In June 2021, a report claimed that Google was looking into increasing the capabilities of its feature find my device to bring it to the same level as Apple’s Find My Network.
The latter can track lost or stolen devices, such as iPhone, iPad, MacBook, AirPods or AirTag, even if they are out of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth range. Also, the Search network finds devices even if they are turned off.
Soon, Android devices around the world could form a network to help find lost or stolen Android or Wear OS devices.
find my device Google only tracks phones that are signed in to your Google account.
The platform also cannot help other people to find their lost or stolen devices. However, Google is still working to expand the capabilities of this feature.
The notes of the Google version for the Play Store December 2022 update include a mention stating: “Find My Device now supports encrypted last known location reporting for Android devices, using a new privacy-focused framework.”
This could indicate that Google is working to enable tracking of Android devices that have been lost or stolen even without an Internet connection. With an up-to-date network, the location services of other Android devices could help find the lost terminals of other Android users.
Since the information would be encrypted, only the owner of the “discovered” device would know where it is. This network could also be used to help find missing or stolen Wear OS devices.
With more than 3 billion Android devices circulating around the world, the search network could be very useful. There hasn’t been any official announcement regarding the Find My Device update, so we don’t know when the feature will be released.
