Google Find My Device might also crowdsource locating lost devices

Google Find My Device might also crowdsource locating lost devices

As always, Apple was able to take an existing technology or function and make it sound like the most creative thing that its rivals will then start emulating. Although the ability to identify trackers using other people’s devices nearby has long been employed by the likes of Tile, Apple’s AirTags and enhanced Find My network has inevitably gained considerably more attention, both good and bad. Regardless of that context, it seems that Google will likewise follow in Apple’s footsteps and enhance its Find My Device network to convert every Android device nearby into a homing beacon for your misplaced phone.

Find My Device isn’t actually new, but, just like Apple’s earlier version, it has very limited scope and functionality. Specifically, it can only find devices signed into Google accounts, which limits it to phones, tablets, and Chromebooks, among other things. It also only works if the lost device has an Internet connection; otherwise, its location information may go stale.

XDA uncovered that the latest Google Play Services APK suppresses information that signals a critical upgrade to the framework. It alludes to an option to allow your phone to help locate other people’s devices, which is very much the same crowdsourcing mechanism that Tile and Apple are utilizing.

Although it’s not exactly new technology, this crowdsourcing Find My Device might take on a different spin when it is Google that’s doing it. The corporation hasn’t exactly been famed for its privacy standards, and its location-based system will most likely raise not a few red lights among privacy experts. Recent exposés accuse Google of continuing to track users’ location even after they have opted out of it.

It is too early to judge such a function that hasn’t even been acknowledged yet, but privacy-minded consumers might want to keep an eye out for its debut. This revelation also raises the chance that Google will create its own trackers, which will undoubtedly stir the privacy hornet’s nest all the more.