Google may be working on an Android version of Apple’s “Find My” network

Because Apple tightly controls the iOS ecosystem, they’re able to build a massive, crowdsourced network of devices that can help locate other devices. Apple, like many other companies, recently released a Bluetooth tracker, but thanks to the Find My network, the AirTags are arguably the best tracker on the market. The only other company that can build a network of devices as effectively as Apple is Google thanks to the presence of Google Play Services on nearly every Android device. It seems that Google recognizes this and is preparing to build its own crowdsourced network of devices.

An APK teardown can often predict features that may arrive in a future update of an application, but it is possible that any of the features we mention here may not make it in a future release. This is because these features are currently unimplemented in the live build and may be pulled at any time by the developers in a future build.

Google Play Services version 21.24.13 rolled out today in the beta channel, and after we decoded it, we discovered the following strings:

<string name="mdm_find_device_network_description">Allows your phone to help locate your and other people’s devices.</string>
<string name="mdm_find_device_network_title">Find My Device network</string>

The strings clearly suggest that Google is working on a “Find My Device” network leveraging Google Play Services to “[allow] your phone to locate your and other people’s devices.” Google already has an app called “Find My Device” available on the Play Store, but it can only find devices that are signed into your Google account. If this “Find My Device” network goes live, then you’ll be able to help other Android users locate their lost or stolen device.

We don’t have more details on this “Find My Device” network yet, but we’re continuing to dig into the latest Google Play Services release and will update this article if we learn more. We’re particularly interested in learning more about device compatibility and whether or not it’ll be opt-in or opt-out.

Google Find My Device (Free, Google Play) →

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