Remote Power On?

[ArchanAlias]

Everybody hates losing their phone. Sometimes, when a phone is lost or stolen, it is turned off and cannot be tracked.

I treat my phone like my child and would hate to lose it. Is there any application or modification I can make to my phone to remotely turn it on or set off an alarm through an internet browser or through another phone? Or is a power down the be-all and end-all of all phone processes?

-My phone is a Verizon Galaxy S3, running Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
-I am rooted.
-My phone is not lost, I still have access to it.

 

[codesplice]

Hi ArchanAlias, and welcome to Android Forums! We're glad you have chosen to become a part of our community. :ciao:

Unfortunately, there's no "wake-on-lan" or similar function for Android. When a device is powered off, it's dead to the world. It requires physical access to turn a device back on. No app is able to run when the device is powered off, so there's no way that it would be able to turn it back on.

 

[Stuntman]

I have never heard of this feature on Android. However, I have heard of this feature on older feature phones. A colleague of mine told me that the carrier was able to remotely turn on a feature phone and make it ring because the person lost it somewhere. Apparently when the phone is off, it still was partially turned on enough to receive a cell signal.

 

[ArchanAlias]

What I'm most curious about is if there is a way to modify the coding so that I can add another trigger to power on the device other than the normal power button. Is there an actual physical process that happens when you turn on an Android phone, or is it constantly checking the power button analog to see if it's pressed when it's off?

 

[ArchanAlias]

I found a better solution to my problem. I only wanted to make it so a thief couldn't make off with my phone easily by shutting it off and going on his or her merry way.

Smart Lockscreen Protector will prevent the shutdown menu from appearing on the lockscreen; unless you know the passcode to the lockscreen, you can't turn it off or go into airplane mode (unless you pull the battery, and my protective case is sturdy enough to be a nuisance). So my phone recovery apps will still be able to function.

For those of you with similar problems to mine, here is the
Google Play Store link for Smart Lockscreen Protector:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nezdroid.lockscreenprotector&hl=en
(No root is needed.)

 

[Hadron]

It's not foolproof though. As you've noted, pulling the battery will shut it down regardless. But many phones (and all I know of that don't have removable batteries) can be hard shut down by pressing and holding the power button for 10-20 seconds, irrespective of whether they are locked or not.

But that's just a reflection of the fact that it's hard to really protect against a thief who actually knows what they are doing. Luckily many do not.

 

[ArchanAlias]

The app I found will block the long hold power down on the Galaxy S3 from what I've tested. It needs to have the power menu active for the long press to take effect, and the app blocks it from operating on the lock screen.

The only way to shut down would be to tear apart my case and pull the battery. And, yes, hopefully thieves aren't smart enough to go through all of that.

Thank you everybody for your advice!

Edit: My Galaxy S3 appears to not have the long press functionality at all, even if I'm unlocked and can get to the power down menu. Disregard the first paragraph.

 

[Hadron]

Yeah, I don't think my last phone, which had a removable battery, had the long press function. But the app description is clear that it won't block that if present.