Have you ever reached for your phone, realised it wasn't there, and swore bitterly before checking your desk, your car, your floor, the outside, etc?
Well, I have. One too many times, as of this morning. So I decided to look at my options.
Voila,
Android Lost
Push to phone remotely via Google Play, activate with a text message from a friend, and poof, suddenly I can do a great many things as long as I confirm to http://www.androidlost.com/ that I am the phone owner by using Google's authentication.
I started with "tell me the phone's current status and location", which gave me (among other things) the battery details (plugged in, charging), the current IP (on my home network - I use a distinctive subnet), and then it turned on the GPS and popped up Google Maps with a little arrow on the precise location of the phone: My house.
So I left it at home! It is a major load off my mind to know that. Seriously.
From there, I decided to have a little fun, and started snapping pictures (all black - the phone is in it's case - but it works!), recording audio (a snoring dog), then recording audio while setting the phone to maximum volume and sounding an alarm (the dog snoring stopped, suddenly). I viewed the last 10 text messages sent/received, then sent one to myself that says "Help, I am a lost phone. Please return me to John and pet my dog since you are in my house."
I *could* erase my phone, or have it report that it is stolen on boot, or lock it, or set call forwarding (!!!! - may do that anyway!) or any number of other things, but it makes me really happy just to be able to say "yes, it is definitely in my house, not on the ground somewhere or gone walkabout."
Seriously. Very handy app.
Well, I have. One too many times, as of this morning. So I decided to look at my options.
Voila,
Android Lost
Push to phone remotely via Google Play, activate with a text message from a friend, and poof, suddenly I can do a great many things as long as I confirm to http://www.androidlost.com/ that I am the phone owner by using Google's authentication.
I started with "tell me the phone's current status and location", which gave me (among other things) the battery details (plugged in, charging), the current IP (on my home network - I use a distinctive subnet), and then it turned on the GPS and popped up Google Maps with a little arrow on the precise location of the phone: My house.
So I left it at home! It is a major load off my mind to know that. Seriously.
From there, I decided to have a little fun, and started snapping pictures (all black - the phone is in it's case - but it works!), recording audio (a snoring dog), then recording audio while setting the phone to maximum volume and sounding an alarm (the dog snoring stopped, suddenly). I viewed the last 10 text messages sent/received, then sent one to myself that says "Help, I am a lost phone. Please return me to John and pet my dog since you are in my house."
I *could* erase my phone, or have it report that it is stolen on boot, or lock it, or set call forwarding (!!!! - may do that anyway!) or any number of other things, but it makes me really happy just to be able to say "yes, it is definitely in my house, not on the ground somewhere or gone walkabout."
Seriously. Very handy app.
