Google is beginning the global deployment of its new Find My Device network, which allows you to use the hundreds of millions of Android devices in circulation to find a lost or forgotten smartphone or object tracker.
It’s already been almost a year since Google announced an in-depth update to its Find My Device network (or Locate my device, in French). During Google I/O 2023, the annual conference dedicated to the American brand’s software advances, the latter indicated that it wanted to modernize its tool allowing users to find their lost or stolen devices.
The idea behind the firm is to use hundreds of millions of Android devices in circulation around the globe to securely detect the position of a device considered lost. Since then, Google engineers have taken their time to refine their device, while having to endure delays from one of their direct competitors.
A power-on delay imposed by Apple
Google was ready to launch its new Find My Device network several months ago, but had to suspend its work because of Apple. The Californian giant also has its own network called “Locate”, making it possible to detect the position of a lost iPhone by relying on the Bluetooth connections made between this device and other iOS or macOS devices around it. It is also this principle that inspired Google to update Find My Device on Android.
It took Apple a few months to integrate protection into iOS. This allows users to detect unwanted Android trackers that have been placed without their knowledge in their pocket or bag to follow them. When the iPhone detects an Android tracker nearby for several days, an alert is sent to the smartphone to signal that a malicious person is potentially following the user’s every movement.
A launch in the coming weeks with an update to the Google Play Service
With the protections now operational, Google can launch the update of its network. This goes through Google Play Services and is available today in version v24.12.14, offered in beta.
A new menu will appear in Android settings. Find My Device will thus offer three distinct detection settings. The first, activated by default, offers the location of a permanently lost device across the globe. The second restricts the detection possibilities to busy places, such as city centers, or station or airport halls. The last one disables the ability to connect to a lost device, but if your own smartphone is forgotten somewhere, it can still be discovered by other Android devices.
After a few weeks of testing, the version integrating the new Find My Device network should then be offered more widely to the general public in the coming weeks through an update.
Source : 9to5Google
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