Here’s how to locate a lost android phone

Here’s how to use Samsung’s Find my Mobile and Google’s Find my Device.

Your android phone contains lots of personal information, ranging from email, contacts, chat etc., and of course you don't want it to falling into the wrong hands. We hope that you never and will never lost your smartphone, but in case the worse has happened, there are multiple way to track it down. Google provides an app called Find my Device which let you track your missing android, to secure it or in case it’s unobtainable anymore, destroy all of its data. Certain brand such as Samsung devices have an additional feature called Find My Phone which work similar to Google’s Find my Device.

Google's Find My Device service works with any Android device and is available as an Android app and a standalone web page. If you're already signed into your Google account, you should see a map that displays all of your registered devices. You can then select the image of the device you want to locate and track its location on a map. You can then ping your device with a loud sound, lock it and display a message on the screen, or wipe all personal data. If you need to find, lock, or erase your Android phone, Google has some additional information that you can reference if you need to find, lock, or erase your Android phone.

If you think the device is within your hearing, you can tap Play Sound to ping the phone or tablet, it will ring the device whether it’s in silence mode or not. You can then follow the sound to your device. Even if the device is not in your immediate area, the ping may alert a someone who may find it. When done, tap the Stop sound button.

If, by any chance that you can’t find or hear your device ringing, you can lock it so no one can access it and leave a message and a phone number to anyone who finds it to reach you. Tap Secure device, then add a message and phone number to display on the lock screen. Tap Secure Device to finalize and lock the phone. The missing phone now is locked with your message and phone number displayed.

If the device is confirmed lost and there’s no way to obtain it, you can wipe clean the device to erase all of your information on it as a last resort. To complete this action, tap Erase Device once more. Make sure to read the information about what will happen to your phone because there is no turning back. You may be prompted to review your Google Account. Go through the security steps by clicking the Security Checkup link. If you decide not to erase your device, tap Dismiss.

That’s basically it for Google’s Find my Phone. It’s simple yet useful app, so make sure if you’re using an android phone to install it, as it may help you in the future.

If you have a Samsung phone, you can also use a feature called Find My Mobile to locate a misplaced device. On your phone, go to Settings > Biometrics and security and enable Find My Mobile. Please keep in mind that this feature requires a Samsung account.

To unlock and control your phone remotely, go to the Find My Mobile settings and enable Remote unlock. Turn on the Send last location option to receive your phone's last known location if the battery falls below a certain level. Enable Offline finding to locate your phone even when it is not connected to the internet.

Once enabled, you can use the SmartThings Find website or app to locate any Samsung device associated with the same Samsung account. The service should display the location of your Samsung phone on a map, along with other controls to assist you with your missing device.

To ping your phone, select Ring and then press Start. It will then begin to ring to assist you in tracking it down if it is nearby or to allow someone else to notice it. You can also choose Lock to set a PIN to unlock your device, enter a contact phone number where you can be reached, and enter a message that will appear on the Lock screen.

If you believe your phone is being moved, you can select Track location to get an updated view of your phone's location every 15 minutes. If you're concerned about someone gaining access to your data, you can also wipe the phone clean. To return the phone to factory settings, tap the Erase data icon.

If you intend to erase your phone or do not believe you will ever be able to recover it, you can back it up remotely. If you haven't already, click the Backup icon and then enable multi-factor authentication. Click the notification's website link to receive backup codes that can be used to sign in even if your phone is lost or stolen.

 

Select all of the data points you want to back up, such as messages and contacts, and then click Back up to send your data to the Samsung Cloud service for storage.

If you have any important messages or voicemails on your phone, you can retrieve them remotely by selecting the Retrieve calls/messages option. You'll be able to see and hear up to 50 recent calls and messages.

If you forget your phone's PIN, you can always open it from the SmartThings Find website by selecting the Unlock button. Select the Extend battery life option to extend the life of your phone's battery, which activates the maximum power saving mode your phone provides, giving you more time to locate the device before it runs out of juice.

That’s basically it for Samsung’s Find my Mobile, there are feature that Google’s Find my Device doesn’t have but both offering the same thing, is to ensure that you can find your mobile device, and secure it or erase any data on it to make sure that no one is using it against you.