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You are looking for alternatives to Google Find Your Phone? If your cell phone is stolen, or even if you simply left it somewhere, how can you easily find it again without giving all the power and all your data to Google again?
The tool Google Find my device, in Italian called Find my device, requires (for obvious reasons) important permissions 1. Permissions that you will have to voluntarily hand over to Google and that Google will be able to use as it sees fit given that, as we have already seen, their privacy policy it's always the same.
Alternatives to Google Find Your Phone
So how to do it? There are some alternatives for Google Find my Device? There is some free alternative, Open source and safe for find your smartphone if it is lost or stolen? In this list we will analyze the safest programs to find your cell phone in case of loss.
We will provide you with some solutions alternatives to Google's Find Your Phone but remember that the most important thing is to protect your data, even before finding your mobile phone. Therefore always enter a PIN, possibly at least 6 digits long and use an external password manager such as Bitwarden. So even if your cell phone were to be stolen, no matter what, you have "only" lost your cell phone but all your data is safe.
Prey
Open source
paid application
The first alternative to Google Find My Phone we want to talk to you about is called Prey. It's an application Open source 2. They have a version totally free with many features and is valid for protecting up to 3 devices. With 5$ per month you have an enormity of pluses such as extra control zones, faster reports and the possibility of wipe all data remotely. If you really want a complete system against thieves probably Prey is what you've been looking for for a long time.
There is also an iOS version Open source for all owners Apple.
AGAINST
Testing it for some time we noticed that the notifications were not always immediate, but perhaps it is the fault of the free account. It seems that with the paid one it works a little better but we have not yet been able to test it in the Premium version.
Finder
Open source
Application very similar to Simple SMS Remote, which we talk about below, but unlike the latter it is more updated. You can send an SMS to your mobile phone and execute certain commands such as GPS coordinates and know which Wi-Fis are present nearby. You can, of course, also make it ring. Furthermore, very importantly, you can only enter certain numbers from which to accept SMS commands so as not to risk anything. AND Open source And free, you can only find it on F-Droid.
• •FindMyDevice
Open source
FindMyDevice it is an application very similar to the previous one but more recent and is in beta, so use it with caution. Also in this case you can find out where your mobile phone is through SMS. You can configure the application with different commands, to make them work just send an SMS to your phone saying "fmd command” and you will immediately receive the GPS coordinates or any other command you have given. AND Open source 3 and you can only find it on F-Droid.
• •Simple SMS Remote
Open source
It's one of alternatives to Google Find My Phone which we like best, and which can be very useful in the event of loss or theft. First of all, it's an app completely free, totally Open source and can only be downloaded on F-Droid.
Like the previous ones, it can be activated via SMS commands, so you can disable or enable Wi-Fi with an SMS, check the battery level and above all you can locate your smartphone by sending an SMS. If you are afraid that someone has stolen it you can also send an SMS and receive a photo of the front or rear camera (with flash or without flash). You don't have to give permissions to everything just to install the app but you can give individual permissions for every single operation you think you need.
An example: do you think you want to use the app only for localization and not for taking photos? The app will ask you for permissions only for geo-localization. There your privacy is respected and you can have a smartphone anti-theft device Open source, safe and free!
AGAINST
For us it didn't always start automatically when restarting the smartphone, we didn't fully understand why. However, a persistent notification will notify you whether the app is running or not.
Cerberus
It can only be downloaded via APK from their website. They were among the first to offer this service and they actually had thousands and thousands of downloads. Their app allows you to control your mobile phone via SMS or via their easy-to-use web interface. Allows you to block the SIM or delete all data. You can take a photo or start a very loud sound alarm.
In short, if you have tried Simple SMS Remote And Prey you can try taking a look at this app, remembering that it is not free but requires a subscription of €5 per year!
AGAINST
Cerberus App it is not recommended because it has had in the past some problems with lifetime licenses, they were removed from the Play Store (but is this necessarily a bad thing?) and their app Not And Open source.
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