Below Google I/O 2023At its annual event for developers, the company announced a new version of Find My Device for the next few months, a tool that allows you to find out where a lost or stolen cell phone has been since its last connection.
Until now, it only served Remotely Locate Android Smartphones or iPhones, But with this update introduced by Google, and which will be ready in the next few months, its functionality has been greatly expanded. First, It would be possible to use this service to detect other compatible devices, such as smart watches, wireless headphones, and Bluetooth keychains (of any brand). Second, the system would work like Apple and Samsung already do, and would use the billions of Android devices in use today to create an anonymous search network that would be able to find a lost device even if it had no internet access. No connection Like a pair of headphones, but uses your Bluetooth signal instead.
Google didn’t give any details about how the system will work, and promises more details in the coming months, but it will be rare to make much of a difference. Which Apple and Samsung have already successfully implemented: In such cases, all devices from these manufacturers are A type of anonymous identification network for lost devices, If they see, with their Bluetooth antenna, that there is a device (such as a pair of headphones) that has lost connection with its paired device and is emitting a paging signal, they will receive its ID and approximate location (as that has been obtained from). phone location). who detected it, without doing anything to its owner) and will report it to the system, waiting for the person who has the device to start the search.
When it introduced the AirTag Bluetooth beacon in 2021, Apple said it would have one billion devices on its Search network. find my; smart things find Samsung’s network had 300 million members earlier this month; Google says its service will take advantage of the presence of one billion Android devices To build its own global search network, possibly as an Android update. In the case of accessories that can be found (headphones, watches, key rings, etc.) some models must receive a firmware update to be compatible with the system; The older ones probably won’t be compatible, though we’ll have to wait for a final announcement in the coming months to know for sure.
