Aug 07, 2026 19:00:00

There have been reports that if you run with your smartphone, it will be recognized as having been snatched by a thief, rendering the phone unusable.

Smartphones, which everyone carries around with them every day, often cost over 100,000 yen, making them a highly profitable target for criminals. However, programmer

Fabian Giesen laments that the anti-theft features designed to prevent such thefts mean that 'my phone becomes unusable when I go for a run.'

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Giesen reported, 'Since a recent update, my smartphone now recognizes that 'someone has snatched my phone and run away' when I'm running. This causes the screen to lock immediately, kicking me out of the app I use for pace tracking.'

In a reply to another user, Giesen stated, 'Surprisingly, I have no idea how to disable this behavior. Much less granular settings like 'ignore this event while the app I'm using to time my runs is in the foreground.' (There's a global toggle switch called 'Device Protection,' which superficially seems to include this, but it was turned off from the start.)'

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According to Mr. Giesen, the smartphone he uses is a Google Pixel 7 .

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Android, as found on devices like the Google Pixel, includes anti-theft features such as snatch detection. If it detects someone snatching your smartphone and running away, the screen automatically locks and blocks access to apps and files.

Anti-theft features such as 'snatching detection' are starting to appear for some Android users - GIGAZINE

The theft protection feature is also available on Android smartphones in Japan. First, open the Settings app and tap the search bar at the top.

When you type 'theft,' the option 'theft protection' will appear in the suggestions.

There was a control button for the 'theft detection lock.'

The description states that when 'Theft Detection Lock' is turned on, the device's motion sensors detect potentially theft-related activity and lock the screen. In this case, Mr. Giesen's smartphone mistakenly identified his normal running as theft and locked the screen.

One user commented, 'Someone in Canada did something 'thoughtful' to a rental car. When it detected that the car was moving even though the engine was off, it assumed it had been stolen and automatically disabled it. As a result, the car got stuck on the other side of a ferry (there are many ferries in Canada) and couldn't get off the ferry.'

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This incident has also been a topic of discussion on the social news site Hacker News.

My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off” | Hacker News
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49200439

One user pointed out, 'It looks like 'running' has been added to Google engineers' to-do list.' They further noted that Google Maps tries too hard to avoid walking, sometimes displaying routes that take longer than walking and still require some walking anyway.