Securing Your Android Device

Recently, I covered how to secure iOS devices. By using both iCloud and security features Apple has built into the devices, you'll be making sure your device stays safe in the case of being lost, stolen, or, God forbid, dropped and broken beyond repair. But what about Android users? Not to fear, Google has your back.

*Disclaimer: I'm not as caught up with the Android know-how as I am with iOS, but I'll try my best to provide as much useful and factual information as I can in this post.

I wasn't aware of this until some time ago, but Android devices actually their own method of automatically backing up your devices' data. It's called... (you ready for this?) Google Sync! Imagine that!

Okay, so, to get to Google Sync on your Android device, you'll first need to head on over to Settings. From there, tap on Accounts. Tap where it says Google and voilà! All you need to do is checkmark everything you wish to have backed up.

BUT! There's actually a second way to backup your pictures and videos. Just like Google Sync, this is also built into your Android device, and very simple to setup. Head on over to the Photos app. Bring up your menu (usually by tapping an icon at the bottom of the device that looks like a box missing a side and with a couple lines in it), and tap Settings. Here, you'll see where it says Auto Backup. simply tap the switch next to it, and you're done! You can also tap where it says Auto Backup and play around with the settings. If you have a lot of photos and videos and don't want a high phone bill from backing everything up, I suggest switching the settings to backup ONLY on wifi.

However, we're not finished with all this backing up stuff just yet. If you wish to backup wi-fi passwords and device settings, you'll need to head over to Settings again. Instead of going into Accounts again, we're going to find where it says Backup & Restore. This should be simply under Settings. Now that you've found it, tap the boxes next to "Back up my data" and "Automatic restore" to checkmark them.

Now, if you want to backup your text messages and all of your calls, you can do that. But, in this blog, we're going to stick to basics. However, if you want to enable this feature, you can read more about it here.

Now, let's continue on with security. I mentioned in my blog post about iOS security that passcodes are a good idea if you don't want to give someone a free ticket to all of the data on your phone. But not just any passcode, I encouraged users to use a complex passcode. That is, a passcode that does NOT use four digits. Why? Well, think about it. There are 10 digits, correct? 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Even with 10 digits, a program that hacks phones will be able to crack your passcode much faster than it could if your phone was equipped with a complex passcode. So, what's a complex passcode? Unlike a simple passcode, a complex passcode uses not only numbers, but also letters, both uppercase and lowercase, as well as special characters. If any, I urge you most to put a passcode on your device.

However, as an Android user, you're not limited to numbers, letters, and special characters. You can also choose to have a pattern as your passcode. I even believe that, on some devices, you can opt for the device to unlock using facial recognition.

There are probably several options you can take to secure your phone and its data but, as I said at the beginning of this post, I'm not as knowledgable with Android as I am with iOS. For that reason, I must end this post here for fear that I will not explain certain options clearly, or that my own understanding of the feature is incorrect. However, I do believe this post will help Android users secure their devices and their data. If you wish to learn more about securing your devices, I encourage you to search the vastness of the World Wide Web for your answers. Good luck!