There is one good reason why we call today’s phones, smartphones. Basically, almost everything we need is either stored or can be found with the help of our smartphones. So misplacing or losing something as important is terribly an inconvenience. The good news is that Android developers have taken technology a step further with the android device manager, and with Google Play Services taking charge of this, getting help is made so much easier.
WHAT IS ANDROID DEVICE MANAGER USED FOR?
The Android Device Manager allows you to do three things with your smartphone. It can help you locate your Android devices registered with your Google account, reset your device’s screen lock PIN, or completely erase all data on the phone. So here is what you need to do to get you started to get you secured in case you lose your phone:
SETTING UP GOOGLE ANDROID DEVICE MANAGER
First, from your laptop or mobile, open your web browser and go to the android device management link. You need to sign in to your Google or Gmail account to be able to use this properly. Once you’ve done that, you will also need to accept location data. Another option is to download the app itself on Google Play Store. You can monitor multiple devices from that app. Again, it will ask to access your location data and you must give it permission.
FINDING ANDROID PHONE OR TABLET
Once you have that done, you can now use it to track and monitor all the devices you registered in the same Google account you used to log in the app. Google will immediately search for your phone and the app will automatically locate your device. The app will give you the device’s name and tell you the time and where it was located with great accuracy. You can use “locate your device” button found near your phone’s name if you want the app to update your location. You may also switch between and among your devices registered in that account. So make sure your devices are all logged into one Google account for easy access.
RINGING, LOCKING, OR ERASING ANDROID DEVICE
The next step is to choose what you want to do with the device you’ve misplaced or lost. There are three ways to do this: You can give your phone a ring, you can lock it, or you can erase all the data you have on your device. If you think you simply misplaced your phone, ringing it would be an ideal option. Once you press this option, your phone will ring for 5 minutes in a loud volume even if your phone is set to silent mode, until you find it and press a button to stop the phone from ringing.
But this won’t work well if you find that the phone is indeed stolen. Making the phone ring will only alert the thief and let them know you’re tracking the phone. At this point, you know that your only option is to protect all the important data stored in your device. Developers, of course, have thought ahead and came up with two other ways to help you do this. If you think you can still recover your phone, you can go ahead and lock it with the app. If you choose this option in the app, the android manager will lock the phone and reset the password.
If the two earlier options do not suit protecting valuable data or finding your phone, the last option is to erase all the data on your phone. Once you press this button, credentials will automatically be erased. An important note, however, is that the phone cannot do this if it offline. But once the phone detects a connection, it will immediately respond to removing your important data. Another thing you can do when you find your Android device is to clean it from any potential viruses that might have been put on it since it was lost.
PARTING WORDS
Owning a smartphone does have its advantages and disadvantages. While the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, you should still make the necessary precautions to prevent losing your phone. Installing and using the Android Device Manager is a helpful in doing just that for you. With a click of a button, information about the location of your phone will be shown to you. While you may not be able to recover a stolen phone, you are at least able to protect important data.
