Google launches tool to locate lost Androids

Better late than never. Google has announced a new service that will help you locate your lost Android device. Called the Android Device Manager, it launches later this month.

Google Launches Tool To Locate Lost Android Device

In a post on the Official Android Blog, Google announced the Android Device Manager. According to Google, the service will let you find your phone, whether it’s misplaced between cushions or forgotten at a restaurant. Google went on to highlight its many different features – which, apart from the ability to locate a misplaced phone, also includes the ability to remote-wipe a phone online in case of it being permanently lost or stolen.

In the case of it being misplaced between cushions or somewhere else around you, the Locate and Ring feature will let you ring your device at maximum volume, even if it is on silent. If you’ve forgotten it too far off, the Android Device Manager will provide its location on a map online, in real-time.

If the real-time map isn’t helping you, or if it has been stolen, sensitive data on the device can be too important to fall into the wrong hands. For such a case, there’s the option to remote-wipe the device online, which can come as some consolation.

The Android Device Manager will also show other details on your device – like when it was last located and last used.

Been there, done that

Google is a little late to the party. There have been third party applications for tracking lost devices on the Play Store for a long time now. Apple has its own ‘Find my iPhone’ service for tracking lost iOS devices and even Mac computers. It offers the same functionality as the proposed Android Device Manager – remote wipe, location, driving directions etc. The Find My Phone service has aided in at least 3 arrests of robbers and kidnappers in the past 3 years. Microsoft too has its own, similarly-named tracking service – called ‘Find my Phone’.

Nevertheless, this is a welcome move from Google. Hopefully in the future, we’ll get to see Android devices ship with it right out of the box.

The Android Device Manager launches later this month and will be available for all Android Devices running Android 2.2 and up, which pretty much covers all the Android devices on the planet.