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Find My Device on Android

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Re: Find My Device on Android

#261

Post by rickdeckard »

newaccount74 wrote: post #259
rickdeckard wrote: post #253

This is a prime example of the "big-corp issue" of today's tech. In the landscape of 20 years ago this "Find-My" use-case would have already been made an industry-standard, with an Alliance or SIG of the industry controlling a global spec and roadmap. Tech-companies would have proposed a spec, lobbied competitors and other players to join and contribute to an industry standard to make this happen, because no single c…

What makes me sad about this is how it effectively stops innovation. The barrier to entry is so high, that only a handful companies can launch an item tracker service. And everyone who wants to offer a product in that space needs to play by their rules, they prohibit a lot of use cases. I use a few Chipolo trackers with my iPhone, and I find it infuriating how limited they are. There doesn't seem to be a way to query…

Absolutely agree.

Even worse, I doubt that ANY company can actually compete with such a service. Apple and Google create the tracking-network by baking the capability to scan for trackers into the Smartphone-OS.

A competitor first needs to make users install an app to "manually" build this network. There's no company capable to build a global network of equal scale.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#262

Post by pzo »

bevekspldnw wrote: post #215
fy20 wrote: post #211

Is there a technical reason why this can't work with Apple's Find My network, or is it just that they don't want to work together? Using the "Unknown Trackers" feature my Samsung phone can scan for nearby AirTags and tell them to play sounds.

Typical Apple hiding behind the walled garden to avoid actual competition via users not having any path to switching platforms. The Apple value prop used to be “it all works together”, now it’s “half the shit you spent thousands on won’t work if you leave the island”. The Tim Cook era is great for stock holders, but he’s one of the prime enshittifiers in Silicon Valley.

> The Tim Cook era is great for stock holders

Not anymore, since 2022 apple stock was mostly flat and today is even below January 2022. Vision Pro is a flop as today (maybe future iteration will change that) - just look at google trends.

Hopefully Apple change the course or Tim Cook get replaced - especially if they don't show anything meaningful related to AI/ML at this WWDC.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#263

Post by rickdeckard »

amluto wrote: post #9

Google is quite good at these little screw-you features: > At home protection. If a user has chosen to save their home address in their Google Account, their Android device will also ensure that it does not contribute crowdsourced location reports to the Find My Device network when it is near the user’s home. This is a feature that is fundamentally on-device, and it’s even a privacy feature, but for some reason it re…

Yeah, I was laughing when I saw this.

"Come on...tell us where you live. We already know anyway, but it's better if you tell us. It's for your own protection!"

Re: Find My Device on Android

#264

Post by hoseja »

>And 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.

Mask off moment.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#265

Post by XorNot »

And here I am still wanting a damn widget I can put my Android which will "find my phone" my wife's phone, and vice versa without her needing to log into her google account.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#266

Post by computerfriend »

someplaceguy wrote: post #32
SamuelAdams wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Faraday bags are fairly inexpensive. I use these with my car key fobs because my neighbors teenagers discovered key fob amplification attacks.

Let me qualify my question: how do I disable this completely without otherwise losing network connectivity or other features ? i.e. how do I opt out of tracking other people and being tracked myself, i.e. without explicit consent?

Settings > Google > Find My Device > Use Find My Device > Off.

Alternatively, don't use an Android phone with Google Play Services.

Re: Find My Device on Android

#267

Post by md_ »

mikae1 wrote: post #235
ryukoposting wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a chronic loser of keys and wallets, I recognize the user need here. However, this is a prime example of a piece of software that can only be trusted when an open-source implementation is provided. Google and their customers don't have much to gain through a proprietary implementation. If anything, open-sourcing Find My Device Network would allow third party devices to join the network, enhancing its value to Goog…

> this is a prime example of a piece of software that can only be trusted when an open-source implementation is provided. Try FMD. https://f-droid.org/packages/de.nulide.findmydevice/

But that doesn't use the "find my device" netowrk. I think the parent wasn't saying, "I want an app that continually reports its location to my server so I can monitor my phone's location." Indeed, that's fairly trivial to build, but is useless if, say, your phone doesn't have internet access (like, someone turns it off or it runs out of battery).

The thing Google is announcing here is like the Apple "find my" network--it seems to allow you to use other people's devices to find your lost device simply based on a BLE ping.

That is something that is hard to build by yourself, and would benefit greatly from an industry-wide standard (more peer devices reporting locations!).

Re: Find My Device on Android

#268

Post by fsflover »

cbeach wrote: post #257
bevekspldnw wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Typical Apple hiding behind the walled garden to avoid actual competition via users not having any path to switching platforms. The Apple value prop used to be “it all works together”, now it’s “half the shit you spent thousands on won’t work if you leave the island”. The Tim Cook era is great for stock holders, but he’s one of the prime enshittifiers in Silicon Valley.

If we were to force all new technologies to be interoperable with all technologies from all possible competitors we’d create a Kafkaesque nightmare for innovators and particularly early stage startups.

Like, you know, the Internet?

Re: Find My Device on Android

#269

Post by someplaceguy »

computerfriend wrote: post #266
someplaceguy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me qualify my question: how do I disable this completely without otherwise losing network connectivity or other features ? i.e. how do I opt out of tracking other people and being tracked myself, i.e. without explicit consent?

Settings > Google > Find My Device > Use Find My Device > Off. Alternatively, don't use an Android phone with Google Play Services.

Will that stop other people from tracking my devices?

Or will they still send my location and Bluetooth ID information to Google?

Re: Find My Device on Android

#270

Post by ranguna »

md_ wrote: post #267
mikae1 wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> this is a prime example of a piece of software that can only be trusted when an open-source implementation is provided. Try FMD. https://f-droid.org/packages/de.nulide.findmydevice/

But that doesn't use the "find my device" netowrk. I think the parent wasn't saying, "I want an app that continually reports its location to my server so I can monitor my phone's location." Indeed, that's fairly trivial to build, but is useless if, say, your phone doesn't have internet access (like, someone turns it off or it runs out of battery). The thing Google is announcing here is like the Apple "find my" networ…

> your phone doesn't have internet access

> simply based on a BLE ping

What if they disable Bluetooth?

The linked open source find my device app uses cell network to both receive commands and for location.

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