If you have ever been worried about losing your iPhone while on the road, Apple is said to be developing a new feature to help limit the damage that thieves can cause after taking your phone.
Over the years, Apple has significantly improved anti-theft protection measures for iPhones, with features such as finding iPhones, locking activation and protecting stolen devices. However, many of these protection measures can become almost useless if thieves get the device when it is not yet locked.
Apple has integrated time-based security delay measures to prevent major changes to Apple ID, but the reality is that thieves can still cause significant damage once they get an unlocked iPhone.
That is why Apple is researching a new feature to automatically lock iPhones when the system detects devices being snatched from users' hands, similar to Android's anti-theft locking feature.
These systems will rely on a number of signals, including the iPhone's accelerometer, to detect when the device is snatched from the user's hand. After confirming the snatching, the iPhone will automatically be locked.
To further determine whether the iPhone may have been stolen from the owner, this feature will also track the distance from the paired Apple Watch.
In addition, after being fully deployed and activated, this feature will consider similar rules applicable to the stolen device protection feature: Is the iPhone connected to a familiar WiFi network, and is it in a familiar location, such as home or workplace?
If those conditions show that the iPhone has been stolen from the owner in a strange location, in addition to automatically locking the device, this feature will restrict access to similar areas protected by the stolen device protection feature.
