Galaxy Watch could automatically lock your phone when it's left behind

Recently, Samsung started encouraging Galaxy phone users to enable anti-theft features. An extention to those measures might come soon to the Android ecosystem, as Google appears to be working on a feature that could allow a smartwatch to automatically lock a connected phone when you leave it behind. And the feature could come to future Galaxy Watches.

A report from Android Authority claims that Google is developing a feature that automatically locks your Android phone when your Wear OS smartwatch detects that you've left the phone behind. Code strings related to the feature were discovered in the latest version (3.5.0.758720535) of the Google Pixel Watch app and contain the message “Phone will lock when it disconnects from your watch, like when it’s far away.”

Currently, a Pixel Watch can automatically unlock a connected phone when it is within the range, but can't lock the phone when the two devices are not in each other's range. However, the feature isn't available on Galaxy Watches.

The new feature that is currently under development will make your smartphone more secure, as it will be automatically locked when you accidentally leave it behind. So, anyone else that tries to access your phone will need to enter the PIN to access its data.

This feature is currently under development and hasn't been announced yet. However, at least one user seems to have receieved it, and you can see how that new option appears in Google's Pixel Watch app for Android phones. The feature doesn't seem to be working as of now.

Once Google is done developing the feature, it could be released for all Wear OS smartwatches, including Samsung's Galaxy Watch lineup. Hopefully, the abilities to lock and unlock a phone, depending on whether you are wearing your Galaxy Watch and if it is unlock, will be released with the upcoming Wear OS 6-based One UI 8 Watch update.

Image Credits: nailsad_eleos (Telegram)