Locate, Ring, Wipe or Erase One Android Device From Another With ADM

Have you ever been mugged or accidentally lost an Android device? Like everyone else, Google also knows that the smartphones and tablets can easily be snatched by people who shouldn’t be allowed to roam free on the streets, or simply slip out of your pocket or bag while at bars, parties, cabs or even just walking down the street. To address this, the search engine giant introduced its Android Device Managerfeature online that allowed users to remotely locate, ring, lock or even wipe their lost or stolen Android device from a web browser. To compliment the service, Google has now released a new app calledAndroid Device Manager that lets you do the same from Android. This can prove to be very handy if you still have another Android device such as your tablet handy after you’ve lost your phone (or the other way round). At its core, the app does most of the things that Apple’s Find My iPhone service does, but for Android...

The app looks very simple and renders equally well on both tablets and phones. You can use it to easily locate a tablet or phone on a map using the device’s GPS and WiFI sensors. It uses the Google Maps API to pinpoint the exact location of the device. Likewise, it is also possible to ring it at full volume for up to five minutes if you simply don’t remember where you last put it, and it’s on silent mode. And in case you’ve lost it, you can always lock it with a custom code, or erase all your personal data on it (essentially performing a factory reset) to avoid anyone else from accessing it.Needless to say, doing this requires that your missing device is powered on and connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network with internet access in order to trigger the supported commands.

The app’s UI carries a drop-down menu at the top that lets you switch between your accounts, and another below the map that shows you all devices linked to the selected account, and lets you select the desired one. The app works pretty smoothly even on older Android devices, thanks to its super lightweight design.

 

When you trigger the Lock command, the app asks you enter the new password combination twice, and warns you about not reusing the default or previously used password. Likewise, upon erasing the data, Android Device Manager gets rid of all the apps, settings, user data and media files like photos, videos and music stored on the phone.

 

The Android app will obviously only come in handy if you have more than one Android phones or tablets, so you may trigger the supported commands from one of them after losing the another. Head over to the Google Play store link provided below to download Android Device Manager to your device.

Install Android Device Manager from Play Store