How to share your tracker on your Google Find My Device network

Google’s Find My Device network is officially open to the public. It allows you to track devices using a much more reliable method and allows you to share devices with trusted users. Here’s how sharing a tracker through Find My Device works.

In a departure from the current method of determining when a single device was last connected, Find My Device uses most of the Android device database to determine where a lost device is. Apple uses a similar technique, using the iPhone’s network to find the AirTag ID if it is lost or stolen.

The idea is simple: let your device or tracker connect securely and anonymously to existing Android devices, such as phones, over your cellular network, even if they don’t share any account. With this connection, it is possible to retrieve location data for the tracker and send it to the account associated with it. The result is a vast network of phones that can locate your tracker as long as it can connect to the Find My Device network.

How to share your tracker with others

One of the best features that the Find My Device network offers is the ability to share your tracker with another person. This is useful for colleagues and friends who need to see the location of an item as it moves or stays securely in place.

I’ve used a similar feature in the past to make sure my bags stay in the same place while I’m running to an event on the other side of town, all while using a tracker registered to someone else. By sharing this tracker with me, I was able to access its location data quickly and easily.

Here’s how to share your tracker

1. On your Android device, go to Find the My Device app.
2. Find your tracker and open its page.
3. Hit the bottom Participation device.
4. Hit To continue and collect sharing link.
5. send a link the user you want to share the tracker with.
6. They will Open ithit AcceptAND follow the instructions.

Note: You’ll need to make sure you and the sharing partner’s phones are connected to the Find My Device network. You can do it by walking to the applicationhitting you profile picture, and knocking Find my device settings. Enable this feature.

On the other side, the user will have several options available. These are similar settings that an owner can make with a shared tracker through the Find My Device app. This includes playing audio, marking the tracker as lost, and finding directions to its location.

There is a settings mode that will allow you to further access details, as well as the ability to leave sharing at any time.