Can’t Find Your Android Phone? Just Search for It in Your Browser!
Gabriel Roşu / 10 years ago
The ‘Find My Phone’ features nowadays are a great way to find you phone if you’ve lost it or had it stolen. You can just go to the manufacturer’s website, log into your account and start snooping around for your phone on a map. You can also lock it or even erase data if you think sensitive information might leak into the wrong hands.
However, the whole process still takes a bit of time. First of all, you need to go to the actual website, find where their ‘Find My Phone’ feature actually is on the website (provided you haven’t used it before) and after all of that you can start searching for it.
Google appears to have simplified the process for Android users according to a Google+ post, having its security feature integrated in its search engine. What this means is that Android users can simply type “Find My Phone” in Google and have it automatically displayed on a map in an instant.
“We’ve all been there — you’ve searched under your car seat, tossed around the sofa cushions and you still can’t find your phone. If you know where your computer is, you can now ask Google to find your Android phone from your desktop. If the pesky phone is hiding nearby, Google can ring it for you — or you can see it on the map if you, say, forgot it at the bar. Just make sure you’ve got the latest version of the Google app!”
Google also had its Android Device Manager available to track your phone, but the same process as other companies described above was implied. So is it better to have it linked to the search engine? Will people actually use Google Search to find their phone?
Whether the feature is a godsend or a nice way to violate your privacy by having other people track you through Google by forgetting to log out of your account on a PC, it remains to be seen.
Image courtesy of Google