Use Dropbox to Find your Stolen Android Phone

by John Garner · March 7, 2016

Is your Android device missing? Lost or stolen, there’s no reason to panic just yet. There are lots of ways to locate a phone remotely even if you don’t have a tracking app installed. I know that you regret that now, but you should better do something else.

Instead of blaming yourself for don’t wanting to waste your precious space installing a tracker or for not being interested on such a topic considering that this will never happen to you, here’s a way to locate and hopefully get your phone back.

Dropbox is probably the last thing that you might be thinking of, but you will be surprised to find out that it might help you or at least bring you a step closer to finding your Android phone or tablet. Yes, you can use Dropbox to track your device, if by chance you have the app installed.

For this procedure to work, remember that the handset must have access to the internet, as well as the “Camera Upload” activated in your Dropbox app. Even more, someone needs to take pictures with your lost device and if this sounds improbable, you’ll be surprised to find out that this is exactly what’s happening with thieves testing their latest stolen goods.

So, every time your phone’s thief takes a picture, it automatically gets uploaded to your Dropbox “Camera Uploads” folder. So, if the thief tries to take a selfie, you might be able to identify it; or maybe, you can make out the location by looking at the background of the uploaded pictures. I’ve seen so many situations with people who decided to post the photos on Facebook, Twitter, or a blog, and get the help they needed in their phone hunt.

With the extended reach of social media, your chances of recovering the stolen or lost handset are higher than ever. However, that’s the only way Dropbox can help you. When you have Camera Uploads activated in Dropbox, it will upload any photos the thief takes with the phone to your Dropbox folder, allowing you to identify the thief or the location, but it cannot provide you the IP address of the mobile devices which are connected to your Dropbox account.

So, could I say that Dropbox is one of the most efficient anti-theft method? Of course that it is not, but there are situations when Dropbox can be your only chance to recover your beloved device.

Have you already installed an app? Then, such guides will definitely help you: