Android smartphones will start rebooting spontaneously for security reasons

The latest update to Google Play services on Android introduced a new security feature – if your device is locked for more than three days in a row, it will automatically reboot.

Google’s help section states that the new feature will work on “phones,” which really means smartphones and tablets — cars, the Google Play Games Windows app, smart TVs, and watches are not affected. The automatic reboot will occur if the smartphone or tablet has not been used for more than 72 hours.

Restarting the device returns it to its “first unlock” state, where data is encrypted and harder to access and biometric login has not yet been enabled. Pixel devices indicate that they need to be “unlocked for all features and data.” The auto-reboot feature is present in GrapheneOS, an Android derivative that by default prompts a reboot after 18 hours of inactivity, but can be set to anywhere from 10 minutes to 72 hours; it also arrived with iOS 18.1.

The Google Play Services update 25.14 will be rolling out over the next week, but it will take some time to be rolled out everywhere. There is no need to update the OS itself – the new feature will appear on most Android devices on the market today. Google has not yet announced the specifics of this feature.