7 apps to help you find your Android phone

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

Secure your smartphone before it gets lost or stolen.

There is of course Google's native Find My Device. With it, you can remotely track your phone, tablet or watch on a map. If the device is disconnected from the internet, Google will display its last known location.

In addition, owners of Samsung and Xiaomi smartphones can search for their gadgets through built-in services from manufacturers: Find My Mobile and Mi Cloud.

But all of these solutions are inferior to specialized applications. For example, built-in services do not support receiving commands via SMS, which is useful if the kidnapper disconnected the stolen smartphone from the Network. They do not know how to photograph a thief and record his conversations. And it's pretty easy to get rid of them: just enough for the attacker to log out of your account.

The applications collected in this article are more functional and reliable. True, most of them can be neutralized by an advanced attacker by resetting the system. This can only be prevented by using root rights. In this case, some applications will be able to make themselves system and will be saved when reset.

1. Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus

Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus includes a lot: an antivirus screen and scanner, app lock and privacy protector, and a built-in anti-theft module. The application allows you to remotely track your smartphone via the BitDefender web service.

But a much more interesting function is controlling your smartphone using SMS. This is very useful if the attackers who stole your smartphone disconnected it from the Internet.

Send a special message, and the smartphone will tell you its location via SMS, turn on the siren or erase all data. In addition, you can force your smartphone to quietly call you, so you can hear what the kidnappers are talking about.

If attackers change the SIM card, BitDefender will notify you and provide a new number.

BitDefender is an extremely functional application, but you have to pay for it. You can try it for free for only 14 days.

2. AVG AntiVirus

Another popular antivirus package with an anti-theft function. AVG can locate a lost or stolen phone using Google Maps. As in other applications, there is a phone lock function and the ability to display messages on the screen. For example, with your contact details.

There is also a siren, and remote viewing of calls, contacts and messages, and erasing memory. You can control your smartphone both through the AVG web service and via SMS.

AVG has several other useful specific features: invisible photographing of everyone trying to unlock your smartphone, automatic smartphone locking when changing a SIM card, as well as taking pictures and recording sound from your phone. However, to take advantage of these features, you will have to pay for a subscription.

3. Avast Mobile Security

Yes, and Avast has its own anti-theft. And he is very, very good. In general, it practically repeats the capabilities of AVG. It is especially pleasant to use it on smartphones with rooted rights.

Having gained administrator rights, Avast can make itself invisible and rename its package in the application manager so that attackers do not know that the smartphone is being tracked. Avast Mobile Security can be built into the smartphone's firmware and will continue to function even if a thief resets the system.

The paid version of Avast has the ability to remotely identify: when you try to unlock your smartphone, the application will take a photo of the thief. The smartphone is considered stolen after eight attempts to enter the password.

4. Lost Android

Application of the eponymous web service for tracking lost smartphones. Both the application and the service cannot boast of a beautiful interface, but the advantage of Lost Android is different. This app weighs only 170KB and works even on the oldest and lowest powered Android 2.2 devices.

It is all the more surprising that so many different functions have been crammed into it. Here is the ability to read sent and received SMS from a lost smartphone, and blocking, and erasing data, and alarms, and camera shooting, and sound recording, and pop-up messages …

You can manage a lost smartphone both through a web service and via SMS. Moreover, using SMS, you can order the phone to connect to the Internet and GPS, even if the kidnappers disconnected the smartphone from the Network.

All in all, this is an extremely functional application that will work for free on any smartphone. If you are unassuming in terms of interface and do not want to overload your smartphone with bulky packages, this is definitely your choice.

5. Cerberus

One of the most powerful smartphone finder apps. It is able to track the location of the phone using GPS, Wi-Fi points and cell towers, allows you to view a list of all outgoing and incoming calls, record sound through the built-in microphone, secretly take and send photos to a specific address, and much more.

Cerberus has advanced security mechanisms. The application icon can be hidden, messages sent by Cerberus are not displayed anywhere, and if you are rooted, you can make Cerberus a system application so that it will continue to run even after a system reset.

The application can work in conjunction with a smart watch. To do this, you need to enable the corresponding functions in the "Wearable devices" section of the parameters.

The first week of Cerberus is free to use, then you have to fork out for a subscription.

6. Lookout

Lookout includes, among other things, an anti-theft function. It allows you to track your smartphone on a map and turn on the siren. If the smartphone turns off, Lookout will remember the last location where the signal was tracked.

The app can email you a photo of a thief trying to unlock your device. There is also a remote erasure of data.

Lookout is free for two weeks with all premium features. Then the capabilities of the application will be curtailed. However, the remaining ones will still be enough to find a lost smartphone.

7. Prey Anti Theft

Prey is a real set of utilities for protecting all kinds of devices: not only on Android, but also on iOS, Windows, macOS and Linux.

Prey does everything that the rest of the apps on this list do, and more. If you have lost one of your devices, it is enough to mark it as lost in the control panel or send a special SMS. After that, you can block the device, find it on the map, photograph the kidnapper, turn on the siren, and so on.

In the free version of Prey, you can track a maximum of three devices. The Pro version opens up additional features. For example, tracking up to 500 (!) Devices and automatically updating their status, collecting information about the networks to which the thief connects, and so on.