Within the realm of technology, security has become a primary focus. Whether you’re a systems administrator, a developer, or a regular user, the data on your devices has become a valuable commodity. To that end, Google is constantly working to improve the security of the Android platform.
Android platform
Back in 2018 (when Android still had tasty treat nicknames like Pie), its developers introduced what’s known as lockdown mode. Lockdown mode essentially protects those who prefer to keep their personal information private.
Fingerprint sensors, facial recognition, and voice recognition are disabled when lockdown mode is enabled. When you enable lockdown mode, the only way to access your device is through a PIN, password, or pattern.
Because biometric authentication can be hacked, this feature was added. How many times have you seen this scene on TV? A bad actor obtains a victim’s phone and unlocks it using their fingerprint or face (sometimes while the victim is unconscious).
That malicious ne’er-do-well would not have had such an easy time breaking into that person’s device if they had enabled lockdown mode.
Of course, I hope you never find yourself in such a situation, but if you do, at least you’ll know how to protect your data.
- The disadvantage of lockdown mode
One thing you should know about lockdown mode is that it is only active once. In other words, once enabled, it will be disabled immediately upon successful login.
This means that you must re-enable lockdown mode each time you want to use it. This feature, in my opinion, should be enabled whenever I suspect I am about to enter an untrustworthy situation (which, to be honest, happens very rarely for me).
With that out of the way, let’s enable lockdown mode. I’ll demonstrate it on Android 12, but the feature should work all the way back to Android 9.
How to Enable Android Lockdown Mode
To enable lockdown mode, perform the following steps:
- Navigate to the Settings menu.
- Look up “Lockdown”
- Select “Show Lockdown option” or the most similar result from the results.
- If necessary, enter your pin.
- To enable the Show lockdown option, tap the associated slider.
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