Most of newest Android applications have no ‘Exit’ or ‘Close’ button and in order to shut it, you have to continuously tap on ‘back’ or ‘home’ buttons on your smartphone or tablet. While some applications close right away, others just reverts some actions that you have done before and it can be really frustrating. Even though it look like a first world problem at a first sight, but it might be more serious than you think. That’s why it received attention from Google and as you know, Google is used to solve problems right away.
For this particular issue, Google implemented a special code into the newest 7.1 Nougat Android version. And even though Google hasn’t yet officially announced, some Android OS pioneers already detected a new source code. Take a look at it:
The scheme here is plain simple – when user taps several times on ‘back’ button over a very short period of time, this function notices it as a panic and then force the application that is currently running to quit. You might ask what it has to do with cyber security? Well, various rogue applications or even websites make it difficult for user to exit, making the experience very frustrating and even dangerous.
While Google considers this feature to be targeted to the enhance of usability, various cyber security experts already pointed out that Panic Detection Mode is a great way to fight malware as well. Even though it can be categorised as a protection tool because this function won’t alert you about malware and won’t report it to Google, it can still help you to avoid malicious apps and websites, so you can take care of thing from there by yourself.
Please note that this function is not default and has to be enabled manually. Also, it is available only for users of newest Android version, 7.2 Nougat.
