If you lose your phone, or it gets stolen, the clock immediately starts ticking. Eventually, even the dumbest thief will figure out how to get into your device and make life miserable for you. Fortunately, Google now makes finding, and wiping, your phone as simple as visiting a webpage.
If you have an Android, you’re probably already familiar with the Android Device Manager, and this has many of the same functions. In fact, it’ll redirect you to that page if you start here for some functions. But if you have anything else with a Google account on it, just go to the security section on My Account, punch in your password, and click “Find Your Phone“. If you’ve got a phone registered with Google, you can ring it, locate it, lock it, sign out of your accounts and even wipe it remotely.
We put it through its paces and it’s solid, but not perfect. When ringing an Android phone, we had to disable WiFi calling to get that function to work, but it located it with ease. It also has a little trouble with Apple products; an iOS test found that Google mostly redirects you to Apple’s web tools for finding and erasing your phone, although you can sign out of any accounts tied to the device.
Still, it’s a quick, easy resource, and if you’re worried about your GMail being read, or need to deactivate your Google accounts quickly when your phone is stolen, it’s a useful tool. At least until Google Satellite finally installs those death rays, and we can really give phone thieves what they deserve.
(via The Daily Dot)
