For many, losing your smartphone is almost worse than losing your wallet or house keys. Therefore, knowing how to locate a lost phone is reassuring, since the idea of a stranger accessing our private information, such as photographs, messages or credit cards, simply causes chills.
Smartphones
If the lost phone is a smartphone, Apple and Google include recovery technology in them. Generally, it works through the account associated with your device. For Android models, this will be Google’s; for iPhones, iCloud’s. Both platforms allow you to remotely lock and erase your phone, ring it, and configure special messages to alert anyone who finds it. Of course, these features are great … as long as your phone’s battery stays alive. If your smartphone battery dies, none of them will do much good, really.
Another important thing: we recommend you be very careful if you communicate with anyone who has found your smartphone. Be careful not to disclose any personal information – such as your home address, for example – until you know that you are dealing with someone you can trust. Offer to go where he or she is, in some public place. Share and save phone numbers or email addresses to communicate with this (possible) good Samaritan who may return your phone.
How to track an Android
Android not only offers Google’s own service to find and manage your device remotely. There are also a number of third-party applications designed to find your smartphone. The easiest to use is Find My Device , which is integrated directly into the Android smartphone through Google Play Services; although it can also be used in a browser or downloaded from the Google Play Store. Most devices with Android 2.3 or later should be able to use this feature.
Using the feature is as easy as searching: ” Where’s my phone? ”On Google, which will cause the service to start searching for your smartphone. Find My Device also has the ability to call the phone, set a new password, and make your phone ring from afar, along with a wide variety of other features it uses for notifications. While you can set it up ahead of time, the service should be available in case you lose or lose your phone. It will use Wi-Fi or GPS to help you hunt your device.
- Go to Settings> Google (or Google Services)> Security and make sure remote location of this device is activated in the Find My Device section.
- You will probably be asked to log in.
- When you open the app or search in the browser, you will see all your devices at the top, so just select the corresponding tab to find the specific device.
If you can’t find your smartphone, you can always clean it to prevent confidential information on it from getting into the wrong hands.
However, your device will need an internet connection and enough power to communicate with you. In Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google also introduced Factory Reset Protection (FRP). It is designed to prevent potential thieves from stealing your phone, cleaning it, and then using or selling it. If you factory reset a phone with FRP enabled and try to set it up as a new device, you will be asked to enter the username and password of the last Google account that was registered on the device, and if it cannot be done, the phone will remain locked.
There are also third-party applications that you can install to make finding your phone easier. Cerberus Anti-theft is a great application that offers remote access and control, allowing you to obtain more information about the whereabouts of your phone. It provides a number of additional features, such as more detailed control over how to track the device, screenshots of what the device is doing, camera photos to catch the potential thief, and other more detailed notifications that Find My Device does not offer if your device is rooted . There are even more features available to prevent someone from restarting or turning off the device until you can get it back.
Another option for certain Samsung smartphones is the Find my mobile service . It can be used to locate a lost phone, lock it, or erase it entirely. However, you will need a Samsung account and the remote control options enabled on your phone. To check and see if Find My Mobile is available for your smartphone, you need to follow these steps:
- Head to Settings> Biometrics and Security.
- If you see Find My Mobile in the menu, you can use the service.
- Activate the Remote controls options through Settings> Biometrics and security> Find my mobile> Remote controls .
Find a lost iPhone, or other cell phone
How to find an iPhone
The best way to find your iPhone is with the application that comes with the cell phone Find my iPhone. The application comes with the service pre-installed and shows you your cell phone on a map. You will need another Apple device with this app to see this feature. We use a lost iPad with iOS 13 as an example.
- Select Settings> Apple ID (name)> Find My.
- This will take you to the Find My section, where you need to tap Find My iPhone to turn it on if it’s off. ( Note: it should never be turned off ).
- With Find My iPhone turned on, tap the Enable Offline Search and Send Last Location switches. Those help you determine where you last left your phone, in case internet services are turned off.
- With those controls ready, go back to Settings> Apple ID and scroll down to see all of your devices in a list.
- Touch the missing device and it takes you to a Device Information section that allows you to search for it directly.
- Tap Find My (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch) and then tap Show on Find My iPhone and a map will appear showing you your exact location and directions.
- The service also gives you the option to play a sound on your device, mark it as Lost and send a message to the phone in lost mode.
- You also have the option to erase the device, in case it’s in the wrong hands.
- Find my iPhone can also locate your Mac, iPod and iPad. It is an effective tool to track almost any iOS device.
How to find your “not so” smart phone
- Call your cell phone. Try to listen to its sound or try to feel its vibration: maybe it is closer than you think, and nobody has stolen it from you. Now if your phone is really lost and in someone else’s hands, they will probably reply to you if they intend to return it.
- Come back after your steps. Do a full visual search. If you can’t hear a buzzer or vibrate when you call, don’t assume it is missing, or someone has stolen it from you – its battery may just be dead.
- Send a text message to your phone. If you think someone has stolen it or found it on the bus, taxi or cafe you were in, send a message with your contact information, email address, landline number and promise of reward – if you decide do it. There are many online services that allow you to send free text messages, such as txt2day.com .
- Alert your service provider. If you have given up hope of finding it, call your wireless provider and let them know that your phone is lost. Ask them if they offer a GPS location service. Otherwise, ask them to suspend your phone service as soon as possible, to avoid possible fraudulent charges. Operators have different policies in these situations, but it’s always worth a try, even for a non-smartphone. This FCC page has a handy list of numbers to call.
- Register your phone as lost. If you know the IMEI number of your phone, or if you have it written down somewhere, enter it in Immobilize .
- Get ready for the next time you lose your phone. Maybe you’re one of those people who is always losing their phone (I don’t know about you, but I have several friends who are a real disaster with their phones …) If so, consider signing up for a tracking service like AccuTracking .
