Finding a phone lost in the house
Make a misplaced phone ring, even on silent.
Every modern phone can be found from a computer, a tablet, or a spouse phone.
The service is called Find My on Apple devices and Find My Device on Android. You sign in with the same account the missing phone uses, and a map shows roughly where it is.
The useful button is Play Sound. It makes the phone chime loudly even if the ringer is off — on an iPhone for about two minutes, on Android until you stop it or somebody picks the phone up. That is how you find it under a cushion.
This only works if it was switched on before the phone went missing. That is a five minute job worth doing today, while the phone is in your hand.
Key points
- Find My works from any device on your account.
- Play Sound rings the phone through silent mode.
- A map shows roughly where it is.
- It must be switched on beforehand.
- Setup takes about five minutes.
What to remember
- Play Sound works even when the ringer is switched off.
- Indoors, sound beats a map every time.
- Five minutes of setup today saves an hour of searching later.
Try this
Open the find service on a second device today, pick your phone from the list, and press Play Sound to hear what it sounds like.
Practice: Finding a phone lost in the house. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.