See 4 Ways to Track Your Lost/Stolen Android Smartphone

SUPERBAZE

There’s no way to say this nicely so I’ll be
just blunt: unless in rare cases in places
where systems actually work, once your
Android smartphone (or mostly any other
smartphone for that matter. Yes, including
the iPhone) is stolen, that’s the end of the
road.

You won’t ever find it again.

I’ve been
there more than once. It’s notorious in
certain large cities like Nairobi where there
are more phone snatchers than there are
birds of the air.

And it’s not just Nairobi, it
happens everywhere (New York is notorious
for this) and to everyone (including properly
muscled up athletes who can scare off
anyone with ill intent).

There’s even an
interesting detailed report on the same by
security solutions company Lookout.







The little you can do, however, is hope that
whoever steals your Android smartphone
takes some time to, before deciding to switch
it off, remove the SIM card or even flash it.
In that case, there’s hope that you can at
least track your smartphone. These 4 ways
do exactly that (or something close. They can
be quite handy when trying to locate your
phone after it slips under the sofa’s cushions
🙂 ):


1. Find My Phone
Don’t be shocked that the new Find My
Phone feature that Google has rolled out as
part of celebrations to mark one year since it
launched My Account, a central place where
users can access all their Google account
information, has a name that is closer to the
iPhone’s hallowed feature. It’s because that’s
what it is meant to do: to find your damn
phone!
Find My Phone is buried deep under My
Account but you can quickly access it using
this link or in the near future, using Ok
Google voice commands. It will reveal a full
list of all devices associated with your
Google account that have recently hit
Google’s servers. By clicking on any of the
devices, one is presented with several options
including calling the device, wiping it
completely, remotely locking and so on. Just
what you would expect from a basic anti-
theft (is it even that?) solution.


2. Android Device Manager
Before the June 1st, 2016 reveal of Find My
Phone, Android Device Manager was the
officially sanctioned means of tracking an
Android smartphone or any other Android
device like a tablet. To be fair to it, Find My
Phone is just a convenient duplication of
Android Device Manager. Convenient I say?
With ADM, you need to have the application
installed on the device and activated in the
event your device maker did not include the
functionality by default in the modified
software on your device. That’s too much
work and something anyone who’s not a
geek is unlikely to ever do. Find My Phone
seeks to make things a bit more friendly. So
now you can see how the two will be just
fine co-existing?


3. Third-party solutions
Here is where it actually gets interesting. I’ve
met a young Kenyan with a solution that can
potentially blow out any other anti-theft
solution you have encountered so far. I’ll
leave you in suspense because you will get to
hear more about that soon.
Third-party anti-theft applications on the
Google Play Store are not in shortage. They
are available in plenty. One of them that I
really like after using it for a few years is
Cerberus. It’s pricey but for the work it is
going to do, including activating the camera
and taking photos when someone mistypes
your unlock code or pattern, it’s worth it. It
will automatically send you an email every
other time the SIM card on your device is
swapped for another one complete with all
the information you may need like the IMSI. I
particularly like the feature that allows me to
set up a unique catch phrase that when sent
to the line number on my device triggers an
action like a remote lock, remote wipe or
disturbing shrill ring.
There are a few other anti-theft solutions
worth checking out including those built into
security software applications from AVG and
Lookout Mobile.



4. Built-in/stock solutions
Device makers have been under pressure to
include kill switches on their devices in
certain countries. While they are yet to really
get around that, they’ve been trying. I
remember trying to use Samsung’s own built-
in solution as early as December 2012 to try
and find a lost Samsung Galaxy Note II. As
you can guess, those efforts bore no fruit.
Not because I did not try or the software was
terrible but because, like every other
suggested solution on this list, it’s useless
once one flashes the firmware or doesn’t
connect to a network through which the
device can communicate with any listening
services.
I am currently using a Cyanogen OS
smartphone and one of the things I really like
is the simple interface of Cyanogen’s own
phone tracking portal that, like Google’s
alternatives, also lists any active devices and
gives options to remotely lock, wipe etc
Before going ahead to spend money on a
third-party anti-theft solution for your
Android device, make sure you have checked
that your device’s maker does not have
something you can use to achieve the same
goal. Most will have you add trusted
numbers that will get a customized text
message when your SIM card is swapped.
Since most solutions are useless as soon as
someone tinkers with the device a bit and
flashes new firmware, it’s really not advisable
to spend a lot on a solution that does not
guarantee much. Of course, if you’re still with
me this is where I remind you of the
upcoming anti-theft solution that will change
all this. Stick around.
There’s a rarely used fifth means of tracking
your lost/stolen Android smartphone. It
involves the cops and recording statements
and anxious moments of waiting. Depending
on where you are in this world, this could be
the undisputed number 1 solution but that’s
not always the case. Unless there’s a murder
involved or other factors beyond the scope of
Tutowap, it’s also the least effective in most
scenarios.