Google has unveiled a significant update to its Android Find My Device network, which will soon enable users to track valuables using third-party Bluetooth trackers and receive warnings about unwanted nearby Apple AirTags.
Mirroring Apple’s ‘Find My’ network, Google’s revamped Find My Device feature will anonymously utilize billions of Android devices worldwide to help locate lost or stolen items, even when they’re offline.
For instance, if you accidentally leave your headphones at the gym, the updated ‘Find My Device’ – rolling out “later this summer” – will allow you to leverage other nearby Android devices to locate them.
The update will also support third-party Bluetooth trackers from brands like Tile and Chipolo, allowing you to track other valuables such as bicycles or suitcases.
Given that this network is built on billions of Android devices, privacy concerns naturally arise. Google emphasized that it has meticulously addressed these concerns, noting that it has been a long time in the making. The current ‘Find My Device’ app debuted six years ago at Google I/O 2017, with rumors of a major update circulating for the past two years.
Like Apple’s Find My network, Google’s new Find My Device network encrypts location information, ensuring that no one, including Google, can see where your devices are located. A key feature, introduced through a partnership with Apple, is the ‘Unknown tracker alerts’ on Android.
This feature will notify you if an unfamiliar tracking tag is moving with you and help you locate it. Thanks to a new standard agreed upon with Apple, these alerts will work across all phones, including iPhones.
Google plans to launch the new Find My Device experience and ‘Unknown tracker alerts’ “later this summer.”
Analysis: Android Becomes the World’s Largest Tracking Network
Android has traditionally offered a limited ‘Find My Device’ feature based on the device’s most recent known location. However, this update transforms over three billion Android devices into the world’s largest object-tracking network, a move that, despite its benefits, may spark controversy when it fully launches later this year.
Google highlighted two features designed to address privacy concerns: the complete encryption of location information and the ‘Unknown tracker alerts’ based on the new standard developed with Apple.
While Apple’s efforts to curb AirTag stalking have not fully allayed public concerns about the misuse of Bluetooth trackers, these issues might intensify with the launch of the upgraded ‘Find My Device’ feature.
Although creating a cross-platform standard for ‘Unknown tracker alerts’ is a positive step, its effectiveness in practice remains to be seen before we can fully embrace Bluetooth trackers in our daily lives.
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