Google's Find My Device coming to the UK

[Bambino]

Google’s Find My Device network seems to be slowly rolling out in the UK and beyond | TechRadar

Edit: This service is also available on iPhones, but some may not want it. Below is an excerpt from an article on how to turn these services off:

How to turn off these ‘Find My’ networks:

With an iPhone, tap the Settings app and choose your name at the top of the screen to open your Apple ID settings → Find My → Find My iPhone.

Here you can turn off the setting for “Find My iPhone,” which is what allows your device to be located using GPS, cellular signals and WiFi. If you want to be able to locate a misplaced phone or remotely delete the contents of a stolen phone, leave that option on.

You can turn off just the setting for “Find My network.” That is what allows your device to constantly share its location privately over Bluetooth with strangers’ Apple devices nearby.

The downside is you will receive less precise or no location information in some cases if you lose your iPhone.

With an Android phone, open the Settings. (Typically, you swipe down from the top of the screen twice to find the gear icon. Or you can search “Settings” in the Google search bar at the bottom of your screen.)

Then tap Security & privacy → Device finders → Find My Device.

You may see an option for “Find your offline devices.” (I didn’t see this option yet in my Android phone. Google said it’s rolling out this feature gradually.)

If you turn it off, your Android phone won’t transmit its location to nearby compatible devices. The downside is you will receive less precise or no location information in some cases if you lose your phone.

Google automatically sets this feature to transmit your Android device’s location to nearby gadgets only when you’re in a relatively busy location. You can turn it entirely off or make the devices beam your location to other devices in all circumstances.

[Oxonian]

Thanks for posting that @Bambino, a really useful article. 👍

On my Samsung Galaxy handsets, it is there, but at :-

Settings > Security and privacy > Lost device protection. 

On both 'phones, the feature was switched-on by default.

Actually, on second thoughts, I think that might be a Samsung feature and not the Google tool that the article is referencing ! 😀   

[madasaf1sh]

For now it is only on Pixel Phones and some Sony devices including headphones and there are some trackers coming soon...

[Oxonian]

A bit more on this theme from Wired magazine :-

Android Update: Theft Detection Lock Knows When Your Phone Is Stolen | WIRED

https://www.wired.com/story/android-15-theft-detection-lock/