Google Find My Device to copy a Samsung's SmartThings Find feature

General

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We invest our hard-earned money in purchasing a shiny, new smartphone. Losing it is the worst nightmare anyone can have because not only do we lose our phone but also the data inside it, which is probably of more value to you. Smartphones such as Samsung Galaxy phones come with the SmartThings Find feature that lets you find your phone using GPS. Google also has its own version called Find My Device.

According to the latest information, Google is going to copy one feature, a rather interesting one, from Samsung's SmartThings Find that would allow Pixel owners to locate their phones even if they are powered off. Samsung already allows users to locate their Galaxy devices even if they are turned off, be it a phone, tablet, watch, earbuds, etc. This feature is actually helpful because switching off the device would be the first thing that someone would do if they stole your device.

Find My Device offline tracking feature may require hardware support

As per tipster Kuba Wojciechowski (via 91mobiles), Google may call this new Find My Device feature ‘Pixel Power-off Finder'. In order for this feature to work, hardware support is required to keep the Bluetooth chip active at all times. This is similar to how Apple lets its users track their devices, and it was about time Google did the same.

The early Android 14 source code that Google has shared with OEMs includes a new Hardware Abstraction Layer called hardware.google.bluetooth.power_off_finder. This is probably the component that will make Google Find My Device offline tracking work. Since hardware support will also be required, it's unclear if this feature will be supported on all existing devices.

There is no word on when Google plans to release this tracking feature. It will ostensibly not just be limited to Google's Pixel phones. Other Android devices will get it as well but Samsung owners don't have to wait as SmartThings Find already lets them track their phones offline.

Sagar Naresh

General Android 14 Find My Device Google Pixel SmartThings Find

Google Find My Device to copy a Samsung's SmartThings Find feature

Find My Device offline tracking feature may require hardware support

Sagar Naresh

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