Lost, But Found: Your Detailed Guide to Track a Phone or a Person
You are probably familiar with that disconcerting, anxious and, we must confess, even disgusting feeling when your hand slides into your pocket or bag for your phone, but it’s not there. At that moment panic begins, which is replaced by a frantic gallop of thoughts – where did I leave my phone, where to look for it? In the cafe? At home? In a taxicab?
Losing your phone these days is not just an unfortunate mistake that causes a lot of inconvenience. Today, the phone can provide a complete picture of our identity: we use our devices to store important personal information and documents, our daily schedules, photos and contacts of loved ones, even access to bank details and accounts. Losing all this information, along with a missing (or even stolen) phone, can mean not only the loss of valuable contacts or beautiful photos to remember, but also a serious threat to your security.
Or imagine another, no less unpleasant situation: your child is lost, or your elderly mother urgently needs help, but you have no idea where she is. In such moments, every second is worth its weight in gold, but your feeling of helplessness only increases your panic. How can you find a loved one when you have no information about their location?
We perfectly understand and realize these worries, so we are ready to offer a number of technological solutions to help you solve this unpleasant problem. Rest assured that modern technology can turn this stress into a minor inconvenience, and specialized multifunctional applications that can track the location of your or someone else’s phone will not only allow you to find and return the misplaced device, but even take care of the safety of your loved ones.
Phone Found: Change the Game Rules due to Pre-installed Apps
Losing your phone is just one of the many problems that can be solved with the help of modern device tracking apps. As we’ve already mentioned, these apps are feature-rich and can both help you get your gadget back and keep your family safe through location monitoring. Now, let us tell you about these advanced apps in more detail.
But before we get to the point, let us remember that all of these apps and ways to find your phone will work and make sense if these apps have already been pre-installed on your phone. You had to go through the registration process properly so you can then make the most of the app’s functionality.
We truly believe that it is better safe than sorry, so now we recommend that you pre-install and customize one of the below described apps, that best suit your needs.
Number Tracker: Simple and Effective Tool
The first app to look at is Number Tracker. It is an intuitive tool the main focus of which is to track the real-time location of your device, but its capabilities are not limited to that. The app was originally conceived for family security, so the app will also be a great assistant for parents who want to make sure their children are safe.
The app can:
- Accurately track your device’s location in real time. You can see where your phone or your family member’s phone is on an interactive map at any moment.
- Capture movement history. Number Tracker saves data about device movements over a period of time, which can help you find out where your phone was lost or which routes are typical for your loved ones.
- Provide access to family monitoring. You can connect your relatives’ phones and jointly monitor each other’s location. This feature is useful if you have elderly parents and want to be sure of their safety at all times (but without excessive control).
- Send notification when your child arrives or leaves safe places. For example, if your child has arrived at school or returned home, you will receive both a notification on your phone,as well as the peace of mind that all things are in order.
Why Number Tracker: universal use, simple interface, data security (your data is encrypted, making the use of the application as safe as possible).
Phone Locator: Your Ultimate Protector and Assistant
Phone Locator is another powerful device locator app, but its functionality goes far beyond a regular tracker. Like Number Tracker, it has many useful features that make it an indispensable tool.
Main functions of the application available for users:
- Real-time location calculating: You can quickly find out where the target device is in real time. This is especially useful if you need to urgently track the location of your phone or a loved one’s device.
- Family (multi-user) access: You can always ensure each other’s safety and stay connected by sharing app functionality. This feature is ideal for tracking the location of those who need help the most. Install the app on the phones of children or elderly relatives to make sure everyone is OK and you can help quickly if needed.
- Set safe locations: You can mark any specific locations you need on the interactive map (e.g. home, school or park) and the app will notify you when the user leaves or enters these areas.
- Access to movement history: The app also saves data on device movements over the last few days, which can help in case you need to find out where your phone was lost.
- Availability of a built-in AI-powered assistant: Solve your daily tasks and to-dos, take better routes, plan trips, get personalized advice and recommendations thanks to artificial intelligence.
Why Phone Locator: comprehensive features for personal and family monitoring and security, convenient functionality and instant notifications, great choice for traveling.
More About Location Tracking and Device Searching
Here we will talk about another two great apps whose main function is also real-time location tracking. These are Find my CellPhone and Locate 360. Similar to the previous ones, these apps are also multi-functional and can be used by different people for different tasks. Don’t know where your teen is always hanging around after school? Want to make sure your elderly mum or grandma gets home safely? Any doubts that your spouse is telling you the truth about their location? There is a way out! Let’s take a look at each of the apps.
