To locate a lost or stolen device, the Android Device Manager is used. It is thus developed as a security feature that can also be used to remotely lock or wipe an Android device. Protecting our Android device is the main purpose of the Android Device Manager, for which, it is necessary to connect the Android device with our Google account.
What is a Device Manager?
Being a Control Panel applet in the operating system, the Device Manager allows the users to view and control all the hardware which is attached to a system, thus highlighting any hardware, which is a defect. Enabling and disabling devices, supplying device drivers, viewing other technical properties, etc, are some other functionalities of the Device Manager.
Usage of the Android Device Manager:
- We can remotely control an Android device.
- We can locate an Android device.
- We can Lock or Ring or Wipe (Choose our action) an Android device.
- We can wipe an Android device if there is no chance of recovery.
- We can help a friend to track and control a lost or stolen Android device.
Locating the Device:
The Android Device Manager needs to be connected with the respective Google account of the owner, once it is installed on the device. It means that by signing in from any system, we can track our device. In case the device is stolen or lost, we can locate our device and we can also view the map. Add multiple devices is a facility supported by the Android Device Manager.
Lock or Ring or Wipe (Choose our action):
The owner can choose to lock the device or ring it to protect the data inside or to change the password or PIN if the Android device gets stolen or lost. The smartphone starts to ring at its maximum volume on choosing ringing functionality. The ringer can also be turned off or down. The smartphone will thus ring at its full volume for the next five minutes. The Android Device Manager can also be used to wipe the device if it is a clear indicator that the device cannot be recoverable. The phone will be restored to factory settings, once the wipe command is executed. Even if the power is off, we can wipe our device.
Wipe the device if there is no chance of recovering:
The Android Device Manager can also be used to wipe the device clean remotely if the owner is sure that there is no chance to recover the lost Android device. It means that we will bring our phone back to the same setting when it was brand new. For which we need to connect our device and use the wipe option. Thus, we can protect our device or the data that we have stored on it, from any misuse, even if the power is off.
Help a friend to track and control the lost or stolen device:
We can even log in as a “Guest”, in the Android Device Manager, which means that it allows a friend to control (lock, ring, or wipe) his device, which is either being lost or stolen.
How to use Android Device Manager?
To locate a stolen or lost device, we take the help of a security feature of Android, popularly known as Android Device Manager. The owner can choose to lock or wipe the content from the Android device remotely, in case the device is confirmed to be unrecoverable. The owner of the device must connect its device with the Google account, to use the Android Device Manager.
Install the Android Device Manager:
To install the Android Device Manager, we need to find it on the Google Play app to download it first. To get the power to lock or wipe the device, we need to go through our setting and to allow the app to act as a Device Administrator, after installation.
Signing in to Android Device Manager:
A Google account is required to use the Android Device Manager, i.e., to sign in into Device Manager. It can be any of our Google accounts that we have on our phone. All of our Google accounts that we have on our phone can be found in a drop-down list when we open the Android Device Manager app.
How do We Use Android Device Manager?
To use the Android Device Manager you need to do a few basic things after downloading and installing the app:
- Connect the Android Device Manager to your Google Account.
- The device location feature must be turned on.
- The remote data wipe needs to be enabled.
- If the device is lost or stolen, you can locate and control your device by login through Google account to the Android Device Manager website or the app.
- A dashboard pop-up will be displayed after login. It shows the location of our device, with other options.
- The location of the device can be found by checking the map. This map appears automatically.
- If the phone is online, you can get the information about the battery level, and where it was last located.
- By pressing the Play Sound option, you can ring your device continuously for 5 minutes at the highest volume.
- To ensure that no one can misuse your data, you can use the Lock option to lock your Android device remotely.
- To erase all your photos, music, apps, and other settings from your device (even when the device is offline), you can use the Erase option.
- You cannot access the device from the app, once it is wiped clean.