Find My Device on Android • Hacker News Board

Re: Find My Device on Android

#91

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 6:44 PM UTC

saurik wrote: post #66

thebruce87m wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While technically true, there are non-AirTag third-party devices you can buy that still work with Find My: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/find-my-network-accessory-pr... Both variants you list are supported by Chipolo: https://chipolo.net/en/products/category/chipolo-spot

That's cool! I am looking at this and seeing another issue with AirTag: I actively use the feature on Tile where I can use the Tile on my keychain to find my phone by pushing the button, and I guess AirTags is entirely missing that feature.

You're supposed to use your Apple Watch to find your iPhone.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#92

Post by GeekyBear » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 6:46 PM UTC

progbits wrote: post #64

MarkusWandel wrote: post #19

Ironically, yesterday my wife couldn't find her phone while we were at a restaurant. Is it at home? Well, let's try this. Google it, go to http://android.com/find Ah, but it only shows devices logged into my account. Well, let's log into hers. Which required 2FA from... her device. Sooo useful.

I understand your frustration, and device sharing is obviously a missing useful feature. But I absolutely don't want it to work without 2FA, and if your only 2FA is your phone you have other problems.

A "feature" designed to help you find your lost phone that can not work when your phone is lost is clearly designed poorly.

All Google had to do here was copy Apple's solution of having access to that one feature work with only the user name and password.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#93

Post by lotsofpulp » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 6:47 PM UTC

add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #54

I've never needed this feature before but if a chance of losing my phone once per decade is the price to pay for not having my phone tracked at all times, then I'm cool with it.

Being connected to a mobile network tracks your phone at all times.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#94

Post by jeffbee » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 6:47 PM UTC

wolverine876 wrote: post #42

Can anyone recommend a similar device small enough for eyeglasses? An elderly person I know loses theirs (and it's a significant problem; they are very limited without them, on top of other difficulties of aging). I can find their phone for them remotely, but not their eyeglasses.

This seems like something achievable with the optics that a phone already has. It should be possible to wave your phone around and have it identify your glasses, if they are somewhere in the room.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#95

Post by joe5150 » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 6:53 PM UTC

foooorsyth wrote: post #20

accrual wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I bought a couple Tiles before AirTags were available. They worked fine, but AirTags are just better in every way.

AirTags are not better in one very important way: they don't prevent theft. They will notify thieves that they are hidden in a valuable item that they are stealing if the thief carries an iPhone. Tile has a feature where you can submit your info and sign some sort of extra contract stating that you won't use your Tile for stalking/illegal activity, and you can actually hide a Tile in your bike frame and it can be use…

How do hidden trackers "prevent" theft? If a thief steals your bike and is notified that it's being tracked, they're probably much more likely to abandon it somewhere, at which point you can recover it. This seems like a safer bet than trying to hunt them down yourself. (It should go without saying the police are not going to go get your bicycle back for you even if you do hand them the GPS coordinates.)

Re: Find My Device on Android

#96

Post by m4lvin » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 7:01 PM UTC

For anyone looking for a free alternative that works without google play services: https://f-droid.org/packages/de.nulide.findmydevice/

Re: Find My Device on Android

#97

Post by tivert » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 7:04 PM UTC

flotzam wrote: post #70

wolverine876 wrote: post #46

> thanks to specialized Pixel hardware, Pixel 8 and 8 Pro owners will also be able to find their devices if they’re powered off or the battery is dead. This suggests there is separate hardware with its own power and network capabilities, designed for location tracking, designed to be always on. Is there a way to disable it?

FWIW, "It won't be supported by GrapheneOS. (...) Bluetooth still has to be configured and enabled by the OS to make it work that way. " https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/11520-android-find-my-devic...

The article linked there has a few more details about the implementation:

https://www.androidpolice.com/android-15-powered-off-finding...:

> To solve this problem, Google is working on a “Powered Off Finding” feature that allows a device to store precomputed Bluetooth beacons in the memory of the Bluetooth controller. This means that even when a device is powered off, it can continue broadcasting Bluetooth beacons to nearby devices.

> Unfortunately, Powered Off Finding isn’t the kind of feature that can just be enabled on any device. This is because the device needs to have hardware support for powering the Bluetooth controller when the rest of the components are shut down. Plus, device makers need to put in some extra engineering work to support this feature. For example, they need to support the Bluetooth Finder hardware abstraction layer (HAL) so that the Android OS can enable Powered Off Finding mode and send those precomputed Bluetooth beacons that I mentioned.

I don't know how that could work if the battery is dead, unless they're letting the Bluetooth controller draw on some reserve battery capacity after the phone has powered itself down.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#98

Post by spogbiper » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 7:08 PM UTC

aabhay wrote: post #31

foooorsyth wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirTags are not better in one very important way: they don't prevent theft. They will notify thieves that they are hidden in a valuable item that they are stealing if the thief carries an iPhone. Tile has a feature where you can submit your info and sign some sort of extra contract stating that you won't use your Tile for stalking/illegal activity, and you can actually hide a Tile in your bike frame and it can be use…

If you hide the tag in a way that it can’t be removed (locked to the bike etc) then what option does the thief have? They might actually decide not to steal the item!

hulk smash. hulk defeat security

Re: Find My Device on Android

#99

Post by shp0ngle » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 7:10 PM UTC

AirTags/Find My is THE reason why me and my whole family is on iOS.

This is great. I wanted my next phone to be Z Flip since Apple stopped making small iPhones (and no foldables in sight), but reliance on Find My stopped me.

This is great

Re: Find My Device on Android

#100

Post by nradov » Mon, Apr 08, 2024, 7:13 PM UTC

tivert wrote: post #97

flotzam wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, "It won't be supported by GrapheneOS. (...) Bluetooth still has to be configured and enabled by the OS to make it work that way. " https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/11520-android-find-my-devic...

The article linked there has a few more details about the implementation: https://www.androidpolice.com/android-15-powered-off-finding... : > To solve this problem, Google is working on a “Powered Off Finding” feature that allows a device to store precomputed Bluetooth beacons in the memory of the Bluetooth controller. This means that even when a device is powered off, it can continue broadcasting Bluetooth beacons t…

There is mostly dead and then there is all dead. A battery which is unable to supply enough power to keep the entire phone operating can likely supply enough for just the Bluetooth chip. Of course, the resulting deep discharge may damage the battery chemistry.