Nothing’s new power-off password verification is a solid step toward security. It prevents unauthorized shutdowns, keeping tracking active if your phone gets stolen. Great move, right?

But here’s the catch—I tested it after updating, and if you hold the power button long enough, the phone still turns off. That kinda defeats the purpose. My take? Developers should improve it so that even force restarts or long presses require the password. If done right, it’ll be a nightmare for phone thieves! That’s my opinion and I’d like experts’ opinion on this!!

Recently, I tried to tell this by posting a discussion article, but a moderator moved it to Nothing Phone 1’s first 3.0 update post (which was pathetic). I am a tech enthusiast and I have a write to share my thoughts or opinions like everyone here, but that felt like I made a crime here!! Welp, there goes Nothing again…anyway, for future updates, how about:

  • Smart Theft Mode – Detects forced shutdown attempts and triggers an alarm.

  • Invisible Lock Screen – Makes the phone look off but keeps it running.

  • Custom Glyph Alerts – Flashing lights for unauthorized access.

What do you think? Is the current feature enough, or should Nothing take it further?

Let’s discuss!

      Related discussions

      Anonymous371, yes, same here. I use Nothing Phone 1 as well. All I’m saying is that force restart is an Android feature, but if the devs could tweak a little bit and make the force restart with a password option as well, it would be lit!! Don’t you think?

      @jay_again I used to own Oneplus before Nothing and my OnePlus got stolen by a pickpocket! I loved that phone and I felt the sadness and anger when it got stolen. If Nothing team manages to put password verification option on force restarting, it would be very helpful! i tried the same way you did @Anonymous371 but what happens if the thief ejects your SIM card?

          Mr Steel I KNOW THAT!

          Force restart is a system-level function implemented by Google in Android to allow users to reboot their devices in cases of unresponsiveness. Since Nothing Phone (1) runs on a near-stock version of Android, any modifications to this feature would it require compliance with Google’s policies and Android’s core framework?

          My main reason to post this thread was, If the Nothing team were to introduce a password verification step during a force restart.

          Nothing could explore alternative security enhancements post-restart, such as requiring authentication immediately upon boot-up before granting access to system functionalities. This would align with security best practices while maintaining compliance with Android’s framework. Don’t you think?

              RapidZapper I get your point, but the idea isn’t to block the shutdown process entirely. The phone should still be able to force restart as usual if it’s completely unresponsive. The password verification could be an optional security layer that kicks in only when the device is functional enough to detect user input. That way, if the phone is stuck, it restarts normally, but if someone tries to misuse force restart (e.g., to bypass security features), they would need authentication. It’s about balancing security with usability!!

                  OviGarry The Android anti theft features cover this:
                  “Factory reset upgrade prevents a reset by a thief. For some criminals, the goal is to quickly reset your stolen device and resell it. We’re making it more difficult to do that with an upgrade to Android’s factory reset protection. With this upgrade, if a thief forces a reset of the stolen device, they’re not able to set it up again without knowing your device or Google account credentials. This renders a stolen device unsellable, reducing incentives for phone theft.”

                  https://blog.google/products/android/android-theft-protection/

                      The power off verify functionality that is implemented in recent update is useless. I am not sure if it was properly tested. Its pretty easy to bypass.

                      All you have to do is

                      1. Press the power button for 10 seconds. Phone starts to reboot.
                      2. As soon as cmf logo appears, press the volume up key to get into bootloader menu. Then it can either be left on there as it wouldn’t be possible to track the phone while its at that menu. Or you can press volume up button to navigate to power down option and press volume down to select it and power down the phone

                      So I request Nothing to either remove the useless implementation or fix it so that when its enabled, long pressing power button won’t make a difference.

                      Merged 1 post from Power off verify implementation is useless, easy to bypass.

                      TeeEeeBee I’m from Bangladesh and it’s very easy to counter that. The thieves are very smart here!

                      That’s why I lost my last phone…I could not recover it even with Polices help!!

                      Btw I have another question! What if the device was not connected to internet and got stolen, what can be done??

                        Can anyone tell me how to turn on these features, like idts i have them turned on…

                          Mr Steel @RapidZapper the power off verification is not working now.

                          I don’t know what happened but I thought must be a bug when I tried to use a couple days back. I didn’t take it seriously but after trying for ⅘ times this feature is not working at all.

                          Also I don’t know whether this is happening to others or only me so I thought I’d tag you with this situation!