Android gets Find My iPhone-like feature 3 years after Apple
Google's Android platform has largely caught up to Apple's iOS in at least one respect: Android device owners will soon be able to track the location of their phone much in the same way iPhone owners have been able to do since 2010.
The Android team revealed in a blog post on Friday that the new Android Device Manager (ADM) feature will roll out later this month for devices running Android 2.2 Froyo or later. That covers all but 1.3 percent of Android devices, according to Google's figures.
The new feature will allow device owners to ring a phone at maximum volume in order to find it, even if it has been silenced. Users can also locate a device on a map with real-time location data. In the event a phone cannot be recovered, ADM also allows for the secure erasure of all of the data on a device.
In releasing ADM, Google is a latecomer to the phone location and remote interaction game. Both Apple and Microsoft have had a "find my phone" feature built into their mobile platforms since 2010. Apple has spent the three years since introducing Find My iPhone steadily improving the feature. In December, the iPhone maker added driving directions to the app, and the iOS 7 beta includes both a password disabling feature that locks a device out of a user's iTunes account and an activation lock feature that shuts a phone down entirely.
Additionally, other Android device manufacturers have already stepped in where Google had not. Sony, for instance, offers a my Xperia security service for its Android-powered Xperia line. That feature allows users to sound alarms, wake a device's display, lock a phone, or remotely erase data if necessary.
The Android team revealed in a blog post on Friday that the new Android Device Manager (ADM) feature will roll out later this month for devices running Android 2.2 Froyo or later. That covers all but 1.3 percent of Android devices, according to Google's figures.
The new feature will allow device owners to ring a phone at maximum volume in order to find it, even if it has been silenced. Users can also locate a device on a map with real-time location data. In the event a phone cannot be recovered, ADM also allows for the secure erasure of all of the data on a device.
In releasing ADM, Google is a latecomer to the phone location and remote interaction game. Both Apple and Microsoft have had a "find my phone" feature built into their mobile platforms since 2010. Apple has spent the three years since introducing Find My iPhone steadily improving the feature. In December, the iPhone maker added driving directions to the app, and the iOS 7 beta includes both a password disabling feature that locks a device out of a user's iTunes account and an activation lock feature that shuts a phone down entirely.
Additionally, other Android device manufacturers have already stepped in where Google had not. Sony, for instance, offers a my Xperia security service for its Android-powered Xperia line. That feature allows users to sound alarms, wake a device's display, lock a phone, or remotely erase data if necessary.
Comments
Though why anyone would want their Android phone back after it's stolen is beyond me.
Every once in awhile you come up with truly funny stuff. Well done!!
This is not the Android you are looking for <waves hand>
Quote: DWL too funny
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
It took three years for accidental thefts to be prevalent enough to need something like this.
Though why anyone would want their Android phone back after it's stolen is beyond me.
This has been available for a long time already via Google Apps account. It was never free though until now.
https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/1235372?hl=en
:???:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacBook Pro
Excellent. Three more years and Google Android may catch up to where Apple iOS was three years ago.
You mean like it took years for Apple to get a Notification Center and Control Center when Android had them for much longer (Notification pull down goes back to the very first Android device!)
Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc999
You mean like it took years for Apple to get a Notification Center and Control Center when Android had them for much longer (Notification pull down goes back to the very first Android device!)
Which first appeared in Cyndia on iOS. Stop nagging the notification center has the only defence adnoids fans can pull agains iOS.
It took up to version 4.2 for Google to speedup and separated the graphics rending from the main thread, something any sane OS already do since the 80's
Two weeks after the rollout, we see the first reports of 3rd party apps accessing this information silently, without permission, and sending it back to home servers for targeted ads and who knows what else.
It doesn't "ring" the phone, actually... it plays [and counts] a random 30-second YouTube commercial at full volume.
Next, Google will expand the scope with another, similar, app called "Irritate My Friends".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
It took three years for accidental thefts to be prevalent enough to need something like this.
Though why anyone would want their Android phone back after it's stolen is beyond me.
What else would fandroids do to validate their lives if they're not spending their time tweaking and rooting their Android phones? They might be forced to do something useful or interact with people, which would be unthinkable.
Agreed