Have you ever lost your phone between your couch or under your clothes somewhere. And you can’t find it when you are in a hurry? Or have you left your phone to a restaurant or in your friend’s car? We have some cool tricks and tips to help you, and of course there are some nice apps made for that.
If you have lost your phone somewhere further than your home then you can check it’s current or last position on a map. Or if it’s somewhere near you and cannot find it you can make it make a sound.
Trick 1: Track your Android phone with Google’s help
Google’s official tool for that is Android Device Manager. And the best part is that it’s not an app you have to download and install previously. The only requirement is that your phone is connected to your Google account. All you need to do is to search google for “Android device manager” and log into your google account, that is used in your phone.
The last known position is shown on the map, OR if you are lucky and the phone is connected to the internet and of course turned on then you can see the live location.
If the phone is somewhere near you you can just press “Ring” which makes the phone to make a sound (even when on “silent”) with that you can easily locate your missing Android phone under your couch. You can also lock your phone, so if you have totally lost it or it’s stolen then your phone is accessible via password only.
If you have several phones linked to your google account, for example a child’s phone then you can locate both of the phones from google android device manager.
Trick 2: Samsung’s “Find My Mobile” app
If you have a Samsung device then you have a chance to download “Find My Mobile” app that is associated with Samsung account. Only negative thing about this solution is that you need to do it beforehand. The app must be existing on your phone and linked with Samsung account. And of course your Samsung phone need’s to be connected to the internet while locating it.
If you have “Find My Mobile” set up on your phone then go to “findmymobile.samsung.com” log in and check from the left sidebar and make sure you find your phone connected in there. All you need to do now is select “Locate my device” and click on the “Locate” button. As with the Google solution you can make your Samsung ring a ringtone to find your Samsung hiding right next to you. Also you can lock your device totally if you know it’s stolen and the maximum safety is to wipe all of your phone’s data remotely.
Trick 3: This one is a long-shot but how to track your phone via “Dropbox”(both Android and iOS)
Tracking your phone using “Dropbox” app is a far-fetched idea but still possible. For that to happen you need to be lucky and meet the following criteria: You need Dropbox app installed on your phone and “Camera upload” function needs to be activated (Camera upload means that each picture that is taken with your phone is automatically uploaded to Dropbox). Now every time someone takes picture with your phone (presumably thief) it automatically gets uploaded to your Dropbox. But just the picture doesn’t help you, if you are lucky the person makes a selfie and you can identify him/her. Or if you are extremely lucky you can guess the background and locate the thief.
Don’t be fooled about the obvious. There has been a few cases where thieves are catched by stealing a phone and taking pictures like nothing ever happened. Unfortunately pictures are the only hint you get via the Dropbox solution because location information and geotagging is only available on PC-s and laptops currently.
Trick 4: 3-rd party tracking apps
The last but not least solution is 3-rd party applications that you might have heard and installed previously on your Android device such as Samsung smartphones.
There are bunch of them but here are the top 3 for addition of Google and Samsung solutions:
- Where’s my droid [Price: Free – $3.99]
- Prey Anti-Theft [Price: Free]
- Cerberus [Price: Free – with in-app purchases]
I’m not going to explain them in detail. But they work the same as Google and Samsung solutions, but in my opinion they are not better than the phone makers themselves.
Of course they can track your phone with some cool tricks but they can’t be relied on 100% of the time. And obviously they don’t have the resources that Google and Samsung have 🙂
People often ask me: Can I locate my phone using IMEI number?
Unfortunately fast answer is NO. Because IMEI number only carries offline data like Brand, Model, Detailed production info and so forth. But it’s not possible to actually track physical location with it online.
But again, when the case is huge and police is willing to work together with phone manufacturer like Samsung, then by providing the IMEI code. They can identify your phone in their system and therefore find the phone using other methods, that are not known to the public. But for sure they use the IMEI just to identify the phone.
How to protect yourself and your data from being stolen or seen from unwanted eyes?
The first thing to-do when buying a new smartphone (for what you paid a lot of hard earned money) is to protect your data (pictures, messages, notes, passcodes) against losing/stealing. When you are lucky you can even get your device back.
- Install a tracking application or activate one if existing! Important
- Set a lock screen passcode or pattern – There are a lot of guides online how to do this
- Install “Dropbox” and activate Camera upload 🙂
- Hold your fingers crossed…
And of course when you bought or planning to buy yourself a new smartphone. While travelling or getting a good discount from some local carrier. Don’t hesitate to contact us for a fast and cheap unlocks for Samsung or other android devices. We guarantee fast and reliable customer service and mainly the best phone unlocking solutions.