Lost/Stolen Samsung Galaxy S3?

[jessicanov19]

My phone was stolen at school today, and I am extremely depressed. I've had it only for 1 month. (Please no rude comments, I got enough from my parents)
I called ATT help service, and they say my only option is to buy a new phone on amazon or ebay, but they can't help if it doesn't work, or buy a new device which would be $200 even though the device was 80 when I first got it at costco.
I've been watching youtube videos on how to track my phone, but it is off and in case someone uses it, I froze it through ATT but I can unfreeze if needed. I tried this app called AndroidLost but I don't know how to register my phone. I would need to send a SMS (i have no idea how to do so or what that is).
PLEASE HELP! Any other tracking apps that would work in my phone's conditions would be extremely helpful!! And I'm sorry but I'm really slow so could someone explain step by step?

 

[DroidXcon]

My phone was stolen at school today, and I am extremely depressed. I've had it only for 1 month. (Please no rude comments, I got enough from my parents)
I called ATT help service, and they say my only option is to buy a new phone on amazon or ebay, but they can't help if it doesn't work, or buy a new device which would be $200 even though the device was 80 when I first got it at costco.
I've been watching youtube videos on how to track my phone, but it is off and in case someone uses it, I froze it through ATT but I can unfreeze if needed. I tried this app called AndroidLost but I don't know how to register my phone. I would need to send a SMS (i have no idea how to do so or what that is).
PLEASE HELP! Any other tracking apps that would work in my phone's conditions would be extremely helpful!! And I'm sorry but I'm really slow so could someone explain step by step?

Jessica Welcome to Android Central, I am very sorry that your device was stolen that is unfortunate. I don't know of any way of tracking the phone after it has been lost unless you set it up for this before it was lost/stolen. You didn't have insurance on the device at all?
I hope it was just misplaced and someone brings it back to you.

 

[jessicanov19]

Unfortunately I don't have insurance on it But ATT offered a replacement for 200 instead of 600 bc we've been customers for a long time.
Could you tell me how to SMS my phone through text? And would it work if it's off/doesn't have internet connection?

 

[VDub2174]

My phone was stolen at school today, and I am extremely depressed. I've had it only for 1 month. (Please no rude comments, I got enough from my parents)
I called ATT help service, and they say my only option is to buy a new phone on amazon or ebay, but they can't help if it doesn't work, or buy a new device which would be $200 even though the device was 80 when I first got it at costco.
I've been watching youtube videos on how to track my phone, but it is off and in case someone uses it, I froze it through ATT but I can unfreeze if needed. I tried this app called AndroidLost but I don't know how to register my phone. I would need to send a SMS (i have no idea how to do so or what that is).
PLEASE HELP! Any other tracking apps that would work in my phone's conditions would be extremely helpful!! And I'm sorry but I'm really slow so could someone explain step by step?

Did you use the AT&T Messages app on your phone? I'm not 100% sure this would work but you could try to download that app to your PC and manage whatever SMS the AndroidLost app sends to you.

 

[jessicanov19]

I can't figure out how to use ATT messages app from my pc and do I need to unfreeze my phone to send a SMS?

 

[DroidXcon]

Unfortunately I don't have insurance on it But ATT offered a replacement for 200 instead of 600 bc we've been customers for a long time.
Could you tell me how to SMS my phone through text? And would it work if it's off/doesn't have internet connection?

If it is off or does not have cell service I do not believe it will work. Vdub may be correct I have never used that application but it most likely has a PC counterpart.

 

[VDub2174]

I can't figure out how to use ATT messages app from my pc and do I need to unfreeze my phone to send a SMS?

If it is off or does not have cell service I do not believe it will work. Vdub may be correct I have never used that application but it most likely has a PC counterpart.

You can download the app to a PC or another Android device but your service would need to be on for that to happen, sorry

 

[jessicanov19]

Awwww T_T if it does I can't figure it out

 

[VDub2174]

I can't figure out how to use ATT messages app from my pc and do I need to unfreeze my phone to send a SMS?

