There comes a point in every single person’s life where they lose track of their phone and misplace it somewhere or they have their phone stolen by some random thief. In situations like these most people don’t have any idea on how they might be able to recover their phone and go through completely unnecessary hurdles in rather futile attempts to recover their phone. This article will detail how you can track down your lost or stolen phone to its location and also how you can perform specific tasks on it remotely.
- Android
Google is a company that doesn’t compromise on anything and always tries to give its users the full package and Android phones are no exception as Google has you covered even if you mess up and lose your phone somewhere. You have a direct option of tracking down your phone’s location thanks to the Android Device Manager (ADM) which is a service by Google that allows you to track your device.
To use the ADM you simply login with the account that your phone has been registered to and then leave the rest to ADM. You will be displayed a map and here the service will try to contact your phone and inform you of the location it was last seen or logged in from. You can also use ADM to perform other tasks like make your phone ring at full volume. If you happen to find out that the phone is in a place where it can’t be recovered from then you also have the option of remotely wiping all your data from it.
- iPhone
Similar to Google, Apple also provides you with a service that allows you to track down your lost or stolen phone. They have a Find My iPhone service that can be used from PCs, Macs or any other iOS device.
To use Find My iPhone you have to sign into iCloud and then open the Find My iPhone application. Once done so you’ll have a list of your phones and you can click on the phone to view its last seen location on a map. Aside from simply viewing the location of your phone you can also perform a variety of tasks from here. You can set it to ring at full volume so that you may find it if nearby. Apple also features a lost mode in their devices where basically you can remotely set a four digit password on your device and set it to display a specific message. Lastly, if the phone seems to be irrecoverable then you also have the option of wiping all data on it.
- Windows Phone
Similar to the Android and iOS services, Microsoft also has a lost phone tracker for Windows Phones. The Find My Phone service on windows phones requires that you initially enable both Find My Phone options from the settings of the actual phone if you wish to use it.
The usage of this service is similar to the other two services we’ve seen. Simply go to www.windowsphone.com then login and go the My Phone menu where you have to click find my phone. Once done so you’ll be displayed a map and on this map you’ll be shown the last known location of your device. You also have three options when it shows you the device. The first option is ring which will cause your phone to ring at a high volume so you can find it. The second option is lock which will allow you to set a password on your phone and set it to display a specific message of your choice. Lastly, you have the option of erase which you can use if the phone seems like it can’t be recovered, this option will wipe all your data from the phone.
