Pixel Theft protection

[paradroid]

I have insurance on my phone for drops and breaks but it does not cover loss or theft.

Once the phone is a year plus I would not worry so much, but it would suck to loose a $1000 phone now. My phone is nearly an appendage, so unlike the old days, I don't accidentally leave my phone behind forgetting about it for 24 hours plus like the early days. Normally if I lose it it is in my home.

This comes to mind because I had a friend lose her iphone a few weeks ago, she was in a panic because for some reason she did not back up the last 2 years of photos to cloud. Some people are afraid of the cloud.

She had what I believe was the Apple find my phone app but it only showed the last spot she had it (at work). So does not know if it was stolen or dropped on the way to the car or whatnot. It is gone.

Back to my question. Besides keeping close tabs on my phone, what are some best practices to foil thieves? Any killer apps out there that go the extra mile? What steps should I take now?

I have Project FI and they don't offer insurance for loss as I believe Verizon does/did.

 

[Jeremy8000]

There aren't really any apps that will directly keep your phone from being stolen, but a couple of things that might help if it's lost, or if it's stolen and the thief doesn't power it off:

https://myaccount.google.com/find-your-phone

Sign in to your Google account from any browser you can see the current (or if it's not on and wirelessly connected, the last) location. I would expect this wouldn't do you any good if you have location turned off, though. Also lets you remotely trigger your phone to ring, even if it is set on silent, or remotely lock & erase the phone.

 

[Mike Dee]

There is a company that offers theft but if you are past 30 days you probably can't buy it. Sorry but I forget the name of the insurance

 

[chanchan05]

Leave GPS and data on. The reason that your friend will only show the last place she was at because the phone can't connect to data to send its location.

 

[e30ernest]

Back before Android had a Find my Device feature I was using Cerberus Anti-Theft. I still use it today as a secondary option. I like the extra features it brings like the photo capture whenever wrong codes are entered, disabling power-off when the phone is locked (which is what most thieves would do first) as well as SMS commands I can send out.

 

[cyndie1030]

I use Lookout which lets you go to their site and find the phone's location or make it scream or lock and wipe it.

 

[anon(5630457)]

Good thing I had enough foresight to get the $10.99/month Geek Squad plan which covers loss and theft from Best Buy for my Pixel 2 XL.

 

[Almeuit]

I use the Find My Phone thing Google has. I am fortunate to not have ever lost a phone so far.. but I have put it down in the house and forgot where. I have a few Google Home speakers though so I just ask them "hey Google, where is my phone" .

 

[Mike Dee]

Good thing I had enough foresight to get the $10.99/month Geek Squad plan which covers loss and theft from Best Buy for my Pixel 2 XL.

I have something similar from Verizon but not sure how long I'll keep it.

 

[e30ernest]

I use Lookout which lets you go to their site and find the phone's location or make it scream or lock and wipe it.

I used to use Lookout, but swapped it out for Cerberus because Lookout was always running in the background (being an antivirus as well). Cerberus remains inactive until you send a request to it remotely so it used less resources and battery.

 

[paradroid]

I am not worried about losing the phone, more with theft. Sounds like Cerberus may be worth a try.

 

[Morty2264]

I'm not aware of any apps per second; but keeping your GPS/location on, as mentioned above, is a good practice.

Keeping your phone password protected or secure is a good plan to try and keep thieves out of your personal information (banking, passwords, photos, etc); but they could easily just reset the phone after inputting the wrong password, PIN, etc multiple times. You'd lose everything, but at least they can't get their hands on your information.

I'm always telling my mom to never leave her phone out in plain sight if she accidentally leaves it in her car. Of course, one does not want to leave their phone in their car as it is; but thieves will certainly break in to steal a Samsung, iPhone, or Pixel device.

 

[SupraLB]

Cerberus is powerful. I can control nearly everything on my phone remotely. Take pictures, turn GPS on, prevent it from turning off, or even faking like its turned off. You can even bury the code in the operating system, so even if they find out how to unlock the phone and try to wipe it, the software will just reinstall itself in the background so you can take control once again.

I like it for personal safety, just in case I am ever robbed, I would pretty much hand over the phone and hope they take it.

 

[chanchan05]

Cerberus is powerful. I can control nearly everything on my phone remotely. Take pictures, turn GPS on, prevent it from turning off, or even faking like its turned off. You can even bury the code in the operating system, so even if they find out how to unlock the phone and try to wipe it, the software will just reinstall itself in the background so you can take control once again.

I like it for personal safety, just in case I am ever robbed, I would pretty much hand over the phone and hope they take it.

They have a new add on too. Persona. I'm checking it out.