Google prepares to help you find your Android phone even when it’s powered off

Google has long offered a “Find My Device” feature that lets you locate your Android phone on a map, play a sound to help you find it, or lock or erase your device to prevent your data from getting into someone else’s hands.
But so far this only works on devices that are powered on. In the future you may be able to find an Android device even when it’s turned off, or possibly even after it’s been factory reset.
There’ve been multiple reports in recent months that Google is building out a “Finder Network” meant to rival Apple’s “Find My” network. Essentially it will be able to leverage millions of Android phones to create a network that helps locate missing phones, wireless earbuds, or other accessories… possibly including Bluetooth tracker tags similar to those offered by Apple , Samsung , and Tile .
The network is expected to be opt-in, and user data will be encrypted and anonymized to protect your privacy. But unless Google makes some changes to the way Android phones work, you’d still only be able to use the Finder Network to locate an Android device that’s powered on and connected to the network.
But it looks like something is likely to change. According to reports from 91Mobiles and 9to5Google , there’s evidence that Google is working on a “Power-off Finder” feature that will allow a phone to emit a Bluetooth signal that can be received by other devices on the network even if the phone is powered off.
First spotted by Kuba Wojciechowski , there’s already some code in place for the feature in builds of the Google Play Services app. It’s unclear when the feature will be ready for release, and there’s a chance that it may be exclusive to Google Pixel devices, at least initially. But it could bring Google’s Finder Network one step closer to matching the feature set of Apple’s Find My Network.
It’s unclear at this point whether Google’s Power-off Finder will continue to work even after a phone is factory reset though. That’s something iPhones have supported for the past few years.

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