Why you should enable “Advanced Protection” on Android

Android phones are remarkably more secure than they used to be, but Google is holding back on you. There’s a lesser-known feature that’s off by default, and enabling it is an easy way to get a serious security boost.

What is Advanced Protection on Android?

The feature in question is called “Advanced Protection,” and it’s actually six categories of settings under a single umbrella. Instead of navigating a dozen different menus, this centralized location makes it find all the enhanced security measure available on your device. However, you do have to enable it on your own. Advanced Protection isn’t enabled by default.

But why is it disable? Advanced Protection isn’t necessarily intended for the average person. It’s especially valuable to people in high-risk professions, such as politicians, journalists, public figures, or business executives. Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from it as well. Everything from theft prevention to website security and spam filtering are included, and those things are important to all Android users.

The 6 categories of Advanced Protection

As mentioned, Advanced Protection is comprised of six categories of settings. Some of the settings found in Advanced Protection are available on their own—like Caller ID & Spam in the Google Phone app. But enabling Advanced Protection enables that and more with one big switch. Let’s break it down.

Device Safety

This section is all about protecting your phone if it’s lost, stolen, or confiscated. It enables three features:

• Theft Detection Lock: Locks automatically when motion indicates theft.
• Offline Device Lock: Locks automatically when your device is offline.
• Inactivity reboot: Restarts device if it remains locked for 3 days.

Apps

This section helps protect you against malicious apps or apps that are negatively impacting your device’s performance. It enables three features:

• Google Play Protect: Scans for unsafe apps and malware.
• Unknown apps: Blocks installation and updates of apps from unknown sources.
• Memory Tagging Extension: Protects against memory corruption in supported apps.

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Networks

Next up is a section for network security, and this one currently only has one feature to enable.

• 2G network protection: Avoids 2G networks, which are less secure.

Web

As you have probably caught on by now, this section is all about protecting you against web-related nonsense. There are three features that get enabled:

• Android Safe Browsing: Live threat protection blocks harmful web pages.
• Chrome browsing: Warns you before you visit non-HTTPS sites.
• Javascript protections: Turns off some advanced capabilities to reduce risk.

Phone by Google

Now we’re to the sections with features you probably already have enabled even without Advanced Protection. Starting with the Google Phone app, there are two features:

• Called ID & spam: Identifies business and spam numbers.
• Automatic Call Screen: Screens suspicious calls & declines spam.

Google Messages

For text messages, there are two features included with Google Messages:

• Spam Protection: Filters spam and warns you of scams.
• Suspicious links: Warns you about links from unknown senders.

How to enable Advanced Protection

If everything on that list sounds like something you want, it’s easy to run the gamut in one go. There may be a few inconveniences, but for most people, the security gain outweighs the occasional hassle. To enable Advanced Protection:

1. Open your phone’s Settings app.
2. Navigate to the “Security & privacy” or search for “Advanced Protection.”
3. Scroll down and select “Advanced Protection.”
4. Toggle on “Device protection.” You’ll see a pop-up with some extra information—tap “Turn on” to continue.
5. Lastly, you’ll need to restart your phone to complete the process.

That’s it! Advanced Protection will be enabled after your phone restarts. If security is one of your top priorities, there’s no better way to get as much protection as possible. On the off-chance that some of these features interfere with how you use your phone, you can also go back and disable Advanced Protection. It will take a restart to apply the change as well.

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