Google borrows an iOS feature to improve your Android phone’s security
The latest Google Play services update introduces a new auto-reboot feature, similar to Inactivity Reboot in iOS 18.
- The latest Google Play services update includes a new security feature for Android phones.
- The feature auto-reboots devices if they remain locked for three consecutive days.
- This new inactivity reboot feature could reach users over the coming weeks.
We recently learned that Google was working on a new security feature for Android devices that would trigger an automatic reboot if the devices remain locked for three consecutive days. We first spotted evidence of the auto-reboot feature in a teardown late last month, with strings related to the feature suggesting it could arrive as part of Android 16’s Advanced Protection Mode. However, Google is rolling it out earlier than expected.
Google has included the new auto-reboot feature in the latest Google Play services update (version 25.14). As per the release notes on Google’s Play System updates page, the feature will automatically restart your device if it remains “locked for 3 consecutive days.” This new security feature works much like the auto-reboot feature in privacy-focused GrapheneOS and the Inactivity Reboot feature in iOS 18.1.
