Google has officially announced today that it has finally activated its long-awaited revamped Find My Device network for Android. This network, which even works with offline devices, is going live worldwide on devices running Android 9 and later, starting today in the US and Canada.
This network will encompass over a billion devices, making it very easy to track yours even when they are offline. As a bonus for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro users, these devices will be trackable even when turned off or when the battery is dead, thanks to some “specialized Pixel hardware.”
Starting from May, new Bluetooth tracker tags will be available from Chipolo and Pebblebee, specifically designed for the new Find My Device network. These tags will also be compatible with unknown tracker alerts on both Android and iOS to protect against unwanted tracking. Additional Bluetooth tags will be released later this year from Anker’s eufy, Jio, and Motorola.
If you’re near a lost device but still can’t see it, a “Find Nearby” button will appear to help you pinpoint its exact location in your vicinity. This feature will work with the new Bluetooth tags mentioned earlier.
If you’re at home and have Nest devices, the Find My Device app will be able to determine a lost device’s proximity to those Nest devices. Additionally, you can ‘share’ devices with people, making it easier to find them if they go missing.
Google has implemented “layered protection” into its new Find My Device network to ensure your safety and keep your personal information private. For instance, location data is end-to-end encrypted, and aggregated device location reporting is a first-of-its-kind security feature that provides additional protection against unwanted tracking back to a home or private location.
In the near future, software updates will be released for headphones from JBL, Sony, and others, allowing them to join Google’s new Find My Device network.
Google’s launch of this new Find My Device network was delayed for months as it awaited Apple to implement unwanted tracking protection in iOS. It appears that this protection will finally be included in iOS 17.5, which should be released soon, prompting the activation of the new Find My Device network.