How To Find My Cell Phone In My House

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Unless you're willing to lash it to your forearm, chances are good your telephone is going to get missing at some point. I don't mean lost or stolen, though that's always a possibility; rather, phones have a mode of falling out of pockets and into couch cushions. Or bouncing onto the flooring and under the couch. (Seriously, couches are like the Upside Downward for phones.)

But maybe you simply left information technology in the car? Or upstairs in the bathroom? Laundry room under a pile of freshly folded clothes? Wrong pocket of a pocketbook? Dang thing could be anywhere, and you're running late!

What better way to rescue lost tech than with other tech? For local, hard-target searches, consider leveraging one of these cool and unusual tools.

1. "Alexa, find my phone"

You tin can ask Amazon Echo devices for simply about anything: pizzas, Uber pickups, even storytelling. Only can Alexa really locate your phone, too?

Yes! In fact, at that place are three means to utilize an Echo to locate a misplaced telephone. The coolest is a combination app/skill called Trackr, which will make your telephone band loudly -- even if it's on mute -- when you lot say, "Alexa, ask Trackr to discover my phone."

That's a huge plus over the old-schoolhouse method of calling your phone -- bold you actually accept another telephone effectually with which to practice that. (Then many people have abandoned their landlines.) If information technology's muted, your house better be whisper-quiet if you hope to hear the telephone vibrating.

2. "Telephone, where are yous?"

Non sharing your living infinite with Alexa? That's OK, you tin nonetheless ask your phone to show itself, as long as it's within earshot. The app that makes this possible: Blare for Android.

Similar an Amazon Echo ($30 at Amazon), a Bellow-equipped phone is always listening -- in this case for whatever keyword or -phrase you lot set up. You could make information technology something like "Rumpelstiltskin" or "Phone, where are y'all?" Then, whenever you demand to find your phone, just telephone call out that trigger.

Assuming your telephone hears it, it'll, well, blare: a loud alert volition sound, even if the phone is set to silent, and there's an option to brand information technology vibrate and wink its LED as well.

Although such an always-on app sounds similar it would be a battery-killer, the programmer notes that it's memory-efficient and "doesn't take up a significant amount of battery." At that place'south a free, advertizing-supported version, but as part of the app'southward introduction, you lot can get the premium, advertising-free version for merely 99 cents.

Fear not, iPhone owners: An app chosen Marco Polo brings this same basic functionality to iOS. Alas, despite the amusing implementation -- you yell "Marco!" and your phone responds, "Polo!" -- the reviews suggest this 99-cent app isn't particularly good.

3. Push-push tracking

Wouldn't it be absurd if you could push a push and make your phone beep? That's the idea behind short-range trackers similar Tile and Trackr. (Yep, the latter is the aforementioned Trackr mentioned above, but this time with hardware other than Repeat.)

It works like this: Yous attach a little Tile or Trackr fob to your keychain. Information technology'due south perpetually paired via Bluetooth to your phone. Push a button and presto: the telephone starts beeping, fifty-fifty if information technology's on mute. This works in reverse, too: You tin use the respective app on your phone to find your missing keychain.

There are a couple limitations, of course, starting with the comparatively limited range of Bluetooth: You might have to walk around a bit before the 2 items get in range of one another. Y'all also have to brand sure you can find the button when you're trying to notice your phone. (If your keys go missing with like frequency, consider giving the push button a permanent home, say, in your kitchen or by your door.

A single Tile will run y'all $25; a Trackr, $29. (The cost drops a flake if y'all purchase multiples.) Depending on how often a missing telephone causes yous aggravation, and how great that aggravation gets the more fourth dimension yous spend searching, that might prove coin very well spent.

Take you found a better and/or more effective way to locate a missing telephone? Share it in the comments?