Find my CellPhone: Your Choice for Quick Tracking
The Find my CellPhone app is dedicated to tracking the location of your own or other devices. You can quickly and easily view the location of your device on a map using the app and enter the phone number of your loved ones, family members, or even your own to track your lost device (using another device, of course).
What key features are available to you:
- All about location sharing: View the current location of family and friends and share yours to stay in touch, build and manage routes for traveling together.
- All about staying informed: get notifications if one of your loved ones shares routes or reaches a certain point marked on the map, monitor the charge level of your loved ones’ devices so you don’t have to worry about them.
Why Find my CellPhone: convenience, fast tracking, ability to track someone’s phone number without installing an app on the target device (only using the phone number).
Locate 360: The Right App for Family Needs
Locate 360 is another reliable tool for tracking the location of not only your devices, but also for family use. It’s created to always be aware of where your loved ones are and help keep them safe.
How can you be sure they are safe? Rely on the following features:
- Advanced location tracking: Stop bothering your loved ones with questions about their location. Create your own circle, or join one you’ve already created, and share (or hide it if you want) and view the location of those you trust on a handy inbuilt map.
- Access route building functionality and everything that goes with it: share paths, get notifications when someone arrives or leaves, stay in touch. No more confusing explanations about who is where.
- Emergency features: Now all app users can use the SOS button if they need help. You will receive a notification on your device and can quickly help them if needed.
Why Locate 360: convenience for family use, intuitive design, presence of a SOS-button.
How to Track Someone or Even a Lost Device Using These Apps?
Tracking your device won’t take much time as the functionality of the apps is similar, then all you need to do is follow the steps:
- Please note that all apps are iOS based. So first of all you need to go to the App Store, type the name of the app into the search bar and install the app on your iPhone.
- Then register in the application by entering your phone number and other necessary information following the pop-up prompts on the screen.
- Also install the app on the phones of all participants (family members) you plan to invite to the circle and register them. You also have the option to send participants an email invitation with a link to download the app and add them to a “circle”, i.e. a shared group, or you can join an already existing circle.
Please note, creating a circle, joining a circle (for Phone Locator, Number Tracker and Locate 360 apps) and adding favorite contacts (in Find my CellPhone app) is required to be able to see the location of your loved ones on the map at all times. If you plan to track someone’s device using just a number in Find my CellPhone, installing the app on the target devices of others can be skipped. - Then on the home screen of your app, add the numbers of your family members (and other circle participants) to create your shared space – a “circle” – so that all circle members can see each other’s current location. Now you are always connected and can see the current location of all dearest ones and no longer worry about their safety.
- If your phone is suddenly lost or stolen, you can ask one of your family members or friends (who are in a circle) to show you the last location of your device on the interactive map (which is calculated by the app based on available GPS, cellular network, Wi-Fi data). You’ll also be able to track your recent movement history to think about and remember where you might have lost or forgotten your device.
All applications are easy to use and intuitive. In addition, you will be guided through the installation and setup process by pop-up notifications with tips. So, don’t worry, you will easily manage to track the target device location.
More Tricks for Tracking Devices Without Apps
There’s another way to track your device if it’s lost, using iOS and Android’s built-in services, but this method will be ineffective for tracking the safety of your loved ones. Find out why and how to use it below.
The iOS and Android operating systems have inbuilt functions for tracking phones. For example, on iOS it is Find My service, and on Android it is Google Find My Device. These services allow you to find a lost device, lock it or delete data if necessary.
What do you need to do?
Google Find My Device: Open the Google Find My Device website or app ➔ Sign in to your Google account associated with the lost device ➔ Select the desired device from the list ➔ View its last location on a map.
Find My for iOS: Open the Find My app on any Apple device ➔ Log in to your Apple ID account associated with the lost device ➔ Choose the device you want to find ➔ View its location on a map if it’s online.
It is important to remember that using these methods to track your phone, you can easily find your device. However, if you want to track a friend or family member’s device, you may encounter difficulties: you will need sensitive data, i.e. their account logins and passwords. This involves ethical and possibly even legal issues. We recommend you act openly, thus explaining your concerns about security or the need for family tracking, and use one of the apps described above, which are specifically designed for family use.
More Than Tracking
Remember, the apps described above are not only useful tools for recovering lost devices. They also open up a whole world of possibilities for keeping your family and privacy safe.
These apps can become reliable assistants for finding your phone, as well as for tracking the movements of children, elderly parents due to their user-friendliness, advanced functionality and high accuracy. Now you can no longer worry about the safety of your loved ones and your mobile devices.
Sources:
