SwiftKey integration on latest Insider build makes it easier to type on glass

Microsoft just made it easier for Windows 10 tablet owners to type on glass by delivering a more intelligent software keyboard. The SwiftKey integration is one of the bigger improvements on Windows Insider Preview build 17692, which not only brings swiping gestures to the software keyboard on Windows 10, but it also adds autocorrection and word prediction support. This should make the on-screen software keyboard on Windows tablets, convertibles, and detachables more competitive against Apple’s iPad and tablets running Google’s Android operating system.

“SwiftKey gives you more accurate autocorrections and predictions by learning your writing style — including the words, phrases and emoji that matter to you,” Microsoft said. The company noted that English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian are supported on Windows 10’s SwiftKey integration. SwiftKey support may help improve the usability of rumored dual-screen Windows devices, including Microsoft’s Andromeda project.

After initially launching its keyboard for Android in 2010 and later for iOS, SwiftKey was eventually acquired by Microsoft in 2016. With SwiftKey making its way to Windows 10, Microsoft’s vision for a Cloud Clipboard to easily share data copied between different devices is one step closer to reality. During its 2017 Build keynote, Microsoft announced that users logged in through their SwiftKey keyboard will be able to copy content — including text, images, and media — from one device and paste it on another device, including iOS and Android. The Cloud Clipboard feature appears to be an extension of Microsoft’s earlier OneClip experiment.

If you’re an Insider ready to upgrade to this build, Microsoft cautions that the screen will crash in a loop if you use a Picture Password to sign in. “We recommend removing your Picture Password before upgrading to this build,” Windows Insider Program head Dona Sarkar said. This latest build is available for Insiders in the Fast and Skip Ahead rings.

In addition to a swipeable keyboard, Microsoft is also bringing improvements to entertainment and gaming on build 17692. A new advanced setting in the Microsoft Edge browser will offer users control on which sites can autoplay videos, while gamers will see more features headed to the RS5 Game Bar. You will have more control over audio output, be able to view performance visualizations, and experience improvements to gameplay with a new “Dedicate resources” toggle in Game Mode.

Other notable improvements include the ability to make text bigger across the system, in Win32 apps, and in Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps, narrator improvements, and the ability to stream audio to both the headset and PC speakers when using Windows Mixed Reality. You can read the full changes on Microsoft’s blog. If you’re looking for a new Windows 10 device to use or test any of Microsoft’s new Insider Preview features — like the SwiftKey integration — be sure to check out our laptop guide.

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Half taxidermy, half robot: Why UC Davis built this crazy realistic robo-bird

Intrepid researchers in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at the University of California, Davis are building fembots — and, no, we are not talking about the seductive killing machines from the Austin Powers movies. Instead, ecology professor Gail Patricelli’s “fembots” are taxidermy bird robots on wheels, designed to discover more about the mating habits of the survival-challenged sage grouse.

“The main goal is to understand how the process of sexual selection — which typically favors elaborate traits like the peacock’s train for impressing possible mates, or weapons like antlers to fight for access to mates — can also favor social skills,” Patricelli told Digital Trends. “We can use the robot to take part in the conversation between males and females during courtship to see whether males who are more responsive to the robot are also more successful with real females. We can also use the robot to elicit courtship behaviors in a consistent way, so that we see how differences in diet quality and levels of human disturbance affect reproductive behaviors.”

The fembots are part of a long-running research project dating back all the way to 2003, although Patricelli has been building bird robots since she was a graduate student at the University of Maryland in the 1990s. The fembots comprise a wheeled robot skeleton, augmented with real bird skin and feathers. “It’s a little bit biology, a little bit engineering, a little bit arts and crafts, and a little bit taxidermy,” Patricelli said.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the one-off nature of each robot, there are no plans to commercialize this. “It’s a pretty specialized tool, so the market is small, and it takes me weeks to build each one,” she said. However, she noted that this is certainly a valuable tool for people doing work similar to that being carried out by her lab.

“One of my colleagues, Jackie Augustine from the University of Ohio, used the plans we developed to build a robot prairie chicken to study hybridization between prairie chickens and their relatives,” she continued. “Once we’ve published our work, we’ll make the plans available to anyone who wants to make one.”

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VR experience re-creates the Anne Frank House as it looked during WWII

Anne Frank House

VR can be used to transport us to amazing new worlds, which could never exist outside of virtual reality. Now it’s also being used to help take us closer to a world which tragically did exist, so that we can better understand what it was like. The world in question is the Nazi-occupied Netherlands of World War II — and specifically the plight of one of the many Jewish families who went into hiding there, prior to their extermination as victims of the Holocaust.

Announced this month, the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam is launching a virtual tour of the Anne Frank House, where the famous diarist and her family hid from the Nazis. The launch of the VR tour was timed to coincide with what would have been Anne’s 89th birthday. It was created as a collaboration between the Anne Frank House, Force Field VR, and Oculus Studios — and offers viewers the chance to tour the rooms in the Secret Annex, re-created to look as they would have during WWII.

“The real Secret Annex is empty,” Annemarie Bekker, who handles communications for the Anne Frank House, told Digital Trends. “The furniture was removed by order of the Nazis after the arrest of the eight people in hiding. It was the wish of Otto Frank, Anne’s father, to leave the rooms of the Secret Annex empty. Otto Frank was the only one of the eight people in hiding to survive the war. The VR tour gives people all around the world the opportunity to explore Anne Frank’s hiding place as it was in July 1942 to August 1944, the period when Anne Frank was forced into hiding and wrote her diary.”

Anne Frank House

We have no doubt that some will find the idea of re-creating the experience in virtual reality controversial. When the VR project was announced a couple of years back, it was the subject of criticism in some places. This is the same (understandable) criticism that often accompanies attempts to grapple with horrific world events in mediums more commonly associated with frivolity rather than academic solemnity. It’s certainly not for us to judge people’s reaction — either positive or negative to this idea. Nonetheless, if it’s able to introduce Anne Frank (and, by association, her wider experience) to an audience who might not otherwise be exposed to her, surely that’s a good thing, right?

Initially, the VR experience is being installed at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam for visitors with limited mobility. Later, it will be rolled out to other sites including the Anne Frank Zentrum in Berlin and Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect in New York.

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• The best shows on Netflix right now (June 2018)

Huawei’s Windows 10 streaming service for Android likely not happening in U.S.

Huawei introduced a new cloud service during CES Asia 2018 that streams Windows 10 to specific Android smartphones. Called Huawei Cloud PC, this service requires a special Cloud PC app served up through the Huawei App Store for Android. The app enables you to view the Windows 10 desktop on the smartphone’s screen, or on a connected external display. 

According to a hands-on report from the show, the service is based on Huawei’s FusionCloud Desktop platform originally developed for the enterprise. Huawei’s service is meant to be used on “thin clients,” another word for PCs with extremely low-end hardware. These thin clients access a virtual PC running in the cloud that provides the operating system, processing power, and large storage spaces not possible on the thin client machine. 

Of course, that means Windows 10 is running in the cloud and not locally on your device. Streaming requires a stable network and/or internet connection, thus the responsiveness of the virtual machine depends on your connection. A bad connection makes your Windows 10 experience frustratingly slow to respond to any manual input, possibly resulting in data loss. 

The setup demonstrated during CES Asia 2018 relied on a docked smartphone connected to a big display via an HDMI cable. Given the dock used the phone’s single USB-C port, mouse and keyboard input was made possible through a Bluetooth connection. What’s interesting is that the Huawei Desktop Protocol used in the service enables Windows 10 running in the cloud to access your phone’s stored photos and other files. 

Another hands-on demonstration showed how an owner of the Mate 10 smartphone could take a photo and then edit the image in Photoshop installed on Windows 10 in the cloud. You can install programs and apps on the virtual machine, and even open large CAD drawings, which you can’t do on a smartphone. 

Due to latency issues, the service will only be available in China for now given the location of Huawei’s servers. If Huawei Cloud PC proves to be popular, the company may purchase additional servers throughout Europe to expand the service to other countries. But given Huawei’s current status with the American government, launching the service in the United States may not be an option. 

At one time Microsoft pushed a mobile version of Windows 10 for smartphones. Although phones sporting the platform slowly rode off into the sunset, Microsoft kept the dream alive in its Windows Insider program. But its demise seemed inevitable and the platform finally came it its conclusion in January when Microsoft stopped providing preview builds. 

Android currently dominates the smartphone market outside of Apple’s iPhone family, and Microsoft even serves up its best services on both platforms. Streaming Windows 10 from the cloud appears to be the next-best thing to actually having Windows 10 Mobile installed on your device. But streaming Windows 10 won’t be free, as Microsoft typically charges a per-seat licensing fee. 

Huawei’s current list of compatible devices for its new service includes the P20 and P20 Pro, Mate 10 and the Mate R5 smartphones along with the MediaPad M5 tablet. 

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Huawei has a clever way to put Windows on phones, but probably not in the U.S.

Huawei introduced a new cloud service during CES Asia 2018 that streams Windows 10 to specific Android smartphones. Called Huawei Cloud PC, this service requires a special Cloud PC app served up through the Huawei App Store for Android. The app enables you to view the Windows 10 desktop on the smartphone’s screen, or on a connected external display. 

According to a hands-on report from the show, the service is based on Huawei’s FusionCloud Desktop platform originally developed for the enterprise. Huawei’s service is meant to be used on “thin clients,” another word for PCs with extremely low-end hardware. These thin clients access a virtual PC running in the cloud that provides the operating system, processing power, and large storage spaces not possible on the thin client machine. 

Of course, that means Windows 10 is running in the cloud and not locally on your device. Streaming requires a stable network and/or internet connection, thus the responsiveness of the virtual machine depends on your connection. A bad connection makes your Windows 10 experience frustratingly slow to respond to any manual input, possibly resulting in data loss. 

The setup demonstrated during CES Asia 2018 relied on a docked smartphone connected to a big display via an HDMI cable. Given the dock used the phone’s single USB-C port, mouse and keyboard input was made possible through a Bluetooth connection. What’s interesting is that the Huawei Desktop Protocol used in the service enables Windows 10 running in the cloud to access your phone’s stored photos and other files. 

Another hands-on demonstration showed how an owner of the Mate 10 smartphone could take a photo and then edit the image in Photoshop installed on Windows 10 in the cloud. You can install programs and apps on the virtual machine, and even open large CAD drawings, which you can’t do on a smartphone. 

Due to latency issues, the service will only be available in China for now given the location of Huawei’s servers. If Huawei Cloud PC proves to be popular, the company may purchase additional servers throughout Europe to expand the service to other countries. But given Huawei’s current status with the American government, launching the service in the United States may not be an option. 

At one time Microsoft pushed a mobile version of Windows 10 for smartphones. Although phones sporting the platform slowly rode off into the sunset, Microsoft kept the dream alive in its Windows Insider program. But its demise seemed inevitable and the platform finally came it its conclusion in January when Microsoft stopped providing preview builds. 

Android currently dominates the smartphone market outside of Apple’s iPhone family, and Microsoft even serves up its best services on both platforms. Streaming Windows 10 from the cloud appears to be the next-best thing to actually having Windows 10 Mobile installed on your device. But streaming Windows 10 won’t be free, as Microsoft typically charges a per-seat licensing fee. 

Huawei’s current list of compatible devices for its new service includes the P20 and P20 Pro, Mate 10 and the Mate R5 smartphones along with the MediaPad M5 tablet. 

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Best Android Wear Smartwatch in 2018

• Best overall
• Best for watch lovers
• Best lifestyle watch
• Best value

Best overall

Huawei Watch 2 Classic

See at Amazon

It may not look much like the original Huawei Watch, but the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is the nicer, metal version of the company’s new Wear OS series, and we like it a lot. A gorgeous, sharp 1.2-inch OLED panel and a comfortable leather wristband make for plenty of enjoyment, plus the heart rate monitor and GPS let the Watch 2 Classic live on its own, sans phone, when you want to go on a run. We just wish that chronometer bezel could spin.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for something like the LG Watch Sport in a much smaller package, this is the one for you.

One more thing: Wait until it’s on sale on Amazon, where it gets discounted regularly.

Why the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is the best

With most Wear OS watches, the difference between good and best comes down to small details. Few watches deliver everything the Huawei Watch 2 Classic delivers all in one box, from the polished silver stylings to the comfortable leather strap. This looks like a nice watch, feels like a nice watch, and in many ways acts like a nicer watch than most running Wear OS right now.

Android Central’s Daniel Bader summed it up nicely in his review:

The Huawei Watch 2 Classic makes up for the missteps of the mainline Watch 2, and that’s good enough for me to keep it on my wrist for the next little while. I prefer to it the gargantuan size of the LG Watch Sport, and though I could live without the fake chronometry around the admittedly large bezels, the fundamentals are excellent.

Huawei has delivered a quality watch that is, as the name suggests, a classic. It deserves a spot on your wrist.

Best for watch lovers

ASUS ZenWatch 3

See at Amazon

Wear OS is, first and foremost, a way to interact with your phone remotely. ASUS has positioned the ZenWatch 3 as a way to enjoy the best Wear OS features without emptying your wallet. The round display, metal and leather help it stand out a bit, but it’s at a very price-conscious $199.

Bottom line: If you really want Wear OS but don’t need the super-high-end feel of a more expensive watch, the ZenWatch 3 does the trick.

One more thing: ZenWatch 3 is available in two distinctly different color options — a bright silver with a grey band, or stealthier black with a dark brown band.

Best lifestyle watch

Misfit Vapor

See at Amazon

While a little out of the company’s comfort zone of fitness-focused wearables with no display, Misfit Vapor is a solid Wear OS watch with plenty of compelling features. It’s a solid fitness accessory, rocks a touch-sensitive frame so you don’t cover the screen while scrolling, and includes a programmable side button for launching your favorite apps.

It also looks great, and can be worn with just about anything. You can’t go wrong with a design like that.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for a watch you can wear both while working out and while dressed up, this is where you look.

One more thing: Misfit makes this watch in a bunch of different colors, including a silver and pink model.

Best value

Mobvoi Ticwatch E

See at Best Buy

How much watch can you get for $140? The folks behind Ticwatch E demonstrate the answer quite clearly by stuffing GPS, IP67 water resistance, and a 300mAh battery into a solid polycarbonate body. It’s not quite as flashy as the polished metal Wear OS watches, but it more than gets the job done and looks like a decent watch in the process.

Bottom line: If you really want Wear OS but don’t need the super-high-end feel of a more expensive watch, the Ticwatch E does the trick.

One more thing: There’s also a sport-focused Ticwatch S, if you’re so inclined.

Conclusion

The Huawei Watch 2 Classist is not just a good watch, it’s the best Wear OS watch you can currently buy. While that may change in the coming months with new wearables from big names like LG, Sony and others, no other Wear OS device right now does as much, and so well, as the Huawei Watch 2 Classic.

Best overall

Huawei Watch 2 Classic

See at Amazon

It may not look much like the original Huawei Watch, but the Huawei Watch 2 Classic is the nicer, metal version of the company’s new Wear OS series, and we like it a lot. A gorgeous, sharp 1.2-inch OLED panel and a comfortable leather wrist band make for plenty of enjoyment, plus the heart rate monitor and GPS let the Watch 2 Classic live on its own, sans phone, when you want to go on a run. We just wish that chronometer bezel could spin.

Bottom line: If you’re looking for something like the LG Watch Sport in a much smaller package, this is the one for you.

One more thing: Wait until it’s on sale on Amazon, where it gets discounted regularly.

Update, June 2018: The Huawei Watch 2 Classic is now the best Wear OS smartwatch you can buy right now. We’ve removed the LG Watch Sport and Watch Style because they’ve been discontinued, and replaced them with the Ticwatch E and Misfit Vapor.

The Roku Ultra, 4K projectors, and an under-desk elliptical are all discounted today

Whether you’re looking for new tech gear or household items, we’ve got you covered.

We found plenty of great deals today that include big discounts on the Roku Ultra media streaming device, a ViewSonic 4K projector, an under-desk elliptical, and more! Time’s running out to take advantage of these prices, so hurry!

View the rest of the deals

If you want to know about the deals as soon as they are happening, you’ll want to follow Thrifter on Twitter, and sign up for the newsletter, because missing out on a great deal stinks!

Should you buy physical or digital PlayStation 4 games?

Can’t decide on physical or digital? Let us help!

Digital or physical? It’s an age-old question that only started being asked just recently. Once all of our consoles were constantly connected to the Internet, we entered a world where it was no longer necessary to trudge out to your local game store to acquire the newest game. You can now sit in the comfort of your own home and the games come to you. If you have a PlayStation 4 and you’re having trouble deciding what format to buy games in, read on and we will go over the benefits of each format in order to help you choose

All in on Digital

Saving space- If you are a gamer with an unending thirst for new games but a finite amount of space, then digital may be the way to go. You can build a massive library of games which only consumes space on your hard drive but none in meatspace. With hard drives that take up barely any room, your library can continue to grow without needing to make your space do the same

Get games sooner- If you want to start playing a game the very second that release day starts, then you probably want to go digital. Often, with digital releases you can pre-install the game and the moment midnight strikes, you can start playing. Your friends that play physical games will have to wait until the store opens in the morning. And even if there is a midnight release at a local retailer, physical gamers will almost always have to download some updates before they get started.

Savings– If you’re looking to save some bucks, you may want to look to the PSN Store. In what seems to be an obvious attempt to compete with Steam, PSN has offered some pretty incredible sales and discounts in the last few years. Brick and mortar retailers are often unable to offer such deep discounts, especially with a great membership like PlayStation Plus. If savings is your number one priority, then digital may be your best solution.

Only Physical for me!

Visibility is key– Some of us absolutely love seeing all of our games stacked up in neat little rows, and this is an itch that a digital library simply cannot scratch. It’s a great way to show off all of the options you have to visitors, and you can look pretty cool with physical games. If you like having a visible library of games to look at and show off to your friends, then physical games are definitely going to be the choice for you.

Resale value- One thing that digital games simply cannot offer is the ability to resell your games. If you’re the sort of person that finishes a game and never picks it up again, then it might make sense to take it back to your brick and mortar in order to make a dent in the cost of your next purchase. You might also be able to send it to a friend or family member for the amount you bought it for, breaking even on your game. Who doesn’t love sharing games so others can feel the way you do about a game?

Buy local- Another upside to buying physical games is that it offers you the opportunity to support local gaming shops in your area. If the ability to go into a store and browse games is a thing that’s important to you, then it’s important to remember to spend some money there. If you want to ensure that game shops don’t go the way of the video stores, then this is something to keep in mind.

Ultimately, the choice between digital and physical formats is a matter of preference. Although we can list ways for you to decide, you have to figure out what is most important to you and your game library. Make your decision based on those needs and you’ll be happy for the rest of your gaming life. There is no right or wrong answer, just the one that fits your lifestyle best.

How do you buy your games?

Do you prefer digital or physical video games? Let us know your reasoning below!

Why are we talking about PlayStation 4 on Android Central? Let us explain.

Updated June 2018: We’ve updated the information to help your decision.

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Amazon

How to find your lost Android phone

Not your ordinary game of lost and found.

How to find your lost phone

Worried about misplacing your phone or (worse yet) having it stolen? Ease your fears and set up a tracking system before your worst case scenario strikes. For best locating results, your phone should be connected to a Wi-Fi signal, but GPS and mobile networks will still manage to pinpoint a fairly accurate location. You must also have a Google account for virtually all of the tracking services available, whether they are built in or downloaded.

