We've broken down the best third-party apps for finding your phone below. The Family Locator app by Life is essentially a GPS tracker for phones but is especially useful for families with multiple phones in use. Your family members become a "Circle", the app's name for a closed group of people who consent to have their phones tracked in real time. Your family members will appear on live maps within the app as little icons so that you can see where everyone is at any given moment.
The app also allows you to chat with people in your Circle or broadcast a meeting time and location. And, of course, if a phone from within your Circle is ever lost or stolen, the app will track it on the map. Family Locator Free with in-app purchases. This locator app from Cerberus offers an impressive array of remote control features if you find your phone has been lost or stolen. You'll still be able to lock, ring, or erase your phone, but you'll also be able to remotely access your camera or sound a loud alarm from your phone, even if it was on silent mode when you lost it.
The advanced features allow you to hide Cerberus in your app drawer so that it can't be detected if and when your phone is found or stolen.
How to use GPS to locate things and track people
Your missing phone will transmit data to you via the Cerberus website or via SMS text from another phone with the Cerberus app installed. Cerberus anti theft Free with in-app purchases. The Prey Anti Theft app is impressive in that three different devices can be protected through one download. You'll have the ability to sound an alarm from your missing phone, take screenshots if it's in use, and lock down the device the moment you realize it's missing. Once you've downloaded the app, it will walk you through a series of tutorials to show you how to use your Prey Account to track your phone.
The app itself is free and doesn't require additional purchases in order to access the high-end features. Prey Anti Theft Free. Lost Android will allow you to have remote access to your missing phone via their website. Here, you'll be able to erase sensitive information if you fear that your phone may never be returned, or send messages to your phone in the hopes of someone finding and returning it. Additionally, you can choose to remotely forward any calls you may be missing to another number and record a running list of any calls or messages made or photos taken with your phone.
Lost Android Free with in-app purchases. The basic features of the Where's My Droid app allow you to ring your phone if you misplace it, locate it via GPS on Google Maps, and use a passcode to prevent unauthorized changes to apps on your Android phone. Stealth Mode also prevents anyone who finds your phone from seeing your incoming text messages; instead, they'll see a customizable attention word that alerts them of the phone's lost or stolen status.
The Pro version of the app, which you pay to use, lets you remotely wipe data from your phone, use a landline to access your phone, and remotely lock the device. Where's My Droid Free with in-app purchases. Google's phone location tools are your best bet — as long as you've gone through the process of setting things up ahead of time. Really, this should be something you set up on any device you care about or that will have sensitive data stored on it, especially with how easy Google has made it to locate your device should you lose it.
Of course, one of the benefits of Android is having the freedom to customize your experience as you see fit. If for whatever reason Google's offering just doesn't cut it for you, you should consider the third-party options we've highlighted above, as they include some clever features that might give you some added peace of mind if your device goes missing. If your phone is stolen or found and it's then factory reset, you will not be able to rely on any apps or services to find it; a factory reset will wipe out any of the original data, accounts, or passwords that are needed to remotely find your Android phone.
This is a problem because you can't remove an iPhone battery. Better get a second phone that has a removable battery and leave the iPhone where you want them to think you are located. Not Helpful 3 Helpful Absolutely none, unless the app you're using is not authentic. Legit tracking apps will never produce false results on the whereabouts of your device. Not Helpful 0 Helpful 2. This should find your lost device. Yes, depending on the software that you use. Most apps would request the person being tracked to accept and agree first during set-up.
So they would most likely know that you're keeping tabs on them. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 2. Not Helpful 1 Helpful 1. How track someone's phone without knowing? Answer this question Flag as Can I track a Samsung phone from an iPhone? Can I track another iPhone with my iPhone 4? Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Already answered Not a question Bad question Other. Warnings In most places, it is illegal to track someone's phone without them knowing about it. Made Recently View more 6 total.
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How to find your lost Android phone | Android Central
Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 4,, times. Is this article up to date? Cookies make wikiHow better. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our cookie policy. A Anonymous Aug 31, LT Laura Tucker Sep 14, I don't want trouble in any way. AW Aaron Wright Feb 20, I am really trying to find my phone.
Can't really function now.
A Anonymous Sep 5, A Anonymous Jan 9, A Anonymous Jan 12, A Anonymous Apr 20, A Anonymous Mar 8, A Anonymous Aug 1, More success stories All success stories Hide success stories. To get the best location results it should have an active connection to a WiFi network. The only requirement is that your Android phone is connected to your Google account, turned on and connected to the internet. Once the site is loaded it will automatically try to track down your phone.
How to find your lost phone with Google and its own services
If you habe several Android devices registered, make sure the right one is chosen in the menu. In a recent update, Google implemented some of the features into their search results page. Instead of using the mobile browser, you can also use the Find My Device app. You can sign in using the guest mode and your Google account credentials.
Now you should be able to track your lost device, let it ring or wipe its data. Are you not able to locate your lost phone this way? This can happen for several reasons. The one you should hope for, is that your device is simply not connected to the internet or turned off. However, it is also a good way to locate your phone. As mentioned, if your Android device is turned off, you can use the location history data to identify the last recorded location. On the left sidebar, you can see a complete timeline of that day including the names all recorded locations.
On the right, you can see all the locations visualised on a map. This means that the accuracy can vary significantly. That might help you and the authorities to catch the person. In case your device actually got stolen, you might be able to find it using the backup and sync feature of Google Photos. If you activated this option in the app, then all images taken with your phone will be uploaded to your Google Photos account. Why is that good news? Well, not just the image but also the location where it was taken is uploaded. Obviously, this only works if your lost phone has an active internet connection and if you gave your photos app the permission to use your location.
Please be careful in case you are able to identify the location of your phone, which might very well be the home address of the thief. Use that information and call your local authorities to take it from there. For this to work, you need a Samsung account and registered your device before you lost it. So try to remember if you did that. Head over and sign in to the Find my mobile website.
Part 1: Can I Track A Cell Phone with Just the Number?
Check the left sidebar and make sure that your device is connected to your account. If your device is online and remote controls is enabled, you should see its approximate location.
Find my mobile also allows you to do other things such as locking your device, letting it ring with a message and wiping its data. So, if he or she takes a nice selfie you might be able to identify the thief. Should that be impossible, simply start a blog and show the world all the pictures your thief has taken.
This is only possible for Desktop PCs and laptops until now.