Android Lockdown Mode

Android lockdown mode is a security feature that acts as a last-resort measure to keep prying eyes out of your phone. It turns off notifications, biometrics, and smart unlocking methods, leaving only PINs, passwords, and patterns as ways to unlock the device. It can be enabled from the power options menu by selecting the lockdown button with a padlock icon. It first became available with Android 9 Pie and is enabled by default on Android 11 and above. Some Samsung Galaxy phones may need to enable lockdown from the lock screen settings.

To enable lockdown mode on your Android device, you can follow these steps:

Press and hold the power button on your device or power and volume.

Tap the “Lockdown” button in the menu that appears. It’s in the same window as the power and restart.

Your phone will instantly lock and only your PIN, pattern, or password can be used to unlock it.

Apple VS Android lockdown modes

Android and Apple have different approaches to security lockdown modes. Apple’s Lockdown Mode is a high-level security feature that adds an extra layer of protection to your Apple devices to secure them from sophisticated cyberattacks, such as those from NSO Group and other state-sponsored mercenary spyware attacks. It’s free to use and will be available to iPhone, iPad, and Mac users in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, respectively. Unlike regular security features, Lockdown Mode is totally optional: it’s intended specifically for people who find themselves at a higher risk of targeted attacks. These can be, for instance, high-profile individuals or the like of journalists, human rights defenders, government officials, or dissidents who have a greater risk of being attacked. Average users are less likely to reap the benefits from Lockdown Mode because they are less prone to such targeted attacks.

Android has a similar feature called “Lockdown mode,” introduced in Android 9 Pie. When enabled, it disables Smart Lock and fingerprint unlocking methods and requires a password to unlock the device. This feature is intended for emergencies where you want to lock down your device. This makes it so no biometrics can be forcibly or accidentally used to access your device.