How to Locate Your Unprotected Android Device If you lose your Android
smartphone and didn't proactively install a security or remote locator app,
you can still find your missing phone by following our handy guide.

By Eric Geier <http://www.pcworld.com/author/Eric-Geier>,
PCWorld<http://www.pcworld.com/>

So you lost your Android phone or tablet, and you don’t have a remote
antitheft or GPS location app installed? Don’t beat yourself up too badly,
because a few tricks may still help you remotely locate or secure it.

In this guide, we'll show you how to use two Android apps that can be
remotely installed and activated via the Android Market website, which can
give you a second chance at finding your lost or stolen smartphone. Of
course, your Android device must be powered on and have either a data or
Wi-Fi connection in order for this to work. If your device is turned off,
you might still have a chance of locating it when someone turns it back on.
 Retroactively Remote-Control Your Device With AndroidLost

AndroidLost is a remote-control app for Android devices that you can use
for a variety of remote functions (including playing a siren and locating
your device on Google Maps) via text (SMS) commands or the AndroidLost
website. To get started with AndroidLost, you’ll need a computer (or
perhaps another smartphone or tablet) that you can use to access the
Internet and check email. If you can, you should also ask a friend with a
mobile phone to help you send SMS commands to your lost or stolen
smartphone.

AndroidLost is still in beta, but it already offers a bunch of neat remote
features including SMS and call-log retrieval, plus features for sending
text messages from your phone, taking and receiving photos from the camera,
displaying messages on the device, and custom text-to-speech announcements
that you can use to broadcast messages from your lost or stolen device. You
can also check the status (battery level, IMEI, phone number, and so on) of
your missing device and have it send an email alert if the SIM card is
changed. AndroidLost can also remotely lock your device with a PIN or even
wipe it and restore your phone or tablet to the factory default, but these
options can’t be enabled unless you assign the AndroidLost app
administrative rights, which must be done from the missing device. However,
even without access to your smartphone or tablet you can erase the SD card
to protect your data.

[image: AndroidLost]AndroidLost may look a little sketchy, but it's a free
service that can help you remotely control your missing Android device.

First, in your Internet browser, open the
AndroidLost<https://market.android.com/details?id=com.androidlost>
page
in the Android Market, click *Install,* and sign in with the same Google
account you use on your missing Android device. Within seconds, the
AndroidLost app should automatically install itself on your device. Note
that before you can start issuing remote commands, the AndroidLost app
needs to authenticate your device with Google's servers, which it should do
automatically.

To check if the app has registered your device, go to the AndroidLost
website <http://www.androidlost.com/> and sign in with the same Google
account that you use on your device. From there, click the *Controls* or *
Settings* pages; if the pages appear with remote-control options for your
missing device, you’re good to go. If not, you need to keep checking by
logging out and back in every 5 minutes or so. If time is of the essence,
you can try to force registration by sending an SMS message that reads
“androidlost register” to your device from someone else’s phone. If you're
trying to remote-control an Android tablet, you can remotely install
the AndroidLost
Jumpstart <https://market.android.com/details?id=com.androidlost.jumpstart> app
to expedite the device registration process.

In our testing, the app remotely installed on two different Android
smartphones but took a surprisingly long time to validate the phones with
Google. However, sending "androidlost register" SMS messages to both phones
forced a successful registration in seconds. Once the app successfully
verifies your device registration with Google, you’ll be able to access the
Controls page for your missing device on the AndroidLost website, where you
can remotely locate or lock down your lost smartphone.
 Go to Plan B From Lookout

Lookout offers a full-featured security
app<http://www.pcworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=449285&expand=false>
for
Android devices that has antivirus protection, data backup, and antitheft
and remote-location features, but taking full advantage of Lookout requires
you to install and set it up on your device before you lose it. However,
Plan B is the company's nifty app that you can install *after* you’ve lost
your phone. It doesn’t offer remote siren or locking features like
AndroidLost, but Plan B does provide an estimated location via an updated
Google Map that can help you find your missing device. To get started, you
just need access to a computer (or possibly another smartphone or tablet)
to get online and check your email.

First, visit the Plan
B<https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lookout.labs.planb>
Android
Market page and click *Install;* then sign in with the same Google account
you use on your missing device. Within seconds, the Plan B app should be
remotely pushed and installed to your device. If GPS location services are
turned off in your Android device settings, Plan B will try to
automatically enable it. If that doesn't work, the app will use cell towers
to provide a rough estimate of where your missing device is located.

[image: How To Locate Your Android Phone]The Plan B app will email you
regularly with maps and location data for your missing Android device.

Within a few minutes of installing Plan B, the app will automatically open
and start sending emails to the GMail account you registered on your
device. It took about two minutes in our tests before Plan B began emailing
maps of where our device was, and Plan B will continue to send emails with
updated information about your device's location until you disable it.
Messages will arrive from the Plan B app as often as every 2 minutes with
the current location of your device, including GPS coordinates, accuracy in
meters, and a Google Map showing the estimated location.

This is a great way to track your phone if you lose access to your GMail
account--and hopefully this guide ensures that you'll never have to worry
about losing an Android device again.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/250040/how_to_locate_your_unprotected_...

take care,
Muthu Ramadoss.
http://linkedin.com/in/tellibitz