Overview
- Google confirmed on Wednesday, July 1, 2026 that Android 17 will cap incorrect unlock attempts far lower than before, limiting tries to six in one minute, seven in six minutes, eight in 25 minutes, 12 in 24 hours and 19 over five years.
- The company says the limits respond to attackers’ ability to guess common, non‑random PINs by trying codes in order of frequency, which raises success rates when people use birthdays or simple patterns.
- To reduce accidental lockouts, Android 17 ignores repeated identical wrong entries so the system does not count duplicate mistakes and shows a specific message when it does so.
- Usability improvements include clearer timeout wording that shows minutes instead of long second counts and a lock‑screen shortcut that links to account recovery options on another device.
- To help return stolen phones, devices running Android 12 or newer can show the IMEI on the lock screen for carriers or law enforcement to verify ownership and users can disable this display in settings.