• How to locate your phone using Google
• Find your phone with third-party apps
• The best solution

How to locate your phone using Google

Most Android phones now come with Find My Device (formerly Android Device Manager) built in. This service will automatically track your phone’s location, so if it ever goes missing you can hop on your laptop or a friend’s phone and find its last known location, ring your phone if it’s nearby and you need a hint, or lock and/or erase your phone if you fear it has been stolen.

The most important thing you can do is make sure your phone is set up to be found before it goes missing. Otherwise, you’re basically on your own.

How to enable Find My Device on your phone

In newer Android phones, a shortcut to the Find My Device service is already located conveniently in your Settings app, but you might still need to download Find My Device from the Google Play Store to get it set up. This locating service has essentially amalgamated with Google to make finding your phone easier. There are just a couple of things you’ll need to activate.

Launch Settings.
Tap Security & lock screen.

Tap Device administrators.

Tap Find My Device so that a checkmark appears in the checkbox.
Tap the back button in the top left corner of your screen.

Tap the back button again in the top left corner to return to the main Settings menu.

Tap Location in the main Settings menu.
Tap the switch beside Location at the top of the screen so that it turns on.

Tap Mode.

Tap High accuracy so the circle is filled in.
Tap the back button in the top left corner.

Tap Google Location History.

Tap the switch beneath Location History so that it turns on.
Tap the switch beside your device so that it turns on.

How to locate your phone with Google

Should you happen to lose your phone, you can locate its whereabouts by logging into your Google account from any computer or even from another phone.

Launch a web browser from a phone, tablet, or computer.
Navigate to android.com/find.
If necessary, enter your email address and password just as though you were checking your email. If you have 2-step verification set up on your Google account (and you most certainly should), you’ll need to complete that process as well.

With Find My Device open, you have three options to choose from:

• You can play a sound so that it makes noise (even if you had it on silent). This feature is helpful if the map indicates that the phone is within earshot and you simply can’t see it.
• You can secure your device so that the finder can’t access your home screen. This feature is most helpful if your phone wasn’t previously secured with a passcode or a fingerprint sensor.
• You can erase your phone. This is the best option if you know for certain that you aren’t likely to retrieve your phone.

If you are trying to locate your phone with Find My Device and it doesn’t seem to be working, the most likely cause is that your phone is not currently connected to Wi-Fi or an available network. In this case, it’s important to keep trying; the moment your phone does make that connection, it will appear on the map.

If you want to download a tracking app for fear of a missing phone crisis, there are a number of options to choose from, and we’re highlighting some choice picks for you.

Locate your phone in your house using Google Home

It’s embarrassingly easy to lose your phone by putting it down somewhere in your house and forgetting where you placed it. This can be frustrating if it’s time to leave for work or some other appointment and you’re frantically scrambling around your home looking for it.

If you own a Google Home speaker, you can use Google Assistant to help find your phone. Your Android phone must be logged into the same Google account as your Google Home speaker, you must have linked your Google account and voice to your Google Home via the Home app, and your phone must be turned on and connected to the internet either via mobile data or Wi-Fi. You will also need to have Find My Device turned on, which you should absolutely activate for any Android phone you’re using.

As long as your phone is still on and connected to the Internet, all you need to do is say “okay Google, find my phone,” and Google will confirm which device you want to find and then turn the ringer on — even if you have your phone set to silent. With Google Home’s multi-user support, everyone in your home can use Google Home to find their phones if they’re lost as long as they’ve linked their Google Accounts to Google Home using Voice Match.

Find your phone with third-party apps

While Google’s built-in option is definitely your best bet, there are some third-party options you might want to consider. We’ve broken down the best third-party apps for finding your phone below.

Family Locator

The Family Locator app by Life360 is essentially a GPS tracker for phones but is especially useful for families with multiple phones in use. Your family members become a “Circle”, the app’s name for a closed group of people who consent to have their phones tracked in real time. Your family members will appear on live maps within the app as little icons so that you can see where everyone is at any given moment.

The app also allows you to chat with people in your Circle or broadcast a meeting time and location. And, of course, if a phone from within your Circle is ever lost or stolen, the app will track it on the map.

