The Android Find My Device network has been given a significant upgrade this year, with support for offline gadgets and crowd-sourced device tracking – and it looks as though another new Apple-inspired feature is on the way.
As per 9to5Google, hidden code in the latest Find My Device app for Android points to a new ‘compass’ feature for more precise device tracking. It’ll presumably show a compass on screen, and give you messages like “turn left”, “turn right”, and “the device is behind you” as you hunt down your lost item.
This is almost certainly going to be used with ultra-wideband (UWB) devices, like the Pixel Watch 3, which can be located with a high degree of accuracy. Most gadgets will use GPS, if they have it, to report their whereabouts – but UWB technology makes it even easier to find something inside a room.
If you’re thinking this sounds familiar, it’s the same tech available through Apple’s Find My network – UWB was added to the iPhone back in 2019, with the iPhone 11. You might have seen the Apple advert where Boba Fett uses UWB to track down his friends.
Catching up
For now, the code doesn’t do anything – the 9to5Google team were unable to get the functionality working with a Moto Tag. However, Google has previously promised that Find My Device upgrades are on the way, and this looks to be one of them.
This also matches up with other code snippets we’ve spotted hinting at UWB support, and it looks as though there might be some augmented reality features involved as well – so you might be able to navigate to your lost device in the same way you can navigate to a destination using Live View in Google Maps.
Google is lagging behind when it comes to UWB support, which has been in Apple and Samsung phones for years now. The tech is in the Pixel Watch 3, but not in the standard Pixel 8 or Pixel 9 handsets – you need to upgrade to the Pro models to get UWB (see our Google Pixel 9 Pro review for one option).
As yet, Google hasn’t said anything officially about UWB support on the newly improved Android Find My Device network, but it shouldn’t be too far off now. In the past few months, the upgraded service has been rolling out to more regions.