Losing your phone can be a nightmare, but thankfully there are some great tools to help recover it. Samsung has offered a “Find my Mobile” app for a while now, and this week, it’s picking up the handy new ability to track down a lost phone even if it’s offline. So, With the latest app update, Find My Mobile will now work for devices that aren’t connected to Wi-Fi or cellular. Max Weinbach of XDA Developers spotted the feature on Saturday.
The “Offline finding” function will leverage a network of nearby Galaxy devices — it looks similar to the “Community Find” feature that Tile trackers use when they’re out of Bluetooth range. If you can’t find your by Wi-Fi or cellular connection, nearby Galaxy devices might be able to locate it.
If you switch offline finding to “enabled“, your phone will also be able to scan for other devices, meaning you’ll be able to help others find their lost phones if you’re in range of the item or find watches and earbuds that you’ve used recently.
This change arrives in version 7.1.08.0 of the Find my Mobile app that is currently rolling out. The feature is off by default.. You can enable and disable it in your settings and encrypt your offline location if worry about privacy.
Privacy?!
We’ve got some questions.. For instance, we don’t know for sure what specific technology the community network will use or which watches and earbobs the feature can find. The Vergehas reached out to Samsung for more details, and the company says it’s looking into it now.
It’s easy to see how this feature could make Find My Mobile even handier. If you’re traveling (especially internationally), you may not have reliable access to Wi-Fi or cell service — and losing your phone while on a trip can be a disaster.
It looks like Samsung is sending out push notifications to Galaxy owners once they receive the latest Find My Mobile update. You can tap that notification to open the “offline finding” page in settings, where you can toggle the feature on and off.
