The Best Android Apps to Protect Your Device Against Theft
- Written by NewsServices.com
No one thinks too much about the situation that their mobile device can be stolen, but the harsh truth is that we all have a chance of being the victim of a theft, which brings with it a theft of personal information and passwords (photos, credit card credentials we all use from time to time for online paying, purchasing, betting at top Australian bookies, etc.). That’s why it’s a very good idea to have an anti-theft application on your smartphone.
Google offers built-in protection within Android called Find My Device, but there are a few more apps on the market worth mentioning, especially because those apps also offer some more advanced options that Google doesn’t. So let’s not dwell on too much and take a look at what are the apps you should consider if you have an Android phone.
Find My Device
Find My Device is, as we said, Google’s anti-theft protection it offers to its users. It’s definitely a quality application. It allows you to remotely lock your device, log out of it, or delete all content from your mobile. You can also see where the device is on the map and call it. Of course, this is a good thing even in cases where you have lost your mobile and just want to find it. If you lock your mobile remotely, you can even write a message on its screen so that the person who found your device (or stole it) can see the message.
Find My Device is an option that is turned on by default on all Android devices, but it’s good to look and check that you didn’t accidentally turn it off. Go to Settings -> Google -> Security and tap Find My Device. Make sure the toggle is set to “On”, not “Off”.
Cerberus
Cerberus is perhaps the most famous anti-theft third-party app for Android. It has a bunch of opportunities and most competitors look up to it, that is, they try to be better than it in order to eventually take a share of this market.
Remote control of the device via a web portal, remote control of the device via text messaging, and automatic alarms are the three main methods Cerberus safeguards your device. The application can locate and monitor your device, lock it, trigger an alarm on your phone, upload a printout of your calls to the cloud server, or clear the internal and external memory on your phone.
Furthermore, Cerberus will do its best to make anyone who steals your mobile phone accountable. This app can secretly take pictures and videos of the person who owns your device, and instantly upload that data to your cloud server for you to see. It can even secretly record sounds through a microphone on the mobile. What we like very much are the so-called ‘automatic actions’. For example, you can set the phone to lock automatically when someone changes the SIM card or to take a picture as soon as the person enters the wrong PIN.
Unfortunately, due to the way the app works, which is ‘under the hood’, Google doesn’t allow you to download it from the Play Store. But, don’t worry, the app is legal, you just need to download it from the Cerberus website by downloading the APK to your phone, and installing it. The app costs about $5 a month.
Anti-Theft Alarm
Most of the applications we’ll mention in this text are complex and useful. This application is useful, but not complex. Rather, it’s on the opposite side of the complexity scale. This app doesn’t have the ability to perform certain actions after your phone has been stolen, it can’t locate your phone, or delete content from it.
The question then is – what can this application do? As the name suggests, it’s an application that will sound an alarm in certain situations. For example, if someone removes the phone from the charger, you can set an alarm to buzz. If someone changes the SIM card, you can trigger an alarm. In short – you can set an alarm for certain actions, and you can only turn it off with a PIN or by properly unlocking your phone. Replacing the battery or SIM card won’t prevent the phone from beeping.
McAfee Mobile Security
McAfee is a company known for its anti-virus solutions, but they also have a great Android app for those who want to protect themselves in case someone steals their mobile. In fact, they have an application that has everything you need in such cases.
If we’re talking about specific features, then we’re talking about remote and secure locking of the device, a camera that records the thief, locking the phone until the “master” password is entered, and the like. Let’s also mention that the application has a “Find my phone” feature built into the application, and you can see the phone on the map, set the alarm to sound the phone, and turn on the step-by-step guidance on the location of the phone.
The application is free to use. A premium annual plan that offers additional features costs $30 per year.
CrookCatcher
CrookCatcher, an app with an interesting name, is designed like all the apps just mentioned – to help you catch a thief who stole your mobile, of course, in real-time.
When someone tries to unlock your phone with the wrong PIN or combination, the app will take a picture and send it to you immediately by email. This email will contain a picture, GPS coordinates, approximate address, and a map of where the mobile is located. What you can set on your smartphone is how many times the wrong unlock PIN can be entered before the application is activated.
What sets CrookCatcher apart from other apps is that it doesn’t drain your mobile phone battery at all. It practically only starts when the wrong PIN is entered and then, it does what needs to be done. The rest of the time the app is shut down and doesn’t ‘wait’ in the background to activate. The application is free but you have advertisements built it.