By: Courtney Rose
Google has their own version of “find my iPhone” and it’s essentially the same concept. You can access it through your Google account, and it will keep track of any devices you’ve signed in to with your Google account, whether that’s a tablet, smartphone or wear OS watch.
Some of the cool features of this “find my” feature is that you can make the phone or tablet ring for 5 minutes, even if the device is on silent, you can view on a map the last known location of the device, and remotely lock the screen. You can also remotely add a message to the lock screen so if someone does find your device, they can contact you and try to return it. If you know your device is lost and cannot be recovered, you can remotely erase the contents. With the erase remotely option, you’ll want to be absolutely sure you cannot recover the device, as you cannot undo the action.
In order for this to work, you’ll need to be sure the device is turned on, signed into a Google account, connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data, visible on Google Play, and Location and Find my Device are turned on. You also should consider setting up a regular backup of any photos on your phone in case you lose your device as well; if you have to remotely wipe the device, you won’t be able to recover your photos.
Hopefully you won’t find yourself in a situation where you need to use this feature, but you never know when your toddler will play hide and seek with your phone, or you inadvertently drop your phone somewhere and don’t realize it. Recovering your phone quickly is the key to keeping your information and data safe, and not spending money buying a replacement!
