Last June it was leaked that Google is working on its own collaborative network to find lost devices, thus following in the footsteps of Apple and Samsung to help users locate their devices when these have no GPS or connection.

Now two months later we have new details on collaborative network ‘Find my device’ thanks to a filtered preview of the Google Play services, which also tells us about some of the news that Google is preparing for its tool for locating lost or stolen devices.

Collaborative network ‘Find my device’

Google Spot Find My Device 1

A new switch will allow us to join the network ‘Find my device’ to allow our mobile to help locate other people’s devices, but it seems that Google will not just send the approximate location to the person who lost their device, but will allow us to find that lost mobile.

How to find a lost or stolen Android phone

The source code for that leaked version of Google Play Services includes the following text strings:

  • Try marking the device as lost for collaborative assistance in finding it.

  • You are about to mark this device as lost. This will have the following effects:

  • You will receive notifications when this device is seen by another member of the ‘Find My Device Network’.

  • When this happens, the user who spotted him will be notified that he helped a fellow network member, without exposing his identity.

  • We will try to sound the device at the time of sighting.

If our lost device is within the Bluetooth range of our mobile or tablet, we can ask ‘Find my device’ to make it ring.

Share device

Until now, ‘Find my device’ only allows us to locate our own devices associated with our Google account, but it prepares a tool to add devices of other users, a very practical feature for companies that want to locate the lost mobile phones of their employees. Apparently users use invitations and QR codes to link other people’s devices in ‘Find my device’.

Vehicle data protection

With the arrival of Android Automotive to the next generation of vehicles, ‘Find my device’ is set to allow the user to protect their linked data in their car. While in Android Auto the data is on the mobile, in Android Automotive They are in the car, where during the configuration we have linked the car with our Google account. If our car is stolen, thieves will be able to access our Google Maps history, contacts, messages and calls. In the future ‘Find my device’ will allow us lock the car profile with a password or directly erase all data.

Via | 9to5Google

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