Download: Family Locator (Free with in-app purchases)

Cerberus anti theft

This locator app from Cerberus offers an impressive array of remote control features if you find your phone has been lost or stolen. You’ll still be able to lock, ring, or erase your phone, but you’ll also be able to remotely access your camera or sound a loud alarm from your phone, even if it was on silent mode when you lost it.

The advanced features allow you to hide Cerberus in your app drawer so that it can’t be detected if and when your phone is found or stolen. Your missing phone will transmit data to you via the Cerberus website or via SMS text from another phone with the Cerberus app installed.

Download: Cerberus anti theft (Free with in-app purchases)

Prey Anti Theft

The Prey Anti Theft app is impressive in that three different devices can be protected through one download. You’ll have the ability to sound an alarm from your missing phone, take screenshots if it’s in use, and lock down the device the moment you realize it’s missing.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, it will walk you through a series of tutorials to show you how to use your Prey Account to track your phone. The app itself is free and doesn’t require additional purchases in order to access the high-end features.

Download: Prey Anti Theft (Free)

Lost Android

Lost Android will allow you to have remote access to your missing phone via their website. Here, you’ll be able to erase sensitive information if you fear that your phone may never be returned, or send messages to your phone in the hopes of someone finding and returning it.

Additionally, you can choose to remotely forward any calls you may be missing to another number and record a running list of any calls or messages made or photos taken with your phone.

Download: Lost Android (Free with in-app purchases)

Where’s My Droid

The basic features of the Where’s My Droid app allow you to ring your phone if you misplace it, locate it via GPS on Google Maps, and use a passcode to prevent unauthorized changes to apps on your Android phone. Stealth Mode also prevents anyone who finds your phone from seeing your incoming text messages; instead, they’ll see a customizable attention word that alerts them of the phone’s lost or stolen status.

The Pro version of the app, which you pay to use, lets you remotely wipe data from your phone, use a landline to access your phone, and remotely lock the device.

Download: Where’s My Droid (Free with in-app purchases)

The best solution

Google’s phone location tools are your best bet — as long as you’ve gone through the process of setting things up ahead of time. Really, this should be something you set up on any device you care about or that will have sensitive data stored on it, especially with how easy Google has made it to locate your device should you lose it.

Of course, one of the benefits of Android is having the freedom to customize your experience as you see fit. If for whatever reason Google’s offering just doesn’t cut it for you, you should consider the third-party options we’ve highlighted above, as they include some clever features that might give you some added peace of mind if your device goes missing.

If your phone is stolen or found and it’s then factory reset, you will not be able to rely on any apps or services to find it; a factory reset will wipe out any of the original data, accounts, or passwords that are needed to remotely find your Android phone.

As always, exercise caution when retrieving a lost or stolen phone. If you have any concerns about it being lost or stolen, it’s best to set up and test your preferred tracking system as soon as you buy it and contact the police. It can be a bit of extra front-end work to register some apps, but it will be more work trying to locate a missing phone if no safety nets are in place at all.

How do you track?

What app do you use to track your Android phone, if any at all? Let us know in the comments section below!

Update, June 2018: Refreshed with more up-to-date instructions on working with Google’s Find My Device service.

Deal: Buy an Essential Phone and get the $99 Earphones HD for free

Is last year’s tech worth a pair of free earbuds?

Although the Essential Phone got off to a rough start, it’s a far better smartphone now than it was when it first launched. If you’re still hesitant about picking one up, Essential’s sweetening the deal by including a free pair of its Essential Earphones HD earbuds.

The Essential Earphones HD were first launched in January and come with 9.2mm drivers, connect via USB-C, support USB Audio Class 2, and deliver enhanced sound quality thanks to the recent MQA certification the Essential Phone received.

You’d normally have to pay $99 to own the earbuds, so getting them for free isn’t bad at all.

The Essential Phone still retails for $499 despite coming up on its one-year anniversary and there’s currently no word as to how long this deal will last.

Do you think it’s still worth buying the Essential Phone in June 2018?

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