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Google is developing a "find my device" feature for Android 14, even if the phone is turned off

Shulou Source: shulou.com Published: 2023-11-24 16:01:51 11月14日 Update

CTOnews.com, April 6 (Xinhua) according to Kuba Wojciechowski, Google is developing a "find my device" feature that allows users to find the device even after the device is turned off, similar to Apple's "find." The feature will be called Pixel Power-off Finder, at least on Pixel phones.

In fact, Google warmed up this feature as early as December 2022: it can track lost or stolen Android phones even if the device is not connected to the Internet.

Of course, this feature requires hardware support to be used, and the principle should be to keep the low-power Bluetooth chip enabled at all times.

According to Kuba, Google is working on building a vast network of all Android devices and supporting locators such as UWB, Apple AirTags and, of course, Google's own "grogu."

Currently, Google has shared the early source code of Android 14 with OEM vendors that have signed up for the early access Program (EAP). The source code includes a new hardware abstraction layer (HAL) definition called "hardware.google.bluetooth.power_off_finder".

According to the code comments, the pre-calculated fingerprint (Finger Network) key will be transmitted to the device's Bluetooth chip, which will remain open even if the phone is turned off. This feature is very similar to iPhone's search network, and Apple will re-introduce low-power coprocessors in iPhone 15 to enhance this feature.

CTOnews.com doesn't know whether existing devices such as Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 support the required technology, but there is no doubt that Google's upcoming Pixel 8 will.