Track Lost or Stolen Android Devices

Tracking Lost or Stolen Android Devices

Inspired by my friends, 'The Naughty' Flora and Tety, and of course 'the Gadget Girl' Vannezza. 
i found some great apps for us to track lost Android Devices.
some of these apps need to be installed to the devices first to work, and some can be installed remotely (just in case we already lost before we install it).
here is the list of the best apps and short review about it.


1. ANDROID LOST
i've installed and tried this app myself. It's a free app. Not only perfect for finding your devices (fully equipped with GPS Tracking) it will also torment the thief, we can remotely set up and activate loud alarm and flashing screen. enable and disable GPS, data and Wi-Fi Connection and we can also remotely take pictures from rear and front camera and make your phone speak such as 'I am not Your phone!!!"

Feature:
Remotely control your Android phone from the internet or by SMS.

Features:
* read sent and received SMS messages
* wipe phone
* lock phone
* erase SD card
* locate by GPS or network
* start alarm with flashing screen
* send SMS from web page
* message popup
* forward calls
* remote install
* phone status: battery, imei, etc.
* remote SMS alarm
* remote SMS lock and unlock
* remote SMS erase SD card
* remote SMS wipe phone
* remote SMS APN control
* start/stop GPS
* start/stop WIFI
* hide from launcher
* email when SIM card is changed
* get call list
* take picture with front camera
* take picture with rear camera
* make your phone speak with text-to-speech
* SMS message command
* SMS speak command
* lock timeout
* restore settings on boot
* record sound from microphone
* start and stop data connection from SMS
* start and stop WIFI connection from SMS
* content browser prototype

2. WHERES MY DROID

The first find your phone app on the Android Market continues to get better and better. Now with more features it is easier then ever to track down your missing phone.

Where's My Droid can turn the ringer volume up and make your phone ring. The app can also get the GPS coordinates with a link to Google maps if you're not near enough to your phone to hear the ringer. You have the freedom to track your phone from anywhere with a text messaged attention word.

** Antivirus warnings **
If you have an antivirus app that is reporting Where's My Droid as a virus you may need to update your antivirus app. We contacted many app developers about this false report and many have fixed it in recent updates.

Application Features
~ Find phone by making it ring/vibrate
~ Find phone using GPS location
~ Text your attention word
~ Passcode protection to prevent unauthorized app changes
~ Notification of changed SIM card or phone number
~ Stealth Mode hides incoming text with attention word
~ White/Black list to control who can use the app via text
~ No battery drain

Extra Features In Pro
~ Take pictures with the devices camera
~ Remotely lock device
~ Remotely wipe SD card
~ Remotely wipe phone data
~ Use a landline to activate the app
~ Customizable ringtone when lost (Pro or with registration)

Must have Android 2.2 or better

Permissions explained online at WheresMyDroid.com (link below)

The app does work with Go SMS Pro and Handcent, it just requires a workaround that can be viewed on our website. We are currently working with Go SMS Pro to make a permanent fix.

For those of you having problems uninstalling the app, you just need to remove the app as a 'Device Admin'. That can be done from the phones system security menu.

3. CERBERUS
Cerberus is a complete anti-theft application, the best protection you can get to recover your misplaced, lost or stolen Android device. This is a free trial for one week, then you can buy a lifetime license for a small price (2.99€) from within the application: no monthly or yearly fees, just a one-time payment. License is associated to your Cerberus account, if you have multiple devices you can use all of them (up to 5) with the same account.

It has three ways to protect your device:
- Remote control through the website www.cerberusapp.com
- Remote control via text messages
- SIM Checker (for devices that have a SIM card): you will automatically receive alerts if someone uses your phone with an unauthorized SIM card

Remote control allows you to perform many operations on your device, like:
- Locate and track it
- Start a loud alarm, even if the device is set to silent mode
- Wipe the internal memory and the SD card
- Hide Cerberus from the app drawer
- Lock the device with a code
- Record audio from the microphone
- Get a list of last calls sent and received
- Get information about network and operator the device is connected to
- And much more!

Cerberus automatically enables GPS if it is off when you try to localize your device (only on Android < 2.3.3) and you can protect it from unauthorized uninstalling - more info in the app configuration.
The app works even if the device does not have an internet connection thanks to remote control by sms messages. Also, the SIM Checker feature allows you to know the new number to send texts to, if the SIM card is changed. Texts received and sent for Cerberus remote control will not start any notification and will not appear in the Messages application.
Cerberus does not drain the battery because there is no background service running: it will activate only if there is a remote control request and will stop afterwards

4. PREY

Prey is the most complete anti-theft application! It lets you track and locate your lost or stolen phone, tablet and laptop. Locate and recover your device with geolocation and many more features. Prey is 100% FREE and you can protect up to 3 devices with one single account.

★ tested.com: “Prey is by no means the only piece of anti-theft software out there, but it's definitely one of the most robust”
★ As seen on BBC News, The Washington Post, Huffington Post, Lifehacker, and TechCrunch.

Remotely control your Android phone and tablet online, once you log into Prey you can do the following:
- Find your phone on a map through geolocation using both GPS and WiFi triangulation
- Take pictures using the built-in front and back camera
- Lock your device from any unwanted intruder
- Trigger a loud alarm remotely even if your phone is put on silent
- Display a tailored alert message on the screen
- Gather the network information that your device is connected to (for accurate pinpointing)

In addition Prey improves mobile security through:
- SIM Card change detection
- Uninstall protection
- SMS activation using any phone and get reports instantly

If you need even more control and phone security you can upgrade to a Prey Pro account. Key elements of the pro solutions are:
- Track an unlimited number of devices
- On demand reports giving you full real-time control
- All information is sent with SSL encryption
- Active mode: allowing you to see when your devices last checked in
- Store up to 100 reports per device
- Email support to help you when you need it the most

For Prey to do its magic, you’ll have to log into your account using a web browser. Within your account, you are able to mark your device as missing or stolen to start receiving reports from Prey. These reports contains the necessary information for you to know who has your device and where it is. They also contain enough evidence for the Police to recover your device. Prey is available in English, Portuguese (Brazil & Portugal), Spanish, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Turkish, Swedish, Polish and Catalan.