Latest news with #FindMyDevice
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Yahoo
Google killed the classic 'Find your phone' tools, but don't worry, they're still alive
Google's Find My Device has evolved into the more capable Find Hub, but remnants of ancient phone-finding tools still exist. The still-live "Find your phone" Google Account settings page now recommends you "try calling your phone," which probably won't help anyone. All phone-finding tools have moved to the Find Hub, making the Find your phone page's continued existence redundant. Change can be great, especially when it's something like Google's Find My Device evolving into the increasingly capable Find Hub. But even when a service makes positive progress, you'll occasionally find head-scratching oversights or half-measures, and those can be confusing or downright misleading. That's the case with Google's latest step in migrating its former phone-finding controls to the new, comprehensive Find Hub. Google axed the long-standing method of finding a lost smartphone and ported the functionality over to the new app and web page, but the remnants of the old way remain. Somewhat amusingly, while the "Find your phone" settings page still exists, it now offers a single piece of advice: "try calling" it (Source: 9to5Google). You won't find the Find My Device app anymore, either — but it's only been rebranded to Find Hub. Starting in August 2021, a simple Google Search for "I lost my phone" led to a popup result directly from Google. As long as you performed the search while logged into your account, a single click would start your phone's ringer, helping you or whoever was nearby to find it easily. That convenient popup vanished, but the first result from the aforementioned search query was — and is — still a link to the Google Account settings page entitled "Find your phone," and containing a locator map and button to activate the ringer. Clicking that link, or selecting "Find a lost device" within account settings, lands you on the Find your Phone page. You'll be looking at a list of devices linked to your account. Previously, clicking on a device immediately gave you the option to ring or locate it. Lower on the page, you could lock it, call it, sign out of Google on it, erase it, or contact your carrier about it. In other words, you had real, actionable options. The left is from six years ago, and the right from today. Screenshots courtesy of Abner Li / 9to5Google Not anymore. The page and links to it still exist, but the only prominent action recommended is a real doozy. The options to lock, locate, or erase a phone have disappeared, replaced by a simplistic solution: "Try calling your phone." If that isn't funny enough, the page advises users who can't remember their number to "ask a friend" or "use Contacts to look it up." It then helpfully points out that the device "will need to have Hangouts or a similar service" installed — and Google Hangouts has been dead for going on three years. Of course, lost Android device tracking is far from extinct. To find a lost phone, tablet, or other device with Android's gadget-finding technology built in, visit the ever-improving Google Find Hub. Other than directing you to your carrier's contact information, it does everything the original Find your phone page could do. Thankfully, this is not a classic case of Google pulling the plug on a promising service. But it is slightly ironic. You ask one of the world's leaders in data harvesting, digital mapping, Bluetooth tracking, and software implementing where you last set down your high-tech mobile device. It replies, "I don't know, have somebody try calling it. Maybe your friend." When that doesn't work, the confusingly still-alive page does let you sign out of the device with one click. But a one-sentence explainer and a link to the Find Hub would have saved at least a few Android users some confusion.
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Business Standard
06-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Google's 'Find My Device' officially becomes 'Find Hub' across platforms
Google has officially rebranded its Find My Device service to Find Hub, completing a platform-wide rollout that began at the Android Show I/O Edition in May. The updated name is now visible not only on the Play Store, but also across the Settings app in Android devices and on the web platform. According to reports, the rebranding appears with Play services version 25.20.37, replacing all instances of "Find My Device" with "Find Hub". The option to activate the service, previously listed under Security & Privacy, is also now labelled as Find Hub. While Business Standard could not independently verify the update at the time of writing, the broader rollout is in motion. As part of this update, Google has also made privacy-related UI changes. User account details, including name and email previously linked to account settings, are now hidden by default. Google Find Hub: What's new At the Android Show, Google outlined new features for Find Hub, including: Ultra-wideband (UWB) support, enabling more precise location tracking. Initially, this will support Motorola's Moto Tags. Satellite connectivity for offline tracking, expected to arrive later in 2025. Two-tab design: One tab for locating personal devices and another for tracking or sharing real-time location with friends and family. Flexible sharing: Users can share location either temporarily or indefinitely. Expanded partnerships for smart tracking To boost travel-related features, Google has partnered with: These collaborations will allow users to track luggage in real-time and share tracking info with airline partners to aid recovery. Apple's Find My network already integrates with over a dozen airlines, including Air India—Google is likely moving in a similar direction.
