Nowadays smartphones contain a variety of personal information, ranging from social accounts to apps to check the bank account or credit card balance. Once losing the phone meant losing only the numbers saved on the SIM, today in the case of theft or loss the damage is certainly worse!
Who uses a smartphone can protect the phone with the classic PIN code or with the combination but, by changing the SIM card, the thief or who finds the lost cell phone, can always access different applications and steal personal data and private information stored in the phone memory . Fortunately, the technology has gone on to the point of being able to offer various tools to try at least to remotely erase personal data, so as to prevent theft. We see in this guide the best methods and apps to find the stolen or lost mobile phone, both for Android smartphones and for those who own an iPhone.
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The article is therefore divided into three sections:
- Find my mobile on Android
- Find my cell phone on the iPhone
- Other apps to find your mobile phone
Android integrated system
All modern Android smartphones can be traced thanks to the Google account associated with the device, to which we will have to provide some permissions (when it is obviously still in our hands!). So let's take our smartphone, open the Settings app and go to the Google menu. From this window we tap on the item Security, then go to Find my device .
Let's make sure that the button at the top is positioned on On, so as to enable the location service offered by Google for lost or stolen smartphones. For the system to work properly, let's go back and go to the System menu Settings -> Location and select High precision ; another change to make, again in the Location menu, concerns the items Location history, a service to be activated if we want the smartphone to always track our position (even when it is in your pocket). In this way Google will always be able to retrieve the last position of the device, even if it is turned off (we will be given the last valid position).
If the phone is stolen or lost, we can trace it by opening the Find My Device app from another Android smartphone or by visiting the dedicated web page.
Once the page is opened, we will be shown the devices with Google account in our possession, complete with the latest geolocation (in the map next to the right).
The available options are:
- Play audio : to make the phone ring for 5 minutes, so you can track it immediately.
- Lock your device : to prevent access to personal data.
- Reset device : to remotely reset the device, deleting personal data and the apps used so far.
In this regard, we have written a detailed guide for Find My Android .
On modern Android smartphones we can also find other additional anti-theft security systems, depending on the phone manufacturer:
- We can find the authentication system after the reset : in case of reset, it is necessary to enter the credentials of the last Google account used, otherwise the phone will not be usable.
- We can find additional geolocation systems, linked to the accounts created with the phone manufacturer (for example the Samsung and Xiaomi account allow you to geo-locate the phone).
- We can also find a bootloader blocking system, which requires a code generated only with the last owner account used (Xiaomi and Samsung).
All these systems make smartphones safe and increasingly difficult to "steal", since even in the event of a reset, codes and accounts are needed that the thief will most likely not know, making his theft completely useless.
Integrated iPhone system
Stealing an iPhone has always been an unwise choice, given that the device is equipped with very advanced security systems and allows you to quickly track down your smartphone and block all its functions remotely.
To activate the geolocation system on the iPhone, make sure that the Apple account is active, by going to Settings and checking at the top of the window (there should be our username).
Once this is verified, go to Settings -> Password and account -> iCloud and scroll through the list of options, until you find the Find my iPhone menu.
Open the menu we enable the items Find My iPhone and Send last position, so as to enable the phone monitoring system in case of theft or loss (even with very little battery, the iPhone will send the position just before turning off). To make the system very precise, let's go back and reach the path Settings -> Privacy -> Location, enable the Location item, scroll the page until you find the System Services menu, then scroll the page again until you find the item Find the my iPhone, which we will have to activate.
In case of theft or loss, we open the dedicated iCloud page, log in with our Apple credentials (the same ones used on the iPhone) and click the Find iPhone icon.
From this new window we select the device to be localized and select one of the available options among: reproduce a sound and use the Lost Mode to block, detect or remotely initialize all personal information.
Anti-theft app for Android and iOS
In addition to the systems integrated in the various operating systems, we can also use some anti-theft apps to increase the security of our device and proceed with the remote locking and deactivation, also via SMS.The best anti-theft apps for smartphones are:
- Cerberus (Android): one of the best anti-theft apps for Android, it allows you to lock and reset your phone via SMS, save hidden photos with the front camera and block access to apps and features in case of an alert. Difficult to locate, it can be hidden as a system service to resist phone formatting (not always effective).
- Avast Antivirus (Android): the famous antivirus also lands on Android and, among the many features, it also offers the possibility to lock and reset the device remotely.
- Prey Anti Theft (Android and iOS): perhaps the best anti-theft device for mobile phones, it allows you to continuously and silently monitor any modern smartphone, providing real-time position, device movements, photos of those who use it and, in case leave a designated area, notify the rightful owner via email or SMS, with all the data necessary to trace the phone; it also allows you to block access and reset the device remotely.
- Lookout (Android and iOS): very good anti-theft app capable of monitoring the path of the device from the moment it is lost, with the addition of security-related notifications (compromised sites, stolen personal data etc.).
- The Apps to catch those who try to unlock the phone
- Where is My Droid (Android), one of the oldest apps for Android, still actively updated that allows you to block the lost phone via SMS and also to locate it or delete its memory.
If our smartphone is now lost, we can still do something by reading the guide below:
READ ALSO: All things to do if the smartphone is now lost
