by George Heymann
techeadlines@gmail.com
There are several security applications that can help you locate your misplaced phone — if you have the foresight to install them ahead of time. Lookout Labs app, Plan B, can help you recover your phone after it has gone missing.
How’s this possible? Using the over-the-air install capabilities of the recently introduced web-based Android Market, You can install Plan B to the phone you are trying to find. Follow this Android Market link to install.
Using Plan B is straightforward. You simply need access to the Android Market Web site and your Google account credentials. Once you install the software, Plan B will start automatically and send your phone’s location — using GPS and cell towers — to your registered Gmail address.
Your locations will keep updating for 10 minutes, during which time you will receive an email update each time the device is located. You can start the process again by texting “locate” from any other phone to the missing phone.
I wanted to put Plan B through its paces so I went on to the Android Market and remote installed it to my phone.
The application worked as advertised. The app installed without a hitch and immediately started sending emails with the location of my phone to my registered Gmail account. Very nice. If you’re phone is lost, this program would be a great benefit to help recover it. See the example email and mapping data below sent from my phone with Plan B to my Gmail address.
If your phone is stolen, I’m not sure that it would be that helpful. Once the program remote installed it launched to a splash screen announcing its presence on the device. Since my registered Gmail address also is being received by the person with the phone, he or she also can see that the phone is being tracked.
If the person with the phone is an experienced Android user, he or she can simply go into the settings menu to “manage applications” and uninstall the software.
Still, the Plan B option is better than no option. And if you wait to remote install the software at a time when the phone is most likely not being actively used you have a chance to receive enough information to help recover the device before the software is discovered.
If you still have your device, you might consider installing Lookout Mobile Security. If not, it’s nice to know there is a Plan B.
Filed under: Android, Software, AndroidMarket, cell towers, Global Positioning System, Gmail, Google, Google Account, GPS, Handhelds, Lookout Labs, Mobile phone, Mobile Security, Plan B
interesting post, pretty much covered it all for me, thanks.
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Not easy to say thank you, me english not so well – but these really good. Good read to practice English.
yeah nice
I emailed support@lookout.com but they haven’t responded. It’s been a couple days and I really want an answer. I remotely installed plan b on my daughter’s phone. It is lost. It gave me an address. I went to that address. I need to run it again. I have had three other people text locate to her phone and it is not restarting. I know the phone is on and it is locked so the person can’t possible uninstall it. AND you cannot uninstall/reinstall it without having the phone so…. Please help!
Hi Skaufman
I’m sorry to hear that your daughter has lost her phone. From reading your note above It appears that you’ve done everything right. When I tested Plan B it worked as advertised as you can see by the sample map I posted in my article above.
You’ve already tried the suggestions listed by lookout labs with their app, I’m not sure why Plan B is not working for you. Hopefully Lookout Labs support will get back with you with some additional steps.
Best of luck recovering her phone and thanks for stopping by .
if someone steal my mobile and he ll master reset it and use his gmail id.in that situation will Plan B work for me.
Plan B can be installed after a device is lost or stolen. But once a device is hard-reset, or in the case of a GSM phone the sim card is replaced, Plan B will not be an effective solution. There are several options that can survive a hard reset or sim card swap but they must be installed on the phone prior to being lost or stolen and in some cases require the phone be rooted.