If you've ever reached for your smartphone only to find it missing, you've felt that not-so-fun jolt of adrenaline and trickle of dread. After all, it's an expensive piece of technology, and it holds precious photos, text messages and a lot of personal information.
And as you search around the house, car and other places you might have set it, the feeling of panic only gets worse. Hopefully when this has happened to you, it ended with relief at finding your phone safe and sound. However, it's far too easy for a thief to walk off with a smartphone, or for it to fall out of your pocket or purse in a place you don't remember going. That's why you need to do one thing right now.
We strongly recommend that you install the Android Device Manager app on your smartphone.
Depending on your phone, you might just need to go to the Google Settings app and tap "Security." Then under "Android Device Manager" turn on "Remotely locate this device," and "Allow remote lock and erase."
Once this is done, if your phone disappears you can quickly log in at https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager using your Google Account. From here, Google will try to pinpoint your gadget's location on a map. Note that it might not get able to get a fix until whoever is using the phone wakes it up, so don't give up if there's no information right away.
Android Device Manager also has a few other options. You can also choose to ring the gadget in case it's just hiding under a couch cushion. If you don't have the lock screen set up on your gadget (you really should), you can remotely lock the phone and even put a message on the lock screen, such as a number to call, in case someone finds it. In extreme circumstances, you can erase the phone remotely so thieves can't get your information.
We strongly recommend setting this up now and testing it out to see how it works. It's better to take a minute now to set it up than spend days later regretting that you didn't.
With that being said, we do have an important safety announcement we need to make. If your phone is actually stolen, and you get the location, DO NOT try to retrieve the phone yourself.
People have died trying to get their phones back from thieves. You need to get the police involved.
Also, note that the GPS tracking isn't always accurate. We tested it out with a phone recently, and it showed it at the car wash next door rather than the Komando offices.
An even more extreme example is found in Apple's tracking system, which occasionally picks a random house and that's where it directs people. That's been happening for a while to the owners of a house in Atlanta; people keep showing up looking for iPhones that aren't there.
That's another good reason to get the police involved. You don't want to be the one causing a scene trying to get your phone back from an innocent bystander.
