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Lookout vs. Where's my Droid

J

jackmm

Newbie
After losing or having my last phone stolen, I've decided that I need a good phone finding application.

Which app is better?

Lookout or Where's my Droid?

Thanks.
 
Lookout is a larger app with other features ie. antivirus. If I recall, you need a computer to try and locate your phone. I had a very bad (probably atypical) experience with Lookout. When I went to test the phone locator function, their server started pinging me with SMS text messages, about 40 in an hour, even after I uninstalled. I had to contact Lookout to stop it.

Wheres My Droid works. It is simple and only requires another phone to send one text to the lost phone. Some people prefer using a computer, but if you were looking for your phone away from home or office or in the middle of nowhere, I think getting hold of another phone to text yourself is easier. It will enable the GPS even if you had turned it on and will send back 4 texts to the other phone to let you know 1. message received 2. network course location 3. gps location and 4. possibly the street address.

I had used AVG which also requires a computer to locate phone. AVG did not work for me in 2.1 but did work under 2.3.3.

I am currently testing/running Zoner which is similar to Wheres My Droid but it also has some added features like antivirus. It is not too bad on memory or battery (compared to AVG). One good (or bad) feature is that when the locator text is sent to the phone, it will not show up on the phone. This means that thief will not know that you are trying to locate your phone. But if anybody knows your locator text message, they could track you without you ever knowing (eg wife?).
 
Rovers,

I think my phone was stolen and this happened a few weeks ago. I have already discontinued the service for that phone and gotten a new one. Can I still use Plan B to find the old one? I downloaded it for the old phone but it's probably not on...

Thanks.
 
If you 'have discontinued the service for that phone' I take it you mean you closed the account with the carrier for it? If so I would logically expect them to make that number/SIM card inoperative within 24 hours. 48 hours at the outside. That would mean you can't send anything to it anymore. That phone would only function with a new SIM card, provided by the new 'owner'. In that condition, and without a number to begin with, you can't send anything or any command to that phone of course.
So, no, Plan B won't help you there.

Any recovery of a lost or stolen phone should start A.S.A.P.! Even if you have wiped it remotely you still need to physically recover it A.S.A.P., because that wiped data can be resurrected easily with data recovery software if 'they' have enough time! Meaning you have only a few hours max to physically recover the phone!

So since your phone was stolen a few weeks ago you must consider that everything on it was compromised!
Haven't you gotten any funny bills yet?
 
No funny bills yet. I'm in college so I don't think the person who stole it was as interested with my personal information as they were with the phone itself.
 
You could install both. I like Lookout since it scans for virus (though I am dubious just how good of a scanner it is.. and if it's actually necessary, but.. it's free, so why not). I use Prey for location. I had both installed (might still have both installed actually), but liked how Prey worked better.

Prey also works for locating laptops.

A related question I have is... is there a way to put a password on an app so it can't be removed?

If I were a phone thief (and assuming I got past the lock screen), I would just go look at the phone admins, deactivate them.. and uninstall lookout/prey. It seems like these types of programs should require a code to be deactivated/removed.
 
Not sure how well Lookout works, but you def don't need anti virus in an Android phone.
 
I use both Where's My Droid and Lookout.

Where's My Droid is good if you've lost your phone (away from home) because you can just borrow somebody else's phone, send your phone a "Locate" text message to see where it is on a map, and then when you get near it, send it a "Siren" text message so that you can actually locate it.

Lookout (aside from its antivirus functionality) is more geared toward tracking your phone on Lookout's website, from a big-screen device like a PC, and keeping a running history of its location. You can also force the phone to blare a siren sound, but I think it's hard to do unless you're on a big-screen device.

For example, if I lost my phone while skiing, I'd probably borrow somebody's phone to be able to find it. But if somebody stole my phone (or I wanted to secretly track a family member) I'd use Lookout.

Knowledgeable people who steal phones are probably fairly likely to delete Where's My Droid-- probably more so than Lookout-- which is better known for its antivirus functionality.
 
I would expect "knowledgeable people who steal phones" to not waste any time and do a complete data dump, preferably a clone, on another storage device, like a laptop's HD*, and then a complete wiping and resetting to factory settings, or root and install something else. All while moving, if possible (less likely interception).

*For later careful data analysis and mining, like passwords and IDs.
 
lookout Mobile update
Lookout Mobile released a updated version recently that is awesome. The old version would take your picture and send a GPS location if you type in the wrong unlock 4 times. This new version will take a picture if you turn off the phone, remove the SD card, turn on airplane mode, turn off, mobile data and it still has this signal flare in case your battery is low it'll send GPS location before it dies. it's also a antivirus and scanner. it's about time somebody stepped up and created a app to do all this.
 
I no longer use Lookout because it takes up so much space due to its worthless antivirus capabilities. Instead I now use the small, free Avast anti-theft module. (Avast also has worthless antivirus but you can just install the anti-theft module without the antivirus.) You can rename it, hide it, and if you're rooted, you can bury it in the system directory such that thieves can't delete it without the password or without completely re-installing the OS. It's so well hidden that you have to access it by "calling" a secret number from your phone's dialer. It can do all of the typical tracking, wiping, locking, SIM-card removal notification/locking, photo-taking stuff.

But I still also use Where's My Droid because it's easier to use quickly to find a lost phone by borrowing a friend's phone and sending a text. Avast is better for stolen phones so that they can be managed from a web browser.
 
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