Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Android 16 will have a new one-click toggle for Advanced Protection Mode, which enables more secure protections across the OS and even with apps.
- These settings cannot be adjusted, helping ensure a consistent security level.
- Some first-party apps like Google Messages and Phone by Google have Advanced Protection Mode settings, and more apps can too once the API is enabled.
These days, there’s no such thing as too much protection. People have their entire lives on their smartphones, and that means a lot of sensitive information and data too. Thankfully, a lot of phones have implemented some kind of security measures to keep your info safe, and Google’s taking it one step further with Android 16’s Advanced Protection Mode.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
We’ve managed to get Advanced Protection Mode working on a Google Pixel 9 running Android 16 Beta 4. When the feature is available to Android 16 users, it can be enabled through the Settings app. From earlier looks at this mode, we know that it would block app sideloading, prevent 2G connections, enable Memory Tagging Extension of apps, and more. But now that we got it working on a Pixel 9 device with Beta 4, we have a better idea of how it works.
Once Advanced Protection Mode is enabled, it basically turns on many security protocols that cannot be adjusted. This could be a way to protect you from, well, yourself. You can, however, locate the Advanced Protection Mode features from other parts of the Settings, and even from app settings.
As you can see from the screenshots, there are several different categories of protection that Advanced Protection Mode provides. Network and Wi-Fi blocks unsecured connections (2G and WEP, though 2G is available for emergency calling only), Web safeguards from malicious websites, Apps protects from memory bugs and unsafe apps, Google Messages and Phone by Google keep you safe from spam. Device Theft locks down your phone if it’s confiscated, misplaced or lost, or stolen.
When Advanced Protection Mode starts to roll out, the only apps we know of so far that have implemented the API are Google Messages and Phone by Google. But developers can add their own security measures with the API for Advanced Protection Mode.
It’s fantastic that Google is adding such safety measures for users in Android 16. One of the arguments that Apple users always brought up was how Android isn’t as secure as iOS — this is a step in the right direction for Android’s security.
