Dedicated GPS trackers are easier to mount and more robust, and even if they're lost or damaged, they're cheaper to replace.This morning was off to a good start.

Risks and Costs: Are you willing to lose your Android device? Suppose you mounted it to the undercarriage of a car, and it fell off in the middle of a highway.

As such, not only are dedicated GPS trackers more accurate, but they can keep tracking even in areas where smartphones would normally cut out.

Signal Quality: GPS trackers aren't perfect, but their signals are far superior to smartphone signals.

A dedicated GPS tracker only needs to process GPS tracking, resulting in much longer battery life per charge.

Battery Life: Your smartphone has a lot of software running in the background at all times, such as system-level services and third-party apps, and all of that processing drains battery life.

There are three main drawbacks that you should be aware of, and if any of these drawbacks prove problematic for you, then you should consider using a dedicated tracker instead: While your Android device can work as a tracker in a pinch, don't expect it to pass for a serious GPS location tracker.

Toggle on the feature on the next page.Here's how: How to Enable Find My Device on Android Lastly, Find My Device should be enabled. Your device should have location access enabled, be visible on Google Play, have power, and be connected to cellular data or Wi-Fi. You can then use Google's web interface to see where your device is at any given time.įor Find My Device to work, you need to have a Google account on your device. To make it work, Google collects different kinds of data about your phone, like your approximate and precise location and different identifiers, including personal identifiers. This service constantly pings your device's location back to Google's servers so that Google knows where your phone is. Most Android devices released from 2014 onwards have a built-in feature called Find My Device (formerly called Find My Android).

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