We have already shown here that when you have no hope that you will not find your mobile phone stolen, you should block the IMEI of the handset at the service provider. That way, the phone won’t be able to connect to any carrier and the theft will be virtually useless.
However, if you want to recover the device, there is another attempt before the actual lock. Today, most Android and iPhone phones have native tracking tools that let you locate the device. See how to use them to your advantage. A visit to https://phone-spy-app.com/ is there also.
Android
On Android, who does the dirty work is Google Device Manager. At Google/android/device manager, you can see the location of your device if you have enabled the service on your device. Learn more about Device Manager here.
When you open Device Manager on the web, you have access to three options:
Play sound, which makes the device play a very loud sound for five minutes, even if it is in silent mode;
Lock, which leaves you locked with one. Password until you can find the device; or
Clear, when there is no hope of finding the device and you want to erase the content. Once you use this option, you will no longer be able to find it through Device Manager.
Remember that in order to locate your phone, it needs to be connected to the internet to receive commands from Device Manager. If you don’t have 3G or 4G enabled, it’s a good idea to have it automatically connect to a Wi-Fi network.
iPhone or iPad
On iOS devices, the option is known as Fetch My iPhone, which works similar to Device Manager. This is usually enabled if you are signed in with an iCloud account on iOS; Learn more about Search iPhone here.
Tip: If you still have your phone, make sure it is turned on in Settings> [Your Name]> [Your iPhone]> Search iPhone.
To open Search My iPhone, go to icloud.com/#find and sign in with your Apple ID data (login and password). The device location should appear automatically. Just click the (i) icon to access three options:
Play sound: make the phone ring so that if it has been lost you can find it.
Lost Mode: Enters a mode that signals the phone has been stolen. In this mode, access to the iPhone is blocked and it sends the location automatically, as well as showing a history of where the phone is. You can also display some message on the lock screen.
Erase iPhone: When you no longer hope to find iPhone, you can use this option to erase your content and leave your phone locked. Once deleted, you can no longer find it on Search my iPhone.
When iPhone goes into lost mode or goes out, it goes into a mode that Apple calls Activation Lock. When deleted for security reasons, the phone is locked remotely and can only be accessed with the iCloud login and password that were previously set. Learn more about Activation Lock here.
