How to Find a Lost Smartphone
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2019-05-06
·
1,161 words · ~5 min read
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thanks for watching tech wiki click the subscribe button then enable
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notifications with the Bell icon so you won't miss any future videos so picture
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this it's the morning after a night of bar-hopping and you wake up alone
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thankfully and reach for your phone but not only is it not on your nightstand it
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isn't anywhere in the entire house and losing a smartphone isn't like losing a
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credit card where you can just call in and report a loss and typically they'll send you a new one in the mail for free
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like in a couple days no no no losing your phone means suddenly being cut off
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from nearly all of your communication and in some cases even your credentials
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and that assumes that your phone wasn't stolen which could also mean a stranger
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with perhaps bad intentions now has access to everything from your super
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private photos to your bank account so
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if you do misplace your smartphone what precautions can you take other than you
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know going back in time and not losing it well your first line of defense is
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your phone's baked-in auto location feature yes enabling this does mean that
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Google or Apple will be able to keep tabs on where you are and where you've
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been but it's also the easiest and most effective way to locate a lost phone so
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here's how you do it we're gonna do Android first and then iOS users can
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skip to the timestamp below on Android open up your settings tap security and
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location and make sure find my device is turned on you'll also want to setup your
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location to high accuracy and enable Google location history to maximize your
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chances and minimize your privacy if you've misplaced your phone and it's
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still powered on all you have to do is log in to the same Google account as
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your phone but from a web browser do a Google search for Find My Phone and
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Google will detect your phone's location as best it can display it on a map and
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will even show you what Wi-Fi networks it's connected to if any you can also do
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this using the find my device app if you have access to another Android gadget
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you can then choose from one of several options if your phone is far away you
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can start by hopping on the bus to go and get it but once you get close you're
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gonna need to pinpoint it which you can do by making the phone ring loudly
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before you do that though make sure that you also lock your phone so that
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strangers can't easily get into it handily lock will also display a message
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of your choosing so you can throw an alternative contact info in case a Good
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Samaritan found your phone as a last resort if you think your phone was
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stolen and you get it back you can erase
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the phone remotely you're gonna lose everything that wasn't safe to the cloud
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but it sure it be it's a pickpocket being able to drain your savings account do keep in mind though that to use the
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lock and erase features you have to enable them on that Find My Phone page I
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mentioned earlier so do this before taking your phone out on any perilous
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journeys but if you're more of an Apple fan the process for locating a loss
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iPhone is frankly pretty similar go into
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your iCloud settings and make sure Find My Phone and send last location are both
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enabled then if your phone does get lost you can use either the built in Find My
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iPhone app on an iOS device or log into
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the iCloud website from a browser which will map the phone's location and give
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you options to make it ring lock it with a message or erase it all together
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similar to Android and you should also note that even if you turned location
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services off on your lost iPhone you can still remotely lock or you race it to
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keep your personal data secure so easy peasy right thanks to technology no one
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loses their phone anymore well the issue with both Android and iOS is that
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real-time location detection only works if your phone's battery isn't dead if
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your phone is lost and powered down you can still get its last known location or
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from these services but there's always the possibility you left it on a bus and
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it's now 500 miles away so if you're looking for an alternative physical GPS
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trackers like the one you buy for a pet do exist but now that hanging little
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gems and doodads off your phone is no longer considered stylish it was before
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they're generally considered to be too bulky for a smartphone and they have
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them in a battery life of course you can buy Bluetooth enabled trackers but
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they're only useful for short ranges so they're mostly for the I lose my phone
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in my couch cushions and don't realize until it's dead kind of crowd so be sure
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to act quickly if you lost your phone outside of your home and if you do think
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it was stolen please resist the temptation to go after them vigilante
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style if you do track down the phone's location give that information to the
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police instead it's what they're there for and it'll keep you from getting hurt
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in the case that your phone was swiped by some absolute jacked-up psychopath
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ting is the mobile carrier that is focused on customer service and customer
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satisfaction first when you call in you don't speak to a robot you get put
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through directly to a person and with King you pay only for what you use the
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average team bill is only $23 per device and if you're stuck in a contract and
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switch to ting they'll cover 25% of your cancellation fee up to $75 ting has
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lowered mobile data rates data is now just $10 per Gigabyte beyond the second
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Gigabyte and every single team customer will be able to reap the benefits of
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this new change so head on over to Linus 2018 dot ting calm and try out their
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savings calculator when you sign up at our link you'll also get $25 in service
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credit or $25 towards a new device so
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