Your Android phone now auto-reboots after 3 days of inactivity

By Dwaipayan Roy

Apr 16, 2025

12:33 pm

What's the story

Google has added a new security feature for its Android operating system. The latest update of Google Play Services, which is critical for the operation of apps and the OS itself, now comes with an automatic reboot feature. This new capability now initiates a device restart if it remains locked for three days in a row.

Similarity

Apple's iOS has a similar feature

Interestingly, Apple had also introduced a similar feature in its iOS last year. The idea behind this automatic reboot system is to prevent potential intruders from accessing or extracting data from a locked phone after a long period of inactivity.

Data security

Understanding 'Before First Unlock' and 'After First Unlock' states

The data on an Android device is encrypted and difficult to access without the user's passcode, before it is turned on and unlocked. This is called the "Before First Unlock" state.

However, after a device is unlocked, some data gets decrypted and can be accessed by circumventing security or exploiting vulnerabilities - a method often used by law enforcement forensic devices.

This is the "After First Unlock" state.