Last June, it was leaked that Google was working on its own collaborative network to find lost devices, following in Apple and Samsung’s footsteps to help users locate their devices when they have no GPS or connection.
Now two months later we have new details on the collaborative network ‘Find my device’ thanks to a filtered preview of the Google Play Services, which also gives us an overview of some of the news that Google is preparing for its lost or stolen device locator tool.
Collaborative network “Find my device”
A new switch will allow us to join the ‘Find my device’ network to allow our mobile to help locate other people’s devices, but it looks like Google will not only send the approximate location to the person who lost their device, but will allow us to find this lost mobile.
The source code for this leaked version of Google Play Services includes the following text strings:
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Try to mark the device as lost for collaborative assistance in finding it.
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You are about to mark this device as lost. This will have the following effects:
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You will receive notifications when this device is seen by another member of the “Find My Device Network”.
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When this happens, the user who spotted him will be informed that he has helped another member of the network, without revealing his identity.
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We will try to make the device ring at the time of the observation.
If our lost device is within Bluetooth range of our mobile or tablet, we may ask “Find my device” to ring it.
Share device
So far, “Find my device” only allows us to locate our own devices associated with our Google account, but it is preparing a tool to add devices from other users, a very handy feature for companies who want to locate phones. lost laptops from their employees. Apparently the users use invitations and QR codes to link other people’s devices in “Find my device”
Vehicle data protection
With the arrival of Android Automotive in the next generation of vehicles, “Find My Device” is configured to allow the user to protect their linked data in their car. While in Android Auto the data is on the mobile, in Android Automotive They are in the car, where during setup we linked the car to our Google account. If our car is stolen, thieves will be able to access our Google Maps history, contacts, messages and calls. In the future, “Find my device” will allow us lock car profile with password or directly erase all data.
Via | 9to5Google