PIN for Switching off phone

[realist22]

There are a lot of incidences of phone snatching and thefts on the streets. They steal the phones, switch them off and sell their parts or even flash custom ROMs and re-sell them in second hand markets. There should be a feature for a PIN request to switch the phone off, so that the thief cannot turn it off and the owner can atleast track it using GPS and give the location to the Police. (PS: If you hold down volume key and power key for 10 seconds (Only power key on some devices), you can force it to switch off. Also, when they santch/steal your phone while you are using it, it's usually unlocked.)

[AndrewL]

@realist22: I see what you mean. I've had a look into this for you and have found that if you have a lock screen security feature in place, then it is not possible to power off the phone from the lock screen without entering the password/PIN. I understand that this isn't exactly what you were getting at, but it should offer some peace of mind.

[realist22]

If you hold down volume key and power key for 10 seconds (Only power key on some devices), you can force it to switch off. Also, when they santch/steal your phone while you are using it, it's usually unlocked.

[AndrewL]

That's true, although the device boots back to the Lock Screen again following the Soft Reset. Your idea makes perfect sense, and the strange thing is that it used to be a feature, but I'm unable to find any reference to it in recent Android versions. What I'd recommend is registering Find My Mobile on your phone by going to Settings > Biometrics and Security > Find My Mobile, and toggling the preferred security option on. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you.

[realist22]

I lost my S10 in the same way. I did try all those things. But i had no luck. The last location it shows where the incident happened. I had to erase the device from Google. Strangely, They aren't even addressing this issue despite of such cases being in the news multiple times. Anyway, thanks for discussing.