When you turn on Advanced Protection, you get the strongest security and privacy features to protect you and your device against online attacks, harmful apps, and data risks.
This feature offers several benefits:
- Best-in-class protection, minimal disruption: Advanced Protection gives you the option to equip your devices with Android’s most effective security features for proactive defense, with a user-friendly and low-friction experience.
- Easy activation: Advanced Protection makes security easy and accessible. You don’t need to be a security expert to benefit from enhanced security.
- Defense-in-depth: Once a user turns on Advanced Protection, the system prevents accidental or malicious disablement of the individual security features under the Advanced Protection umbrella. This reflects a "defense-in-depth" strategy, where multiple security layers work together.
- Seamless security integration with apps: Advanced Protection acts as a single control point that enables important security settings across many of your favorite Google apps, including Chrome, Google Message, and Phone by Google. Advanced Protection will also incorporate third-party applications that choose to integrate in the future. If you’re a developer and would like to integrate your app with Advanced Protection, learn how to integrate with Advanced Protection Mode.
Turn on Device Protection
Important:- Before you turn on the Advanced Protection feature, a screen lock is required.
- When you turn on Device protection, you may need to reboot your device.
- Open your device's Settings
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- To open the Advanced Protection page:
- Through the Settings app:
- Tap Security & Privacy.
- Under “Other settings,” tap Advanced Protection.
- Through the Google settings:
- Tap Google
All services.
- Under “Personal and device safety,” tap Advanced Protection.
- Tap Google
- Through the Settings app:
- Under “Advanced Protection,” turn on Device protection.
- Select Turn on.
- On some devices, you may be prompted to “Restart or Restart later” indicating that some features require a reboot to turn on.
- If you select “Restart later,” you can restart your device under the “Advanced Protection” page. Tap Restart now.
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All services.To enroll your Google Account in Advanced Protection:
- Under “Advanced Protection,” tap Account protection.
- Follow the on-screen instructions.
Tip: If you turn off your screen lock after you turn on Advanced Protection, the program remains active. Some protections might not function optimally and a warning will display to notify you about this limitation.
Turn off Device Protection
Important:
- When Advanced Protection is turned off, it might require a device reboot to revert some security settings. Once Advanced Protection is off, the settings it covered revert to their original state from before you turned it on.
- If you enrolled your Google Account in Account Protection, some protections may continue to be turned on even after you turn off Device Protection. Learn how to unenroll from Account Protection.
- Open your device's Settings
- To open the Advanced Protection page:
- Through the Settings app:
- Tap Security & Privacy.
- Under “Other settings,” tap Advanced Protection.
- Through the Google settings:
- Tap Google
- Under “Personal and device safety,” tap Advanced Protection.
- Tap Google
- Through the Settings app:
- Under “Advanced Protection,” turn off Device protection.
- Authenticate through Biometrics or PIN.
- If you’re enrolled into Account protection, tap Continue before you authenticate.
- On some devices, you may be prompted to “Restart or Restart later” indicating that some features require a reboot to turn off.
About Advanced Protection
Review protections offered by Advanced Protection.
- Apps:
- Google Play Protect: Android's built-in malware and unwanted software protection, on by default for all devices, checks your apps and devices for harmful behavior. When Advanced Protection is on, this cannot be turned off.
- Unknown Apps: Advanced Protection will block the installation of apps from unknown sources. Apps from unknown sources may not be vetted and can carry a higher risk of harm.
- Memory Tagging Extension (MTE): For supported apps, MTE will be automatically turned on and prevent apps from corrupting memory.
- Device safety:
- Theft Detection Lock: Your device will automatically lock if it detects suspicious activity indicative of theft.
- Offline Device Lock: If your unlocked device goes offline for a prolonged period, it will automatically lock itself.
- Inactivity Reboot: Automatically reboot your phone if it remains locked for 72 hours. The process of rebooting will make user data unreadable until a fresh unlock takes place.
- Messages:
- Spam & Scam Protection: Google Messages' Scam Protection and Spam Protection helps you identify and avoid unwanted and potentially harmful messages.
- Unsafe Links: When Advanced Protection is on, you’ll receive warnings about links sent from unknown users in Google Messages. This helps you avoid phishing attempts and malicious websites.
- Network:
- 2G Network Protection: For supported devices, when Advanced Protection is on, your device will no longer connect to 2G networks which are considered less secure.
- Phone by Google:
- Caller ID & Spam: Identify known spam numbers in Phone by Google before you even answer the phone.
- Automatic Call Screen: In supported regions, an AI assistant in Phone by Google will screen your incoming calls and automatically decline those identified as spam.
- Web:
- Android Safe Browsing: To block phishing attacks from fast emerging malicious websites, Android Safe Browsing Live Threat Protection will be enabled.
- Chrome Browsing: To ensure safer browsing, Chrome will automatically enforce the use of HTTPS for all website connections when possible.
- Javascript Protections: The Javascript optimizer will be turned off in Chrome, reducing potential security exposure.