Carrying a smartphone around you is convenient but it worries you when you’ve misplaced the device somewhere, even more so if you keep confidential data on it.
To help you find your misplaced phone or to mitigate the mishap, check out this app Android Device Manager developed by Google. It helps ring your phone, reset your password or wipe your data on the phone remotely.
For it to work, install Android Device Manager on your mobile device, then go to Settings, select Security and choose Android Device Manager to act as your device administrator so that it has permission to lock or wipe your lost phone.
Whenever you’ve misplaced your phone, open up a web browser and head to https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager, sign in to your Google account, you will then be able to locate your phone on a Google map and take any of the actions below.
- Ring Device: press the Ring button and your device will ring at full volume for 5 minutes even if the phone has been muted. Good luck if your phone is just somewhere nearby and you can hear it.
- Reset Lock Screen: enter a new password to replace your lock screen. This adds a layer of protection to assign a new password to your device for signing in.
- Erase All Data: perform a factory reset and your apps, photos and other data except those on the SD card will be deleted as soon as the lost device goes online.
If you’re using Chrome, it’s even easier. Just type “find my phone” in the address bar. You can then locate your phone and ring the device. No lock and erase functions are currently available in this shortcut though.
Better be safe than sorry, this is a must-have app to safeguard your phone.
Android Device Manager — Free Mobile App of the Week
For Android
Size: 1.9 MB
Download: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.adm&hl=en