The folks over at XDA Developers have found evidence regarding this in an APK teardown of Google Play Services version 21.24.13. The code has new strings that mention a "Find My Device network" and how it could allow your phone to help locate other people's lost or stolen devices.
<string name="mdm_find_device_network_description">Allows your phone to help locate your and other people’s devices.</string> |
<string name="mdm_find_device_network_title">Find My Device network</string> |
We don't know how or when Google will implement this, but if it does, it could end up creating the most expansive crowdsourced network of devices ever, handily beating the numbers Apple boasted of while announcing the AirTag.
While there are over 3 billion Android devices out there, there's a chance that not all devices would be a part of the network. Some eligibility criteria could render some older Android devices (that are still active) unable to participate, and Google could even let users opt out of the network. Even so, we should be looking at a healthy network of devices that could really come through for us if we ever misplace our phones.
