HOW TO TRACK ANYTHING
It’s easy to misplace your phone. Or your wireless earbuds. Or your laptop. Sometimes they will be in the house or the office, which isn’t too problematic. Other times they’ll be in the back of a taxi, on the train or in a burglar’s swag bag. That’s when things start getting tricky.
Luckily, so many of the devices we use every day have wireless features that they’re becoming much easier to track. Even if they don’t have the chops to maintain a network connection themselves, stickers and dongles from the likes of Tile make adding such features trivial.
In this feature, we’ll walk through your options for tracking not only computers and phones, but everyday items such as your car, bike, family member – or even your pet. In many cases you’ll already have everything you need to get started. Where not, there are often inexpensive and even free options you can try.
TRACK YOUR TABLET OR PHONE
To enable tracking on your Android device, open Settings and tap Security, followed by Find My Device. Make sure the switch at the top of the next screen is set to On. On an iPhone or iPad, open Settings and tap your name at the top of the screen, followed by Find My, then Find My iPhone or Find My iPad. Turn on the Find My option on the following screen.
With tracking enabled, you can find your lost device using the web or an app.
If you logged into your Google account through a browser, and Find My Device is enabled on your Android phone or tablet, search for “Find my phone” in Google, and the results will to check on the various phones and tablets tied to your account, plus Google Pixel Buds. You can also lock and sign out of an Android device, play a sound (to help you find it), or erase it if there’s little likelihood of its recovery.
