You pat down your pockets and are reassured, you’ve got your keys, your wallet and smartphone. You get home and decide to check your messages, but, disaster, that wasn’t your Xperia, that was a napkin.

In time gone by, this could have meant never being reunited with your handset, but now misplacing your phone is more irritating than irreplaceable with the better than ever Find My Device, helpfully pre-loaded into Android devices.

Don’t believe us? We put it to the test, with a city-wide game of hide and seek.

We sent a member of the Sony Mobile team out with an Xperia XZ2 handset and instructions to pick a park to take cover in. We gave them an hour’s head start and then began our detective work.

It turned out to be too easy, as soon as we typed “Find My Device” into Google, we had an exact location. We locked the phone for safety and headed straight to the park. As soon as we arrived, we chose to “Play Sound” from the Find Your Handset options. As we approached the dot on the map, we could hear it ringing. Moments later we were reunited, and it felt so good.

This was great news for Find My Device, a successful road-test from start to finish. But as for an exciting blog post, less satisfactory. So, in the interest of science, we started again, a one-hour head start, but, once they had reached their destination, to replicate a loss of signal, they turned off their XZ2 and place it safely on the ground.

This time when we typed “Find My Device” into Google after a short wait, we had a last known location. We headed out. This time, there was no option of playing a sound, so we had to head to the last known location and fanned out in search of our missing Xperia, moments later we had our handset. Success.

These weren’t lab conditions, but we were really pleased with the results. We don’t recommend trying it yourselves, but we do recommend setting up Find My Device in case of an emergency – again, it’s all preinstalled in your Xperia, so it’s all quite straightforward.

Here’s How:

WHAT TO DO IN PREPARATION:

Simple set up to ensure you’re prepared and avoid data charges.

Ensure Find My Device is turned on. You’ll find this under Settings>Device>Lock screen & security. Then scroll down to Find My Device, Protection by my Xperia

Activate Protection. You should now have a green tick.

Ensure Location Services are On. Settings>Device>Location

Test everything is up and running. The simplest way is to go to android.com/find and log into your phone account – your Xperia’s location should show up and confirm you’re all set.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU MISPLACE YOUR HANDSET:

Act quickly. We all know that the XZ2 has a best in class battery, but this isn’t the time to test it for yourself

Head to android.com/find

Choose ‘Secure your device’. This will lock your phone and log you out of your Google Account on the phone. You can also opt to display information on the lock screen – an alternative phone number you can be reached on (clearly not the one for your handset) or a location where the device can be handed in, do not give your home address, remember, safety first

Follow the live location to your handset. Always be cautious when collecting your phone, chances are though, it just slipped into the sofa cushions when you were at a coffee shop.

That’s how to retrieve a misplaced Xperia, hopefully you’ll never have to use it, but always better to be safe than sorry. Our advice, set up Find My Device right now and avoid any panic later.

The post Android: Find My Device – Locating Your Lost Xperia appeared first on Sony Xperia Blog.

Source: Sony Mobile Blog
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