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New panic detection feature in Android 7.1 senses when you try to exit malicious apps

Android Nougat

Most Android users will know that feeling of terror that occurs when you accidentally open a sketchy app and desperately try to get out even as the app does everything in its power to stop you.

That’s why Google has silently introduced a security feature in Android 7.1 Nougat called ‘panic detection,’ which recognizes when a user presses the back button multiple times in quick, panicked succession.

XDA Developers, which spotted this addition, explains that if a malicious application attempts to hijack the user’s screen and prevent the user from exiting — by intercepting all key events by implementing an Accessibility Service, for example — Android will automatically override the application and bring the user back to the home screen.

The new feature was likely implemented without fanfare so as to give themselves a head start against scammers finding an exploit — which is inevitable — but, at least for now, it brings a new level of security to the 0.9 percent of people using Android Nougat 7.1.

Source: XDA Developers

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