Google has just publicly unveiled its plans for a “Find My Device network” on Android that can seamlessly locate tracker tags (including Tile products), headphones, and phones.
While Google has long offered the “Find My Device” app, it’s currently only able to roughly locate devices via an internet connection or based on where they were last connected with Bluetooth. This can be useful for locating a lost phone, but it doesn’t help much for finding missing earbuds.
Beyond that, there’s a vast market of Bluetooth tracker tags, useful for making everyday objects locatable. Just last week, Google and Apple announced a partnership to make Bluetooth trackers and AirTags safer by alerting you to the presence of an unwanted tracker on your person. This functionality is now set to launch later this summer.
At Google I/O 2023, the company is finally announcing its (long in development) “Find My Device network,” which massively overhauls the way that lost objects can be found. If your phone joins the Find My Device network, it will periodically check for nearby devices to help crowdsource the location of any missing devices.
Importantly, Google emphasizes that “the Find My Device network was built with user privacy as a key priority.” To that end, the data used is end-to-end encrypted, “which ensures Google can’t see or use it for any other purposes.” The company says it will detail more of the network’s security and privacy safeguards ahead of launch this summer.
The Find My Device network is also expanding to two new classes of gadgets: headphones and Bluetooth trackers. Following firmware updates coming soon to headphones from Sony and JBL – as well as “existing Pixel Buds” – your headphones will be locatable via the massive network of over 1 billion Android devices worldwide.
Meanwhile, tracker tags from Tile, Chipolo, and Pebblebee will soon be fully integrated into the Find My Device network, potentially making tracking more robust while also removing the need for a brand-specific app. Notably, Google’s announcement makes no mention of the frequently-rumored Nest locator tag, aka “Grogu.”
Correction: This post has been updated to replace “If you opt in to the Find My Device network…” with “If your phone joins the Find My Device network…”
Images: Google
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