Last year, Google already had its Find my device’s network for Android mobiles, equivalent to Samsung’s SmartThings Find network or Apple’s Find My, but even bigger since there are more than 3 billion Android phones in the world. However, they have decided not to enable it for now until Apple introduces protections against trackers similar to those existing on Android. He was therefore on indefinite hiatus.
This break is coming to an end, as several users have found that they have already activated “Find devices offline”, as it is finally called in Spanish, while others have received an email stating that They will be activated in three days. That is to say Sunday or Monday. They will thus be able to find their mobile phones and accessories even if they are not connected to the Internet and, in doing so, help other users find theirs.
Find your mobile even if it is offline
The only reason we can’t find our Android phones when they’re offline is because of Apple. Although iOS can warn us if they are spying on us with an AirTag, has not yet implemented protection against trackers of the common specifications with Google.
Google I’ve been waiting for them to do it for a year Otherwise, the huge network of Android mobile phones could be used to locate alternative location tags to the AirTag, accessories and Android mobile phones to spy on users who own an iPhone and would not receive any type of warning on their mobile phone. The wait finally seems to be coming to an end.
While rumor has it that iOS 17.5 could finally include protection against trackers and that its launch would only be a matter of days, Google has in turn taken the step and started enabling Find My Device Offline to a few users. These users will see additional settings in the Find my device section, with the option to enable the network to find the mobile offline.
The idea is this: you can find your phone when it’s offline and help others find their own cell phone too. To do this, the mobile phone occasionally reports the location of devices around it, similar to how the COVID-19 contact tracing API worked.
Gapps Flags & Leaks Screenshots
It looks like you can enable find your mobile offline without participating in the network, in addition to doing it always or only in places where there are a lot of people, which should help to “anonymize” your data. Of course, you are free to disable it completely.
Google notifies some users via email that Find my device offline will be activated in a few days and apparently it will turn on as standard unless you tell us otherwise. What is unclear is whether or not it will participate in the search network by default. If you want to check if Find My Device Offline is active on your account, the quickest way to do so is to enter this link, otherwise it will give you an error.
By | Metrics and leaks from 9to5Google and Gapps
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