We have already said how important is the mobile smartphone that we carry everywhere with us, with the risk of losing it or having it stolen. You certainly cannot give up your smartphone by keeping it at home in its box, you only need to protect it or take precautions to make sure that, in the event of theft or loss, the mobile phone is traceable or, at least, blocked by foreign eyes.
The recent update of the Google Play Services application, installed on every Android smartphone of any brand, has brought the useful functionality of Find My Android to find the mobile phone .
This function allows you to remotely lock your smartphone from any computer or other mobile phone, or to ring the phone or to clean the memory with a reset .
Once you have activated the location options and authorized "Android device management" in the phone's system settings (In Settings -> Google -> Security), you can find its position at any time from the website //www.google.com / android / find (using the same Google account).
On this page there are three buttons that act, remotely, on the mobile phone.
1) Making it ring lets you know if the phone is nearby and maybe looking for it under your clothes or in a jacket pocket.
The ringing lasts up to 5 minutes at maximum volume and can only be stopped by pressing the power button on the phone.
2) Lock it with new password .
With this new option, you can set a password to access the mobile phone or change the existing one.
The password is not that of the Google account, certainly to be changed if the mobile phone is no longer found, but that of unlocking the mobile phone screen.
The password can be used to unlock the phone.
In this section you can also indicate a phone number that those who find the phone plus call to contact us or you can send a message on the phone.
3) Clear the phone memory, an extreme and definitive option that removes any data from the memory, including photos, the address book, messages and all settings.
All your applications, photos, mp3s and settings will be deleted, just like a factory reset would.
This also means that you will no longer be able to use the Device Manager location.
Please note, however, that the contents of the SD cards will not be deleted.
These commands sent by the browser take effect when the Android smartphone connects to the internet, in any way.
If therefore it had been stolen or found by someone who tries to spy on its contents, when he connects to the internet he will be prevented from taking any action.
If data connection or Wi-Fi are disabled or there is Airplane mode, the commands will only work when the device is reconnected to the internet (and if the login with the Google account of the owner is maintained).
With these limitations, the service may not be exactly perfect, but it is always better to activate the function that is already integrated in the smartphone.
Certainly, in the future, new options will be added to the device manager such as, for example, that of backing up data, managing applications remotely or checking notifications.