Here's the link to use it on your PC. You would need to log in to your account but like I said, I think you would need service to be active on your account. Maybe you can have AT&T turn on your service long enough to send the SMS from that AndroidLost app?

 

[Shawn Magm]

Sorry to hear about your phone. I have AVG installed on my phone as well as AndroidLost. You can remotely install these apps to your phone as long as the phone is on and has access to data. AVG can locate the phone by going to the AVG website. Good luck.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ntivirus&feature=search_result&token=Hp2TL8rE..

 

[GTWalling]

Even though you say it is off, whom ever took the phone may turn it on. You may give Plan B a shot.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout.labs.planb&hl=en

 

[KreepyKen]

Even though you say it is off, whom ever took the phone may turn it on. You may give Plan B a shot.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout.labs.planb&hl=en

Plan B only works on Froyo & Gingerbread. It will not work on the GS3.

 

[chadzz]

ive installed the avg to my lost device already. so what do i do now?

 

[dihelp2learn]

it is unfortunate that it happened, but it is even more unfortunate that you cannot do much about it. At this point, your best bet is to make a police report. About the SMS, this cannot be done unless you have your phone because SMS refers to the text messaging and you need your phone for that. Take this an expensive lesson learned, and make sure you register your phone with Mobile Locate (especially if you have AT&T, which is a great company). You're lucky you are getting the phone for 200 and not full price. AT&T is really great at taking care of their customers, especially if you've been with them long-term. Unlike T-Mobile or Verizon -- companies that really don't care at all if they lose your business. I know this was posted a while ago and this was probably already resolved, but if anyone else is going to read this, I really want to stress the importance of registering with locator apps. My daughter lost her iPhone, tracked it to the spot where she lost it, and it gave her an exact location. Turned out the phone fell out of the car and was still laying on the street -- no one noticed it, and some 20 minutes later she had her phone back. Since then, we all registered our phones.

 

[RayMabry]

This is why it's a good idea to leave your phone's gps on. (along with having a basic Internet plan.)

Many people don't like doing this because they believe it drains battery. I was one of them too. But after doing research I learned that you can leave gps on and the gps radio will only be activated when an app or service accesses it. (At least on newer versions of the OS)

If you like going into Google Maps but don't always need gps or you're constantly on Facebook or some other social app that checks your location then you can expect more battery drain. But generally it's okay to leave it on as long as you are monitoring every now and then to make sure apps are not accessing it unnecessarily.

I was paying for 3 bucks for ATT's Mobile Locate service and I always had gps off thus defeating the purpose of the service.
I removed the service this Saturday and ended up leaving my phone at a restaurant the same day. Luckily I was able to call and retrieve the phone!

I was going to get a location app off Google Play to ensure that didn't happen again, then I found out about Android Device Manager (google it if you aren't familiar; it is not an app) and figured that could be a free way to track the device, but I had to have gps on to do this. I noticed after leaving it on that the gps indicator didn't always show up in the status bar and then I learn of how it works and even tested it a few times. The indicator stayed off until I opened Maps (which keeps it on) , opened Facebook (which keeps it going only for a second), and when I used Android Device Manager.

Under your security settings check to see if you have Android Device Manager as a device administrator (If you don't see it, you will soon). You can log onto it, using your Gmail account and then you'll be able to see the location of your phone as long as gps is on. And the accuracy isn't that bad either.

This is probably the best thing everyone can do to minimize the agony of losing their phone. As long as you try to keep it charged throughout the day, if you lose it you can just log on through Google and find it, and relatively quickly too. And if you don't have the service yet, most virus protection apps offer a location service.

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[Bodhi Utah]

As for paying $200 for a replacement, escalate your call up the ladder. You will get a free replacement if you've really been that good of a customer.

