Monday, December 1, 2014

security - Locating a stolen phone with Android Device Manager


On the weekend I had a brand new phone stolen from me. It was out of battery at the time. I'm assuming whoever stole the phone has removed the SIM card and probably re-flashed it as it was locked.


Does Android Device Manager still have ability to track it? Can anyone inform me how the tracking on it works? I have not yet had the phone locked via IMEI as im sure that would halt this method of location (they cant use it anyway).


The phone is an HTC One.


Much appreciated.



Answer



No. Once it's factory-reset or even flashed, the Android Device Manager is no longer able to find it.



Background: Android Device Manager uses your Google account to communicate with the device. Moreover, you have to explicitly enable it on the device. Once factory-reset / wiped / flashed, all that is gone.


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