Phone-finding tools for my mom

June 25, 2024 12:58 PM

My mom is in her mid-70s and has been misplacing her Android phone a few times later (while the ringer is off). I'd like to help find something that will help her, but it needs to be usable for her. More inside.

My mom does pretty well with technology, compared with her peers.

However, I still don't want to give her anything with instructions that are at all complicated. For instance, she never remembers there's a difference between cell service and wifi. When she turns off her ringer, she says her phone is off.

She does turn off her ringer frequently and forget to turn it on.

She has a clunky desktop computer at home (Dell) and she knows how to use it pretty well.

When she misplaces something she gets really anxious and is less likely to remember what steps she has to follow.

What kind of phone tracking device would be user-friendly enough?

I am an iPhone user . If there's a way for me to find her phone / make it beep on my phone, I'll do that. However, I'd rather this be something she can do by herself.

Thanks for any ideas!

posted by mermaidcafe to Technology (21 answers total)

What does "ringer is off"mean" Is it on airplane mode or just volume down?

If just volume down, get her a google device and teach her to say "ok google, where's my phone?" It will ring at full volume even if the volume is down/off. This will actually work even if it is not within vicinity of the google device, so you could actually somehow hook it up to YOUR google device if you have on and she could call YOU and you could say 'ok google where's my home" and it would ring in her house, if you feel like you need to be an interface here.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:02 PM on June 25 [13 favorites]

I have an older version of this and use it to chase my phone around my condo. Occassionally my phone has not been in my condo when activated and I have had to leave to find it and when I found it, it was ringing from find my phone, so it definitely doesn't even need to be attached to the home wifi or anything to work. But it can't be on airplane mode.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 1:05 PM on June 25

Google has a "find my phone" web interface if she's logged into her Google account on her desktop. It should make the phone play a noise even if the volume is off. It only works if the phone is turned on and connected to a network, either WiFi or cellular. I think it's triggering essentially the same feature as Google Home devices.
posted by BungaDunga at 1:28 PM on June 25 [12 favorites]

Google's Find My Device will turn the ringer on full volume. A very technical Android user friend used it the other day for the 1st time, successfully. Enable Hey Google/ Assistant and say Hey Google, turn on flashlight. I do this with Siri at night or in my big purse full o crap. Flashlight also helps when the shallow pockets in women's clothing allow the phone to slide down next to the car seat where it is dark and hard to grab.

You should be able to put a loud fun .mp3 on the phone and say Hey Google play %tune. You might have to say Hey Google increase volume. Google Assistant probably affects battery life, but it can be worthwhile. I used to have a neon green jelly case - so much easier to find my phone, but the assistant stuff and apps are a huge help[ in my life, even help me recover my phone when it was swiped. (I'll remove those shares later today, mods.)

My lock screen on old androids and current iphone has an email address and says 'Reward' and, in my case, my Google Voice #, and when I have lost it in public places, and when the above thief decided to abandon it after I changed the lock screen to say the phone could not be used because it was reported missing, I have gotten it back promptly and paid a reward of 10 - 20 bucks. I live in Maine where people are pretty honest, and I think I'd have gotten it back anyway when found, but a little encouragement is a good thing.
posted by theora55 at 1:30 PM on June 25 [3 favorites]

Just another vote for the Google find my device tool, which yes does work despite your volume settings. I have used it a lot, on multiple devices, and the feature is a life saver. Heck no I will not be retracing my steps, I let the internet do it for me.
posted by phunniemee at 1:36 PM on June 25 [3 favorites]

The most straightforward would be for her to use the "find my phone" that BungaDunga and theora55 mentioned. She can do that from her computer so she doesn't need to buy or sign up for anything. But if you were planning on getting something then a smart speaker like the Nest Mini that If I only had a penguin... linked to is pretty useful. Then she can just ask the speaker and it will make the phone ring. She can also use it for other stuff like telling her the weather or playing music or radio stations.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:38 PM on June 25

The Google "find my phone" works with a Google speaker, so you just say "OK Google find my phone" and it beeps loudly and flashes. (Google Home Mini speakers are $10-$20 on eBay.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:39 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]

I use my Tile tracker for this. The tracker can be put on keys or in a wallet, or just left in a place where it's easy to find. Then she can just press the button on the tracker and her phone will start ringing at top volume.
posted by fern at 2:05 PM on June 25 [5 favorites]

As a backup plan, since it sounds like she might have some other route of telling you there's a problem (email, if nothing else?), I know my Android phone would let me set it so certain people calling twice or thrice in a row would override other silencing options.
posted by teremala at 2:16 PM on June 25 [4 favorites]

Seconding Tile, and furthermore @mermaidcafe can log in to the Tile Account on their own phone and look at the reported location on the map, so they can say, "Mom, you left your phone at a house on Smith St.," or "it's definitely at your house somewhere."
posted by Sunburnt at 3:13 PM on June 25 [2 favorites]

Came here to recommend Google's Find My Device + Tile as the perfect combo which gets all your bases covered.
posted by MiraK at 4:20 PM on June 25

A slightly more elaborate possibility: my wife has a garmin watch which has the ability to make her phone produce a hideous noise (also regardless of volume settings) for locating purposes, if it’s in the house. I assume other smartwatches might have a similar feature? It’s very effective.
posted by advil at 5:05 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]

Google Find My Device on the web, or a Google Mini Speaker that will respond to "Hey Google, find my phone."
posted by notjustthefish at 5:38 PM on June 25

Instead of memorizing or bookmarking Google's Find My site, you can just google Find My Phone and it will.
posted by dobbs at 5:41 PM on June 25 [4 favorites]

Tiles are great because the noise is clear. I would combine that with a Google home device so she can ask Google to find her phone. Plug it in the room she’s in the most - kitchen, bedroom - and get her to leave it on. Voice activated tech is popular for elderly aging in place because set up properly it can help them with lots of routine things and act as a memory support.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 6:33 PM on June 25

Tile's great, and they can be attached to other key objects. Like keys. Or could get the button ones and attach them to a fixed object. Doesn't require any apps, just press the button three times.
posted by lookoutbelow at 6:46 PM on June 25 [1 favorite]

I'm not sure what you mean by "ringer is off". Every night, I set my phone to "temporary mute" so it is quiet overnight and goes back to "sound" 9 hrs later.
posted by SemiSalt at 4:47 AM on June 26

Since she is a computer user, does she use Google search engine and stay logged in to her Google account? If yes, the easiest thing is to just type "find my phone" in a google browser. Source: am (not quite as ) old and I use this all the time.

Also, if she misplaces it outside the house, you can set up location sharing on Google maps so you can see her phone on a map. This will also help if she ever becomes prone to wandering and you need to find her (with her phone).
posted by CathyG at 7:41 AM on June 26

I got my mom a 90db key finder set and she loves it. She's got tags on her keys, phone, remotes (which she loses in the bed falling asleep with the TV on), and the small toolbox she uses for day-to-day stuff.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:58 AM on June 26

And either get her a set of write-on labels (it may come with, I don't remember) or get her a little $20ish Brother labelmaker (the type with a keyboard on it), which my mother also found delightful as she would never buy herself something that frivolous but is also having trouble reading her own handwriting anymore.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:10 AM on June 26

My garmin smartwatch does this with one swipe and then tapping the phone-shaped icon, if that's easy enough. It makes a loud sound and flashing light even when the phone is on silent (do not disturb mode). I use it many times a day, works great.

There also is the ability to set an emergency contact call that can be activated from the watch, which could be a useful thing to have at some point, even if not needed yet.
posted by randomnity at 4:27 PM on June 26