Android Device Manager is a completely free service pre-installed onto all current Android smartphones. Once activated and set up, it offers users ways to track, control and even remotely wipe a lost or stolen phone. Some devices, including the Samsung Galaxy S5, offer similar services with their own software, but ADM is available to all Android users.
Activate and Set Up ADM
To get started with Android Device Manager, visit google.com/android/devicemanager on your computer, or using the Internet browser on your phone. You will usually be asked to sign in using the Google account details you use on your phone. If you have more than one account, ensure you sign in with the correct details or the features will not work for your phone.If you have more than one Android device using the same account, you may need to select the one you want to set up now by clicking on the name of the device currently shown and selecting the correct one. The names shown will be the actual model number or name of your phone (e.g. GT-I9505 for the Samsung Galaxy S4). To make things easier, you can rename your phone by clicking the settings button and choosing “Rename device”.
The information box should now show the location of the device selected, along with an option to make it ring. You will notice that the options for lock and erase are greyed out and not selectable. Below the information box is another box explaining activation of the lock and erase options. Click on the link in this box to send a notification to the device you have selected above.
When you receive the notification on your phone, click on it to continue setup. The next screen explains what options will be available and what can be erased if you activate the service on a lost phone. Click Activate and then choose whether to allow both remote location and lock and reset. You can then quit out to the home screen on your phone.
To check the Android Device Manager service is working, refresh the screen on your computer and you should see the lock and erase option is now available. You can now use all of the features in ADM, should you need to.
Using Android Device Manager
Now you have activated and set up the service, you have access to several options if you lose the phone, or if you believe it to be stolen.Tracking - To track a lost or stolen phone, visit the ADM website on your computer or on another smartphone. After signing in, and if location services are turned on on the phone, the main map will update to show the current location of the selected device. Hopefully the phone is showing as being somewhere safe (your home or office perhaps) and is simply misplaced.
Ring - If you still can't locate the phone when you reach the shown location, select the ring option to make the device ring at full volume. This feature will override the volume settings you normally have selected on the device, to give you the best chance of hearing the phone.
Lock - When you want to lock the device using ADM, visit the website again on your computer and sign in using your Google account details. Click the lock button and a box appears which allows you to set a new password. You should reset this password after your device is found.
Wipe - When erasing your device, you are warned about what will be lost. It is not always possible for data on the SD card to be erased in this way. The device also needs to be online for the wipe to happen.
