Have you ever lost your phone or laptop? It’s a horrifying feeling. Thankfully there are some things you can do about it before it happens to you.
The following apps or services will help you find your smartphone or notebook if they are lost or stolen. They can also be used to find the person using them if you’ve lost them – whether or not they want to be found.
Some of these are free and some are not. Whichever one you choose, it must be enabled before your phone or laptop is lost – and you must understand the security risks you’re taking to make your mobile devices more secure.
| Platform | Device | App or Service | Description | Price |
| iOS | iPhone | Find My iPhone | Displays your phones location on a map. Must use from another Apple device | Free |
| Android | Smartphones | Where’s My Droid | Text the phone to get its GPS or Google Maps location via text. | Free |
| Android | Smartphones | LookOut Security and Antivirus | Antivirus, Phone Locator, and Data Backup app. | Free |
| Android, Blackberry, iOS, OSX, and Windows | Smartphones, Laptops, and Tablets | GadgetTrack | Find your mobile device and see who’s using it. Takes and sends pictures of it’s location. | $19.95 per year |
| OSX and Windows | Laptops | LoJack for Laptops | Remotely locate, lock, and delete the data on your laptop. Service is guaranteed. | $39.99 per year |
| Windows | Laptops | Laptop Cop | Remotely locate, lock, and delete the data on your laptop. Requires police report to enable. | $49.95 per year |
| OSX | Laptops | Hidden | Find your mobile device and see who’s using it. Takes and sends pictures of it’s location. | $15.00 per year |
The Hidden app, whose name itself makes it hard to find, got notoriety when a blogger posted pictures online of the man who allegedly stole his Macbook laptop (below), but for Android, Blackberry, and Windows users, GadgetTrack does something similar. Hidden is only for Mac operating systems, OSX.