When the GS4 was announced, I figured I could get a GS3 for free. I've been with ATT for 8-10 years, and I have 5 phones on my plan. My bills is about $220/month. I asked at the store without luck. I called customer service with no luck. I escalated it up the chain and was told they would send me one for $100. I was persistent, and told them I was ready to move to T-Mobile (I was...I have a friend that works there that has been trying to get me to switch for awhile). It took about a week, but in the end, they sent me a free GS3, waived the activation, and actually changed my plan to less shared minutes (but free minutes to any mobile) and gave me a special texting plan that gave unlimited texting for all phone on my plan -- all told, it cut about $20 or $30 off my bill every month.

You may not be able to get your old phone back, but perhaps with some persistence, ATT will replace it for free. Remind them how long you've been with them, that the GS3 is not the hot phone anymore, and that you're ready to switch plans. The store will not do anything, nor will the first person you talk to on the phone. You need to escalate it (I had to escalate it two levels) to get to the customer retention department.

Good luck!

 

[TheLibertarian]

This is why it's a good idea to leave your phone's gps on. (along with having a basic Internet plan.)

Many people don't like doing this because they believe it drains battery. I was one of them too. But after doing research I learned that you can leave gps on and the gps radio will only be activated when an app or service accesses it. (At least on newer versions of the OS)

If you like going into Google Maps but don't always need gps or you're constantly on Facebook or some other social app that checks your location then you can expect more battery drain. But generally it's okay to leave it on as long as you are monitoring every now and then to make sure apps are not accessing it unnecessarily.

I was paying for 3 bucks for ATT's Mobile Locate service and I always had gps off thus defeating the purpose of the service.
I removed the service this Saturday and ended up leaving my phone at a restaurant the same day. Luckily I was able to call and retrieve the phone!

I was going to get a location app off Google Play to ensure that didn't happen again, then I found out about Android Device Manager (google it if you aren't familiar; it is not an app) and figured that could be a free way to track the device, but I had to have gps on to do this. I noticed after leaving it on that the gps indicator didn't always show up in the status bar and then I learn of how it works and even tested it a few times. The indicator stayed off until I opened Maps (which keeps it on) , opened Facebook (which keeps it going only for a second), and when I used Android Device Manager.

Under your security settings check to see if you have Android Device Manager as a device administrator (If you don't see it, you will soon). You can log onto it, using your Gmail account and then you'll be able to see the location of your phone as long as gps is on. And the accuracy isn't that bad either.

This is probably the best thing everyone can do to minimize the agony of losing their phone. As long as you try to keep it charged throughout the day, if you lose it you can just log on through Google and find it, and relatively quickly too. And if you don't have the service yet, most virus protection apps offer a location service.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 4

If Lookout, Cerberus, AVG, etc are installed and setup, there's no need to leave your GPS on; there's no point whatsoever.

 

[RayMabry]

If Lookout, Cerberus, AVG, etc are installed and setup, there's no need to leave your GPS on; there's no point whatsoever.

For me there's no point in getting an app to do what your phone can already do naturally. Especially if you prefer another security app. I know Lookout already makes use of Google Maps anyways. Why use a middeman?

Besides, these apps don't always work perfectly on every phone. From what I've read, sometimes these type of apps have given some users delayed or just plain inaccurate results.

And god forbid you lose your phone right around the time you've updated the app and it starts to have issues.

I just think Google is more reliable for that this sort of thing.

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[TheLibertarian]

For me there's no point in getting an app to do what your phone can already do naturally. Especially if you prefer another security app. I know Lookout already makes use of Google Maps anyways. Why use a middeman?

Besides, these apps don't always work perfectly on every phone. From what I've read, sometimes these type of apps have given some users delayed or just plain inaccurate results.

And god forbid you lose your phone right around the time you've updated the app and it starts to have issues.

I just think Google is more reliable for that this sort of thing.

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There is still no reason to leave your GPS enabled. Location services can enable a GPS remotely, that's kind of the point.

 

[RayMabry]

There is still no reason to leave your GPS enabled. Location services can enable a GPS remotely, that's kind of the point.

And how do you go about doing that if you don't want to use one of those security apps? Even Android Device Manager doesn't enable it when you're using it, It merely gives you a less accurate location by using the cell towers...

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