Where's My Droid

[Guest Paul]

Welcome to 'Paul's App of the Day', where I pick one of my favourite apps as featured app of the day! Today's app is...

Where's My Droid

What they say

Ever lost your phone and you go to call it to listen for the ringer and remember its on silent mode? Now when you lose it you can text your phone and it will turn silent mode off, the ringer vol up, and start ringing

What we say

This is a no brainer for installing on your phone! Ever put your phone down somewhere in the house and can't find it, then called it and found out it's on silent? This is the solution... you can simply text your phone with a 'keyword' and it will turn itself off silent and sound an alarm so you can locate it. In addition, you can text a second command word to tell the phone to reply by SMS with it's location. Simple but effective!

Permissions

ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION / MODIFY_AUDIO_SETTINGS / READ_CONTACTS / READ_PHONE_STATE / RECEIVE_SMS / SEND_SMS / WAKE_LOCK

Download

View Where's My Droid at AppBrain

Direct Market Link (for on device)

View on Android Market

QRcode

To use, install 'Barcode Scanner' from the Android Market.



Price

FREE (donate version available)

Market star rating at time of writing

4.70 (15616 ratings)

Version at time of writing

2.6.2

Similar / Alternative apps

Many apps on the market focus more on lost phone locking and location, such as WaveSecure, Lookout and Sprite Terminator. You could also check out Anti-Lost, Lost Phone and Locate Your Phone. I selected 'Where's My Droid' because it's the one i've always used and it's been around for a long time. :)

Suggested improvements for the next version

Simplicity is key for this app I think, adding too many options would reduce the 'slimness' and push it towards the likes of WaveSecure and Lookout. Remote Wipe or Lock are obvious possible future features though. I'd like to see the app stay true to the 'SMS command' concept.

Have your say

Fan of Where's My Droid? Found something better? Just wanna share your experiences? Post below! :D

[Guest bewA]

Just installed this my self recently! :)

Not needed it yet but its nice to have that safety net :D

[Guest David_P]

Thanks for the tip Paul, this sounds like a no brainer :-)

[Guest TomTasche]

And it's even open-source! :D

Support open-souce Android apps :)

[Guest meinnit]

Do apps like this have an effect on performance? Every time a text comes through, this app needs to be launched and the contents checked...isn't this a bit expensive on resources?

[Guest bigthunderkid]

Another similar application which i use, although strictly speaking not a "find my phone" app, is Auto Ring.

The main purpose of Auto Ring is to override silent or vibrate mode so you don't miss important or emergency calls from specified contacts (e.g. home phone, spouse's phone, elderly parents, your home/office security service, etc.)

So, finding your misplaced phone around the house would be as simple as dialling it from one of your specified contacts (e.g. home phone, spouse's phone) Of course, the absence of 'return SMS' functionality probably isn't going to help if you left it at the local shopping centre or the cinema..... but then the chances of getting your beloved Android back are likely to be slim anyways :D

p.s. Paul, I love "App of the Day" :)