Sunday, August 11, 2013

Find your Lost or Stolen Android Phone with Android Device Manager

   Google has finally launched the web interface to their promised new service for Android users called Android Device Manager. The Android Device Manager works exactly like Apple’s Find My iPhone, Samsung’s Find My Mobile & HTC’s HTCSense.com and what this newly launched service does is that - it helps you track down your lost or stolen Android Phone or Tablet.
   I've been so busy this evening testing, trying and having fun with this new service from Google, it is so cool and it will surely be useful someday for every Android users even if you are using the lowest-priced Android phone. If you also want to use this service you will have to visit Android Device Manager. Then, Select your device from the list of recent devices you used with your account and the website will try to locate your device. Once your device is located, it will show up on the map with the current address on the side. Now, you can remotely make the phone ring, imagine you lost your phone in the house maybe in between the couch or in your wardrobe, the RING feature will surely help locate the phone because the phone will ring at full volume for five minutes until you press the power button on your phone.


Click on this image to view it fully
   After trying so hard, If you still can’t locate your phone (assuming you lost it) and you are afraid someone will access the important & highly confidential documents on it, you can remotely erase the data on it. Although, you surely need to pre-authorize this option on your device in advance from the Google Settings App on your Phone so make sure you do it NOW (I've done mine not quite long ago) because without it being enabled, your device can’t be erased remotely.

   Compared to Apple’s Find My iPhone Service, Google’s ADM service lacks one useful feature which is - The ability to remotely lock your device and display a custom message along with a phone number that someone can call in case they’ve found your device and are willing to return it. This can come in handy and is a better option than just remotely erasing your device, which can be a bit too extreme at times. Hopefully, I think Google will still add this option to Android Device Manager as soon as possible.

   Note that the Android Device Manager (ADM) service is available only for devices running Android 2.2 Froyo and ABOVE. Also, Devices running Android 4.1 and higher must enable location access by going to Google Settings > Location > Access location. What do you think about Android Device Manager ? Have you tried it out ? and Will it be really useful at all ? Lets Hear From You !!!

3 comments:

  1. Lost my galaxy S4 and trying to locate it. It keep saying location not available

    ReplyDelete
  2. My Samsung galaxy S4 got missing and I tried using the ADM to locate it but it keep saying location unavailable. Was wondering if it's about my phone or something else. Don't really know what could be the issue.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you enabled the Android Manager on your phone before it got lost ? Probably no and also, maybe your GPS is not always on and that's why ADM was unable to get the location.

      Delete

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