Android Authority
05-06-2025
- Android Authority
Google completes Find Hub rebrand as Find My Device disappears from Android Settings
Andy Walker / Android Authority TL;DR Google gave the Find My Device tool a new identity earlier this year after adding a feature that allows users to locate people in addition to devices. The company has since updated the Find My Device app and web interface with the new Find Hub branding. The latest Google Play services update extends this branding to Android's Settings app. Google rebranded Android's Find My Device tool earlier this year, following the addition of a new feature that lets users locate people in addition to their devices. The company subsequently rolled out an update for the Find My Device app for Android, renaming it to Find Hub and adding separate Device and People tabs to demarcate the new functionality. With the latest Google Play services update, Google is now switching to the updated Find Hub branding within Android Settings. The Find Hub branding is rolling out with Google Play services version 25.20.37 (via 9to5Google), and it replaces all instances of 'Find My Device' across the Settings app. The toggle to enable the feature within the Security & privacy settings is now labeled Find Hub. Tapping on it opens the updated Find Hub settings with a new toggle that states 'Allow device to be located' instead of 'Use Find My Device.' The section at the bottom that links to the Find Hub app and web interface has also been updated to reflect the new branding. Lastly, the Google services menu, which you can access by tapping your username at the top of the Settings app, has also received the new branding in the 'Recommended' tab. Google Play services version 25.20.37 is rolling out widely, and we've received these changes on all our devices. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
Evening Standard
04-06-2025
- General
- Evening Standard
Phone theft: How to protect yourself from having your mobile stolen, according to the police
Alternatively, Apple's 'Find My Device' or any other tracking app contains features to see the location of your device. Most of these services require setting up in advance. It should be used as soon as possible, ahead of thieves getting a chance to disable it.
Android Authority
30-05-2025
- Business
- Android Authority
Can't find Google's button to ring your missing phone? Here's where it moved
Rita El Khoury / Android Authority TL;DR Google recently rebranded Find My Device as the Find Hub. Perhaps as a consequence of this, the 'Find your phone' page in Google account settings no longer lets you ring your device. You can still ring your phone from the web, though, so long as you use the Find Hub page. Between Google I/O 2025, Material 3 Expressive, Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, and now Samsung's One UI 8 beta, May has been one incredibly busy month for all things Android. With so much happening, it's easy to lose track of all the little things that are changing, especially when that impact isn't immediately obvious. And this week we're taking the time to remember what we need to change the next time we want to track down a missing phone. A couple weeks back, Google shared that Find My Device was being rebranded as the Find Hub. And sure enough, it wasn't long before we saw our phones reflecting that change. But the impact of this shift has been wider than even that, as Android fans like Reddit user UnArgentoPorElMundo are pointing out. In a thread on the site's Android sub, he brings our attention to a potentially frustrating situation users could encounter when going on the web in an attempt to locate missing phones. In the past, you've been able to visit Google's 'Find your phone' page within account settings, displaying recently used devices and letting you ring them, to aid in tracking them down. Stephen Schenck / Android Authority While you can still access your devices here, there's no longer that option to make your phone start ringing. Instead, you'll now get a message like the one you see above here, which is understandably a little frustrating — what used to be a straightforward 'ring' button is now basically a shrug emoji, asking you to figure it out. Stephen Schenck / Android Authority If this seems bizarrely half-assed all of a sudden, at least there's a good reason for the loss of functionality. Rather than accessing that page in your account settings, Google now wants you to visit its web destination for the Find Hub. There, you'll find exactly the missing options you're looking for, including the ability to ring a missing phone. And this is now all tied together in a much more attractive, map-based interface. Maybe the real failure here is that Google's not doing more to direct users to the Find Hub from the old screen — or that Google Search doesn't rank it higher than the account page for 'find my phone' queries. While both of those could change for the better (and Search may just naturally improve its ranking as time goes on), for the moment you may want to bookmark the Hub so you'll know where to look when you need it. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
