Android 17's Automatic SIM lock protection is nearly here

Your Android smartphone comes with a handful of built-in safeguards, including a PIN, pattern, or password for the lock screen. For additional safety, Android has long supported SIM PIN lock. When enabled, it prompts the user for the PIN each time the phone is rebooted or when the SIM is switched to another device.

While handy, the fact that this requires the SIM card PIN each time you reboot the device can be irritating. With the second beta of Android 17, Google was found to be working on a feature to address this scenario. We're now getting a good look at this feature, courtesy of a report from Android Authority on the recently released Android Canary 2603.

While the previous leak only revealed the underlying code for this feature, the new Canary release brings it all to life. Automatic SIM Lock protection, as the feature is known, will be located within Settings > Security & Privacy > More security & privacy > Protect SIM card.

This feature could land with Android 17 stable in June

Once you find your way to the Protect SIM card page, you will notice a singular toggle for Automatic PIN management to "Protect SIM card from theft." Enabling it for the first time will require biometric or passcode authentication, following which the system will ask for the existing SIM card PIN. Users can tap the Use carrier default option in the dialog if they haven't set one.

To see the SIM card PIN you've set up, just tap Show Android-managed PIN, as illustrated in the fourth screenshot above. The onscreen dialog will give you a good glimpse of the code, though we expect some of the text to change when this feature is ready for prime time.

While the appearance of Automatic SIM Lock protection in Android 17 Beta 2 and now the latest Canary release may suggest that it will roll out with the Android 17 stable update sometime in June, that's not currently set in stone. In any case, this is a decent feature built around convenience without compromising on security, and one we hope to see in action soon.

Related

How to transfer eSIMs between Android phones

Start using your new phone in seconds

Posts 1
By  Jon Gilbert

It's important to remember that even with Automatic PIN management enabled, existing protections ensure that a SIM card PIN will be required if the SIM is moved to another device. While not specified, we presume this upcoming feature would also be compatible with eSIM connections.

What do you make of this upcoming addition to Android 17?