Factory reset protection is getting several key upgrades in Android 15 to make it harder to bypass.

This article goes into more detail about how these new measures will actually work compared to the blog post earlier this year from Google. Namely:

  1. Enabling the OEM unlocking setting will no longer prevent FRP from activating.
  2. Bypassing the setup wizard will no longer deactivate FRP. FRP restrictions will apply until you verify ownership of the device by signing in.
  3. Adding a new Google account is blocked.
  4. Setting a lock screen PIN or password is blocked.
  5. Installing new apps is blocked.
  • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
    ·
    11 days ago

    Okay, according to the article, this functionality will only activate after you have signed into a Google account for the first time on the device. So, at least for those of us who use custom software such as lineage OS, that won't matter since we don't put a Google account on the device to begin with in a lot of cases. A lot of us boot the phone for the first time, skip the entire setup wizard as fast as possible without signing in or any of that stuff, and then immediately enable OEM unlocking and flash the lineage or whatever software.

      • shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip
        ·
        11 days ago

        Well, that won't matter unless it's a brand new phone or has been properly erased because you won't be able to install lineage anyway unless one of those two conditions are met.

  • FuckyWucky [none/use name]
    ·
    11 days ago

    L tbh, if the thieves steal my phone I would rather them be able to have someone else use it than throw it away. hopefully they find a way around.

    atleast they can still break it down for parts.

    • dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de
      ·
      10 days ago

      What a silly take.

      When iOS locked down devices the number of people being mugged in street robberies dropped significantly.

      What you’re hoping for will just lead to more people stealing phones off people.

  • jbk@discuss.tchncs.de
    ·
    11 days ago

    This could still be bypassed by flashing a new OS that deliberately messes up the userdata wipe-persisting secrets. Well idk if there's a way to prevent that, but I guess really needy and tech-savvy people could recover lost devices that way