theft is detected, your phone screen quickly locks — which helps keep thieves from easily accessing your data,” Google explains.

The second capability is offline device lock, which will automatically lock your smartphone if a thief tries to disconnect your device from a network for prolonged periods.

The third new feature lets you remotely lock your smartphone simply by entering your phone number and completing a quick security challenge on any device instead of logging into your account first.

“This buys you time to recover your account details and access additional helpful options in Find My Device, including sending a full factory reset command to completely wipe the device,” Google explains.

In addition to the above, newer devices that support updating Android 15 are getting the following features:

• Factory reset blocking requiring account credentials
• Private space for hiding sensitive apps
• Requiring PIN, password, or biometric authentication for disabling Find My Device
• Compulsory biometric authentication if a thief figures out a PIN