Google updated its “Find My Android Device” network in April, offering Android users a similar version of Apple’s “Find My” network. This network allows finding devices and followers even when they are offline. However, some recent reviews have raised concerns about the network’s ability to quickly and reliably find devices and trackers. Google stated that it is aware of these issues and plans to fix them “in the coming weeks.”
Updated “Find My Android” network performance and future plans
In a written statement to Mishaal Rahman, a contributor to sites like Android Authority and Android Police, Google acknowledged concerns about the “Find My Android Device” network. “We are actively working to improve how the Find My Device network works and increase the speed of finding lost items,” the company said. Devices continue to be added to the new ‘Find My Android Device’ network, and as this network grows, the ability to find lost devices will also increase.” said.
The performance of such crowdsourced tracking networks depends on the number of users actively using the service. The updated “Find My Android Device” network, initially only available in the US and Canada, has rolled out slowly and was expanded to the UK last month.
As Google notes, the network’s performance will improve as it grows, but Rahman suggested in a statement that users could toggle the “Network in all areas” setting to improve network performance ahead of the planned improvements.
The “Find My Android Device” network, which is set to “With network in high traffic areas” by default, waits for a lost item to be detected by multiple Android devices before sharing its location calculated from several different location reports. This approach works best in busy areas like shopping malls or airports and provides an extra layer of privacy for Android devices that share location information.
Changing this setting to “Networked in all areas” can help find lost items faster in less busy areas. This is because the location from only one device is used instead of the location detected by several Android devices. However, the reason “With network in all areas” is not the default is because it requires users to “agree to sharing location information over the network” and some users may not like this option due to privacy concerns.
Google places great importance on user privacy, and therefore offers users the option to share location information over the network. The company says that the “Find My Android” network will improve in performance as it reaches a wider user base. It is anticipated that with future improvements, the network’s ability to find lost devices will become even stronger.
Google aims to continuously improve its “Find My Android” network to help users find their lost devices faster and more reliably. In line with these innovations and user feedback, the company aims to improve the performance of the network and appeal to a wider audience.