Google’s Find My Device feature has started appearing on phones outside of North America, despite there being no official date given for the global rollout.
This news was originally reported by two X users (via Mishaal Rahman and Android Authority). The first came from a user in Japan called @Nrnsasa5gmmwsub who shared a screenshot that showed they had received the Find My Device feature. Another post came later from a user in the U.K., @willza who also shared screenshots of the feature on their Pixel 8.
hey @MishaalRahman, looks like Find My Device is rolling out in the UK. just got this on my Pixel 8 pic.twitter.com/1wceUyX9tBMay 9, 2024
Originally announced at Google I/O 2023, Google’s Find My Device was initially launched on April 8 in the United States and Canada. While Google did not state when Find My Device would be released outside of North America, developers of compatible Bluetooth tracker-maker Pebblebee told AA that it expected the global rollout to begin as soon as May 27th, which could be what we are seeing the beginnings of here.
The strange thing is that many U.S. users have begun to receive emails from Google informing them that they will soon be joining the Find My Device Network. However, Rahman reports that he has found no one outside North America who has received this email. This could mean that the two users above received the update accidentally, or Google is doing the global release slower than any would have anticipated.
Google’s Find My Device is similar to Apple’s Find My Phone. With that came the same security and privacy concerns that originally affected Apple. Google has confirmed that the location data shared with users has end-to-end encryption. Google was also quick to specify that while it uses crowdsourced data to find lost offline items, no personal information is shared. Google also has built-in limits on how many times a device’s location can be pinged to preserve user safety.
While the nature of this apparent rollout is still uncertain, Google is likely aiming to release the Find My Device feature globally as soon as possible. And given the above reports, it seems that the U.K. and Japan will be the first regions to get it with likely follow-ups — and I'm guessing here — being countries in mainland Europe like France and Germany as well as possibly Australia and South Korea before the feature is eventually available worldwide.
Hopefully, we will learn more at Google's Google I/O 2024, event next wee, so keep an eye on our hub for all the news and rumors.
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