Take advantage of GPS technology to be able to locate a cell phone. Whether it's your phone or someone else's, you will learn all the necessary techniques.
To be able to locate a cell phone, there are several scenarios:
- Find your mobile after its loss or theft
- Identify the smartphone of a loved one (children, family members or employees, etc.)
- Locate a third party's cell phone
Let's first see the classic case where you want locate your phone lost.
To locate an Android phone
To locate an android phone, you can follow the following steps:
- Download Google Find my device from the Play Store and install it on another Android device. This app allows you to locate a stolen Android phone and allows you to remotely block and erase all data on the phone.
- From the Google Find My Device app, sign in to your account using the identifier associated with the lost phone. After you log in, the app will give you the last known location of your device on a map.
- In addition, you will have the possibility to perform the following 3 actions:
- Ring the device
- Block access to the device
- Erase all data stored in the device
To locate an iPhone
To locate an iPhone misplaced or stolen, you can follow the steps mentioned below:
- Connect to the site iCloud.com using your Apple ID associated with the desired iPhone or iPad.
- Click on "Locate my iPhone" and wait for the Map to load. As real-time location is the default setting for all iPhone, ICloud allows you to locate your iPhone from your web browser.
- When the phone is located near the place where you are, you have the option "Play Sound" which will make the iPhone emit an audible warning and will therefore help you locate the device.
- If you are too far away, then you have the option " Lost mode »Which will block the Iphone remotely and which will display the telephone number where you can be reached.
- If none of the above mentioned options works, then you can decide to erase all data present on the phone. In this way, you will prevent the thief from accessing your confidential data.
To locate a Windows Phone
To locate a Windows phone, you need to perform the following steps:
- See you on the Windows Phone site
- Log in using the ID linked to the stolen or lost phone. You will then see the location of the phone on a map. You will also have the option to lock, ring or erase phone data.
Locate a smartphone with a third-party application
Finally, you can install applications on your mobile to prevent loss or theft, so you must install these applications beforehand.
The Prey app
Prey is a free app for up to 3 devices. It works for smartphones as well as laptops. After you have signed up for the service, you just have to sync your devices with the app. On the day your phone is lost, all you need to do is log into your account with a computer and start tracking.
Prey only starts tracking your devices once you instruct it to do so, so there is no need to worry about your privacy. The application works on Android and iOS.
The Lookout app
Lookout combines several functions: security, tracking and antivirus. There are several interesting features such as the automatic recording of the location just before the battery turns off, the possibility of recovering its contact list before erasing the data or the sending by email of the possible photo of the thief.
The Cerberus anti-theft application
Cerberus is one of the best anti-theft apps. You can try it for free, but then you will need to pay $ 6 for a lifetime license. The application offers many ways to track and control your smartphone, especially through their website or even by SMS. Among the possibilities offered by the application, you can:
- Trigger an alarm even if the phone is on silent,
- Make remote recordings
- Take pictures of those who try to use your phone
Download Cerberus anti-theft for Android
Localization is just one option.
These methods therefore apply to the location of your phone, we will see shortly how to proceed to locate the phone of a third party.