If you have ever lost possession of your phone (maybe mislay it or had it stolen) or any gadgets, you would agree that it is one of the saddest things that can ever happen to one anyone in the world — considering how super pricey smartphones and other gadgets have become and how addictive and attached individuals have become with their smartphones.
Few of the most premium smartphones in the world right now are above the $1000 USD price mark (case in point: iPhone 13 Pro Max). As every day passes, many more smartphones are getting very close to the very close (eg. the latest Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra flagship starts at around $1,199 for the 128GB / 8GB model and goes all the way up to $1,599 for the 512GB / 12GB model) to the $1000 USD line and will eventually cross it one day.
To think smartphones have evolved from just being electronic toys meant for communication to impactful investments whose purposes have been inculcated into important aspects of our everyday living, we feel it is worthy to bring to your know these 5 applications that can help you easily (and successfully) track your Android smartphone in the car of theft or mislay.
It doesn’t matter if your phone was stolen, or you misplaced it, or you would love to track the location of a partner or relative, these apps will come in handy in whatever situation where an Android smartphone is required to be tracked.
Best Android AntiTheft App
1. mSpy
mSpy is a super effective mobile tracking solution (read: application) to have on your Android smartphone. Unlike a number of solutions on this page, mSPY is not available on the Google Play, rather, in mSPY’s official website.
Again, there is no free version of the app as you can only download the app to your phone after purchasing a package (which starts at about $48.99 per month or just $11 per month if you pay for a whole year).
This is a phone tracking app that enables you to track a person’s phone, however if you install it in your phone you will be able to track it when stolen. It also exists in stealth mode making it undetectable.
Some features of mSpy include:
- Keylogging tracker
- Screen Recording
- Geofencing
- App activity Tracker
- Read Messages on WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, etc
- Location Tracking
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2. Find My Device
Find My Device is a built in security solution that is available on default on all android devices. It is also enabled by default though it is a good idea to make sure that the Find My Device feature is turned on on your device.
To check if Find My Devices is enabled on your Android phone or tablet or watch, or any other Android device, go to Settings > Google > Security and then tap on Find My Device. It should be set to On, but if for any reason you see that it is off turn it ON.
Note that for some android devices, you just have to go to Settings > Google to access Find My Device. It is also available at the Google Play Store, here.
Once the Find My Device feature is activated, you will be able to see the location of your phone at anytime, even if it is stolen. In case of theft, you can remotely lock the device or you have no hope of recovering the phone and do not want to take chances, you can remotely wipe the phone and erase all your data in it.
The downside of this feature is that because it is hiding in plane sight a thief who is knowledgeable about the feature can disable it once they can access your setting.
This is why it is advisable to use security solutions like PIN and fingerprint sensor to lock your phone making it difficult for the thief to access. Hopefully, this will give you enough time to take actions like remote lock and remote wipe or track the location and contact the police.
However, as a backup, you can also install any of the other apps that can be on stealth mode so the thief will not be able to find it.
3. Prey Anti Theft
Prey Anti Theft is a Chile-born Anti-theft app that its developers boast as not just a find my phone app alternative, but as the most thorough recovery tool to find your lost, misplaced or stolen android phones. This Prey Anti Theft App is trusted used by many and it has garnered over a million download on Google Play Store.
The Prey Anti Theft app has a free and premium version. Features of the free version include; control zones, GPS geolocation, security alarm, security Lock, remote capture with front and back camera, security camouflage, and security message alert.
For some extra dollars, you can go premium and enjoy some added features like remote data wipe and file retrieval. This is one of the best anti-theft apps for android.
4. Cerberus Anti-theft
Cerberus Anti-theft remains one of the best Anti-theft app to have on your Android smartphone. In fact, this list would be best described as incomplete without Cerberus. Cerberus makes it impossible for you not to get back your lost or stolen smartphone.
The app and Anti-theft service come with special and advanced device tracking features with my favorite being the “uninstall protection” which makes it impossible for an intruder or thief be able to delete the app from your phone. Cerberus will even survive a factory reset — that’s how badass it is. The app is free and available on Google Play Store.
5. Where’s My Droid
This app is one of the oldest and well-known tracking applications for Android smartphones. In fact, the developers of the app (Alienman Technologies LLC) labeled the app as the “first find your phone app on the Android market”.
With over 10 million downloads and a 4.5/5 rating on the Google Play Store, Where’s My Droid is one of the best phone tracking apps to have on your phone to easily locate a stolen/lost phone.
Some other features of the app are:
- Geofencing
- AutoTheft Detection
- Passive Location Updates
- Motion Alarm
- Location History
- Remotely lock device
- Remotely wipe SD card
- You can Remotely wipe phone data
- Prevent app from being uninstalled
- Hide the app icon
- Use a landline to activate the app
- Customizable ringtone when lost
6. AVG Anti-theft
The AVG Anti-theft is a part of the service the AVG Antivirus app renders. The app is a wildly recognized antivirus app with over 100 million downloads on the Google Play Store. Through the Anti-theft features of the AVG app, you can:
- Locate your lost phone via Google Maps
- Lock your phone and set a lock screen message to help the locator find you.
- Make your phone shout (ring) even if it is on silent mode
- Remotely wipe your phone and SD card content
- Discreetly emails yourself photos of anyone who enters 3 wrong passwords when trying to unlock your phone using the app’s “camera trap” feature
The AVG Antivirus app and Anti-theft service is free but there is a pro version that requires payment to enjoy added benefits.
There is our lineup of best anti-theft apps for Android. With one (or more) the above applications installed on your Android device, recovering a lost or stolen phone will become easier than it has almost never been.
