In the not too distant future it probably will track an android smartphone (especially Google Pixel) even if it is turned offexactly as it happens for various Apple devices: the developer and leaker Kuba Wojciechowski announced via 91Mobiles to have discovered concrete traces in the source code of Android 14, which Google has shared with partner manufacturers enrolled in the Early Access Program.
According to what emerged from the code, the feature will be called, at least on Google phones, Pixel Power-off Finder, but the goal of the Mountain View giant is to create a huge network of all compatible Android devices and accessories, including smart tags. Support for the UWB protocol would not be mandatory but optional: the key hardware would be Bluetooth – the chip would remain powered even when the device is off and would be able to send key location information. It is, however, the same principle on which Apple’s network works.
iPhones (and others, of course) have a “always-on” Bluetooth chip for some years now by now, but it’s not clear if the same is also true for Android devices (some of them, at least) currently on the market. We wonder in particular if at least the Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 will already be compatible or if this network will have to be built essentially “from scratch” with the next generation of smartphones. Naturally, it will also be necessary to understand how many and which manufacturers will follow Google, and hope that all implementations are compatible with each other – an open ecosystem has undoubted advantages, but also rather cumbersome disadvantages.
In any case, it seems pretty clear that Mountain View’s intent is to debut the feature with Android 14, provided that no last-minute hitches emerge; Google has been talking about it for a few months now – the first concrete mention dates back to December 2022.
