Losing a cell phone isn’t something that happens to rare people. It is actually quite a common occurrence. Since you are here, it is fair to assume that you are probably worried about it as well.
However, to give you some relief, it is actually possible to locate a cell phone with ease. In fact, it is even possible to track a cell phone without GPS enabled on it.
The first thing that people do when they steal a phone or find someone’s lost phone is that they turn it off and change the SIM card. Then how are you going to locate a lost cell phone?
It is simple- you can read this guide and find out the best way to do it with ease.
Part 1: How to Recover a Lost Phone With Tracking App?
There are special apps designed so you can not only locate a lost phone but also recover it with ease. While the usability and success rate of these apps vary from app to app, here is a method that works most of the time:
1.1 Spyic Lost Mobile Tracker
Spyic is a great phone tracking solution that is used extensively in finding the location of a lost phone or stolen phone instantly. It is a web application that works as a preventive measure for tracking your phone if you ever lose it.
In simple terms, you need to install Spyic beforehand to make sure that you can track your phone in the future. In fact, you can even install it on the cell phones of your children, partner, or anyone in the family.
This way you not only get the ability to retrieve their lost phone, but you can even track their location for safety purposes when they have their phone on them. Spyic’s phone tracking features work well for both- Android phones and iPhones.
1.2 Spyic’s Phone Tracking Requirements
In order to track a lost phone using Spyic, you will require the following:
Tracking an Android Phone:
- One time access to the phone you wish to track
- Spyic account
Tracking an iPhone:
- iCloud credentials of the iPhone
- Spyic account
1.3 How to Locate a Lost Phone Using Spyic?
As is mentioned earlier, Spyic is a preventive measure for locating a lost phone. Therefore, first of all, you need to make sure that you have your Spyic account set up to track that phone’s location. Here are the steps to do that:
Step 1: Create a Spyic account with a subscription to target phone type- Android or iOS.
Step 2: a.) For tracking an iPhone, verify the iCloud credentials of the iPhone with Spyic.
b.) For tracking an Android phone, download and install the Spyic app on the target phone.
Step 3: Click on ‘Start’ and the configuration process will end.
You will now have access to your Spyic dashboard from where its phone tracking features are available. You can visit this dashboard at any time by logging into your Spyic account from the website.
Here are the tracking features through which you can locate any lost phone with ease:
Live Location Tracker:
Live location tracker provides insight into the live location of the device. In case the lost phone is turned off, you can use it to find where the device is exactly right at the moment.
Location History Tracker:
Location history tracker can provide all the past locations of the phone along with the timestamps for each location. Through this feature, you can find out the phone’s last known location.
SIM Tracker:
SIM tracker shows the approximate location of the phone even when the internet is off. It can also notify you about any SIM changes in the phone, which can be useful for retrieving a lost phone or stolen phone.
It is possible to see how any or all of these features operate before creating a Spyic account. Spyic provides a live web demo completely free that you can use to check out the working.
Part 2: Track Lost Phone Using Android Device Manager Location History
Android has an inbuilt feature that you can use for tracking a lost Android phone. While it can give you a phone’s location if the GPS is turned on, it is not of much use if the phone is off or if the internet is enabled.
Additionally, it also requires some pre-emptive measures such as enabling the ‘Find My Device’ feature on the phone. This can be done through ‘Settings’ > ‘Security & location’ > ‘Find My Device’.
Once the Find My Device feature is turned on, you can track the phone at any time using the Find My Device link from any web browser and signing into your Google ID.
Part 3: Finding a Lost Phone Using Google Photos
This little trick is used by many clever people to find the location of a lost phone or a stolen phone. Google Photos automatically syncs the pictures taken on a phone to the Google cloud server.
Therefore, you can check your Google photos account to see if there are any new pictures taken on the phone. If you are fortunate, you will find new pictures from which it is easy to tell the phone’s location through the ‘Info’ option.
Endnotes
Most people give up when they lose a cell phone, thinking tracking a lost phone is impossible. However, if you follow the methods on this guide, you will find that retrieving a lost phone is fairly easy.
Knowing how to locate a lost cell phone that is turned off won’t do you any good, unless you take the important preemptive measures for it. You need to prepare your phone beforehand in case it gets stolen or misplaced someday.
