Losing your phone is one of those things that gives you a small heart attack even if you find it two seconds later in your other pocket where you never put it.
It’s even worse when it’s lost for good, so Google thinks it can help you find it with an update to its My Account privacy settings hub. A new feature called Find your Phone will soon assist users searching for lost – or stolen – Android and iOS devices.
According to Google, when the feature rolls out, it will be accessible by simply typing “I lost my phone” into Google search. While the new Find your Phone feature can provide assistance with finding a lost device, Apple’s Find my iPhone on iCloud is still ten times better.
Clicking on Find your Phone will open a list of Android and iOS phones and tablets that you have used to sign into your Google account.
If you’re looking for a lost iPhone, you’ll have five action options, including Find and lock your iPhone, Sign out of your phone, Try calling your phone, Reach out to your carrier, and Reach out for local help.
Google’s feature reports the last time you synced your iPhone while the ‘Find and lock your iPhone’ option includes a link to Apple’s iCloud.com; iPhone owners can access that link directly to locate, lock, or wipe a lost iOS device.
As far as finding an Android device goes, users will have the same five options. However, Android owners can also set a lockscreen password – if they hadn’t done so already – as well as write a note to send to their phone (“This phone is lost. Please help give it back” is as good a note as any).
Other options for Android users are calling the phone from the page, and locating and erasing the device. A previous reiteration of the search option for finding lost Androids also worked, but only if the device had the Google App installed and certain settings enabled.
If you don’t know how to access your Account, Google is here to help you again. Thanks to the new voice option (available in the latest version of the app), users can access the page by simply saying, “OK Google, show me my Google account.”
Image Source: PC Advisor
