If you didn’t have the foresight to install a device recovery app on your phone before you lost it, don’t worry. There are still some easy ways to get it back.
Android users can use Android Device Manager. Because it’s a Google service, it links with your Google account and can locate any device associated with it. There’s also the option to reset the PIN remotely, or erase stored data. If you want an alternative, there’s Cerberus, which works in the same way and comes with Android Wear support, so alerts will be pushed to your smartwatch should the paired device go out of range.
iPhone users can download the Find My iPhone application. If you’re rocking a phone with iOS 5 or later, then this app will come preinstalled. It works with iCloud — so it can be accessed through a browser, or another iOS device — and the location of your missing device will show on a map, along with the option to show where it has been too. You can remotely lock the phone, display an emergency message, or erase stored data if the phone has been lost forever.
Non-smartphone users are a bit out of luck in this case. If you didn’t register your phone with AccuTracking or a similar service beforehand, you don’t have many options other than calling your service provider and hoping they can help. Most providers do offer GPS location services for a reasonable fee though, so if your phone is GPS-enabled, finding it is sometimes just a matter of activating the GPS chip.
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