New references in the latest iOS 27.2 beta show that Apple continues to develop a new feature that will lock your iPhone if it is snatched from your hands by a thief.
As previously reported, the feature will use the gyroscope, accelerometer, and other sensors to determine when an iPhone has been seized. It will also rely on a paired Apple Watch to detect when the iPhone suddenly moves away from the owner’s wrist.
According to the new code seen by 9to5Macthe feature is called “AutoLock” internally and can use several different methods to determine whether an iPhone has been snatched from its owner:
- Strong acceleration compatible with tearing off the phone.
- A paired Apple Watch remaining inaccessible for a certain period of time.
- Loss of connectivity with a paired Apple Watch.
- Prolonged loss of network connectivity.
- The device remains unlocked after a certain interval.
There are also references to protective measures to prevent false positives, such as successful biometric authentication or foreground app activities that could be mistaken as a sign that the iPhone has been stolen.
Additional code also suggests that the feature works using a voting system in which a potential theft signal can request a lock, while safeguards such as biometrics and familiar locations can veto it.
When the iPhone is taken from its owner’s hands, assuming a successful theft signal, the device locks and activates Stolen Device Protection to prevent thieves from accessing the information on it.
Stolen Device Protection adds extra security to your iPhone when you’re away from familiar places like home or work. It requires biometric authentication for actions like accessing stored passwords or credit cards, and there are built-in one-hour delays for actions like changing an Apple account password.
Android already has a theft detection lock feature that locks a smartphone in case of snatching. It’s unclear when Apple’s equivalent feature will launch, if at all, but the additional code indicates that Apple is at least still developing it in secret.
