Google announces Android Device Manager to help users find their lost devices

Google has now announced the Android Device Manager, a new website that will help users find their lost phone or tablet. Accompanying the website will be an installable app that is set to roll out later this month. The company has made this service available for all devices running Android 2.2 (Froyo) and above.

While details about the Device Manager are still minimal, Google has said that some of the features expected include the ability to make your phone ring at maximum volume so you can find it, even if it may have been silenced.

Another detail that has emerged is that users will need to be signed into their Google Account to use the service. The Manager also ensures that on that off-chance that your device is out of earshot, it can still be located on a map in real time. Google gave a glimpse of how that particular feature will work:

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Google announced Android Device Manager to help locate lost devices

And if all else fails, Google’s Android Device Manager will ensure that the user’s data does not end up in the wrong hands. If the phone or tablet cannot be recovered, or has been stolen, there is an option to securely delete all their data from the device.

The Android Device Manager is basically Google’s answer to Apple’s Find my iPhone service and Microsoft’s Find my (Windows) Phone solution. And other phone manufacturers currently using the Android OS have also launched their own versions of the service. A good example of this is Sony’s my Xperia security service which is offered for some of its Android devices.

It is assumed that Google will update the Android Device Manager with new features down the line. The service does seem to cover the basics pretty well so far. And the good thing about this service is that it will be part of the Google Play services, which means that users will not have to download the app to make the service work in the off-chance that the device is lost before the app is downloaded.

And the company is not stopping with just the Device Manager. A second post published yesterday comes with detailed tips for Android users who want to protect their devices. The first few are pretty straightforward. The company suggests that users set up a screen lock for any of Android devices. Another tip is to avoid any suspicious-looking apps. The company has said that it automatically scans Google Play to block and remove harmful apps. 

But that protection can also extend to apps which are downloaded from the Internet or from a third-party app store. When an app is installed for the first time from an unknown source, the user’s device will show a pop-up message asking if the user would like Google to scan the file to make sure that it is not harmful. All users need to do to avail this service is tap “ok” on the pop-up message. So far, the Android Device Manager has still not been launched. But the announcement does indicate that the launch should not take too long.