Android Device Manager to get remote password changing, device locking

Google's Android Device Manager, which allows users to locate their phones via a desktop app, will be adding the ability to lock the device and change its password.

When Android Device Manager launched last month — a service similar to Apple's Find My iPhone — its settings screen within Android devices showed a couple of options that weren't yet available: the ability to lock your phone remotely and the ability to change the lock password remotely.

According to Android Police, the Google Play Services APK for Android Device Manager reveals that these functions are on the way.

This means that you will soon have other avenues of protecting your data beyond wiping the device completely; say, for example, if you left your phone at a friend's house rather than had it nicked from the pub.

Given Android Police's history of APK teardowns in the past — which correctly revealed the imminent Device Manager Release, for example — this function could be available very shortly.

If you haven't checked out Android Device Manager yet, we highly advise it. In addition to the upcoming security features, it's particularly useful if you're the sort of person who, say, often loses your phone around the house, giving you the ability to call your phone so that you can figure out where it is.