lost android phone, https://android.com/find

boatman
boatman Posts: 4,698
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edited 12 February 2018 at 1:02PM in Mobiles
I thought I'd lost(I hadn't) my android phone so went to the address in the title to find my android phone.
I used a friends phone to sign in to my google account, it did not recognise their device, it wanted to send a text to my registered phone to confirm it was me, not an option as its lost!! So I pressed the other option, it promptly told me they don't recognise the device I am on and gave no other options!!!

So how do I see 'find my device'?

Anyone care to shed some light?

When I've tried it since with my phone and computer on the same wifi it works perfectly, but not when I actually needed it!!
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  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,621
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    boatman wrote: »
    I thought I'd lost(I hadn't) my android phone so went to the address in the title to find my android phone.
    I used a friends phone to sign in to my google account, it did not recognise their device, it wanted to send a text to my registered phone to confirm it was me, not an option as its lost!! So I pressed the other option, it promptly told me they don't recognise the device I am on and gave no other options!!!

    So how do I see 'find my device'?

    Anyone care to shed some light?

    When I've tried it since with my phone and computer on the same wifi it works perfectly, but not when I actually needed it!!

    A quick look at the help page seems to indicate you need to install an app.
    Install the app
    To be prepared to use one Android phone or tablet to find another, install the Find My Device app

    Find My Device app.
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.adm

    https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3265955

    Did you try installing the app on the other phone?
    ====
  • JJ_Egan
    JJ_Egan Posts: 20,281
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    These lost phone applications built in or not usually need to be switched on and have GPS on .
    If its a decent phone a thief would factory reset .
  • boatman
    boatman Posts: 4,698
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    At the time, I didn't have the app on my phone(Xiaomi), so that was the reason if you can only sign in to that page with the app installed. When I searched for lost android phone, that was the place I kept getting directed to. As it was, I wasn't able to get to that stage, as they wouldn't allow me to log in to my account on another phone. One option I later found out was to add my account to another android phone then delete it afterwards. Didn't really think about that at the time.

    I did wonder if because the phone was on one IP address and I was trying to log into another, the google account didn't like it as it perhaps thought I was in two places at once.

    As it was, I found the phone, but highlighted the trouble with what I thought should have been a relatively simple process, I had looked at it before a couple of years ago, so wasn't concerned just a little dubious now...
  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,621
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    edited 12 February 2018 at 2:20PM
    Just to throw another spanner in the works, Ive just used a cellular iPad (using a Three sim, so different IPs) to find my S8 via your https://android.com/find link.

    I signed in to the page using Chrome on the iPad and it showed my phones location and even listed the WiFi network is currenlty connected to.

    The only difference (perhaps) is that I have the Find Phone app installed on my phone.
    ====
  • boatman
    boatman Posts: 4,698
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    d123 wrote: »
    Just to throw another spanner in the works, Ive just used a cellular iPad (using a Three sim, so different IPs) to find my S8 via your https://android.com/find link.

    I signed in to the page using Chrome on the iPad and it showed my phones location and even listed the WiFi network is currenlty connected to.

    The only difference (perhaps) is that I have the Find Phone app installed on my phone.
    Is your iPad one of your trusted devices on google? I tried it today using a browser going via a vpn and the same thing happened, but not sure if that was because there was no app installed.

    It may well have been because I didn't have the app installed, and I always have the gps off unless i'm using it.
    There must be lots of people who may well not have the app installed who will face the same issue and get directed to the same link.
  • boatman
    boatman Posts: 4,698
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    edited 12 February 2018 at 3:18PM
    goo11.jpg

    This is what I was presented with, I chose 'more options'

    goo2.jpg

    As can be seen, not helpful..
  • boatman
    boatman Posts: 4,698
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    edited 12 February 2018 at 3:22PM
    sparky93 wrote: »
    The second one was what I tried to use..

    Looks like its not just me..
    https://www.androidcentral.com/find-my-device
    "I thought I had lost my phone a few weeks ago... Went to login to Google from a friend's phone and realized that I couldn't get past Two Factor Authentication on my Google account... Good learning experience. Luckily I found it minutes later."
  • d123
    d123 Posts: 8,621
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    Ah, theres the difference then, I dont have 2FA on my google account.

    By the way, still works for me even when using a VPN.

    I suppose your problem makes sense with 2FA enabled.
    ====
  • indesisiv
    indesisiv Posts: 6,359
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    edited 12 February 2018 at 5:42PM
    d123 wrote: »
    Ah, theres the difference then, I dont have 2FA on my google account.

    By the way, still works for me even when using a VPN.

    I suppose your problem makes sense with 2FA enabled.

    Yep def the 2FA issue. I have just tried it with my phone. I can't see it as it then asks me to click the phone screen or receive a text!
    May have to look into that and see if I can set up another email or something.

    Edit: Looks like you can't have a 2nd email address only a 2nd phone number .. which is no help!
    “Time is intended to be spent, not saved” - Alfred Wainwright
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