The GPS feature will find the geographic location of your phone.
By default the GPS feature is ready to go out-of-the-box.
Borrow someone else's cell phone. Text your GPS attention word to your lost device's phone number. By default the GPS attention word is "WMD GPS".
From the main dashboard of Commander you may click the "Locate" button on the left toolbar to refresh the devices location.
As of Android 8.0 Google forces any app accessing location in the background to show a notification. We tried to make it as minimal as possible and display for the shortest time we could. You can disable notifications for the WMD, but Android will still show its own notification.
Disable notificationPhones Settings -> Apps & notifications -> Notifications -> Notifications -> Where's My Droid and turn off Location Notification.
The flare will send out an email with the current location when the battery gets low.
Enable the flare feature in the GPS Setup menu of the app.
By default the email will be sent to your Commander account. If you have Elite you may add additional email addresses to send the alert to.
The ring feature will force your phone to ring at max volume no matter what it was set to.
Borrow someone else's cell phone. Text your ring attention word to your lost device's phone number. By default the ring attention word is "WMD ring".
From the Commander dashboard click the Ring button on the left toolbar.
Take pictures with either the front or back facing camera. This can be useful to "see" the surroundings of your lost phone.
The on-demand function allows you to take pictures with the device's camera at anytime.
Click the “Camera Setup” button from the main menu. Verify the “Enable via text” and "Enable via Commander" are checked.
Have the app take a picture when someone failed to enter your devices screen lock. Note: you must have a screen lock enabled for this feature to work.
Click on the "Camera Setup" from the main menu. Enable the feature and set the email to send the picture to. By default it will go to your Commander account email address.
From the Commander dashboard click the "Camera" button in the left toolbar, or text your camera attention word to your lost device's phone number. By default the camera attention words are "WMD camera front" or "WMD camera back".
If you enabled the 'Save to SD card' feature then all pictures taken are also stored to your phones SD card. They won't be stored with your usual pictures. They will be in a folded called Where's My Droid. You'll need a computer or file browsing app to see them.
This feature will remotely set a screen lock. If your device falls into unknown hands you can lock your phone until you are able to recover it.
Requires Android 6.0.1 or less. Read more
Click the “Lock Setup” button. Click “Set Device Admin” (If not already set). Select “Activate” to allow Where's My Droid to use advanced features
Lock: Text your lock attention word to your lost device, followed by a 4-8 digit PIN. (E.x. "WMD Lock 1234").
Unlock: To unlock your device text your unlock attention word. By default the attention word is "WMD unlock".
Lock: Log into your Commander account and click on the Lock feature in the left-hand toolbar. Enter a PIN to lock the device with and hit "Set".
Unlock: To unlock your device click the unlock button in the Lock feature slideout
Note: Using the unlock feature will remove any screen lock that the app has put in place, or that you have put in place manually. Once unlocked the device will no longer need any sort of PIN or password to access it.Remote Wipe will erase data permanently from your device. Only use it if your device is lost without any chance for recovery.
Click the “Wipe Setup” button. Click “Set Device Admin” (If not already set). Select “Activate” to allow Where's My Droid to use advanced features. Place a check mark where you want your information to be wiped: “Device” or “SD Card”.
Text your wipe attention word to your lost device. By default the wipe attention word is "WMD wipe". Your device will text back asking you to confirm the wipe. Text back "Confirm Remote Wipe" to finalize the process or "No" to cancel it.
Requires a passcode to enter the apps setups menu.
From the main menu of the app click the "Passcode" button. Set a 4 digit passcode, you'll be asked to confirm it.
The app will automatically lock 10 minutes after enter the passcode. This gives you time to edit settings without being bothered for the passcode or requiring you to manually lock the app.
Prevents the app from being uninstalled. If an attempt is made, the screen lock becomes engaged to lock down the whole device.
Requires Android 6.0.1 or less. Read More
Open the Uninstall Defense menu in the app. If you haven't already you must set the app as a 'Device Admin'. Once you have enabled the Uninstall Defense feature you must set a PIN. This is a 4-6 digit number that will be used to lock the device with. If someone attempts to uninstall the app you'll need this PIN to get back into the device.
IMPORTANT: Write this number down somewhere safe. If you forgot it you may be locked out of your phone forever.
Forgot PIN: Login into your Commander account, click the Lock tab. There the system can reveal the last used PIN that was used to lock your device.
Get an email alert if some inserts a new SIM card.
Open the SIM Monitor menu in the app. After enabling the feature check the "Phone data". It should show your current SIM and phone numbers. If it doesn't, click on them to open a menu where you can refresh them.
Everytime your phone boots up the app will check if the SIM was replaced. If so it will send you an email with the new SIM and phone numbers so you could still use the app via texting.
This will control who can use the app via texting for your phone.
Note: This is not really a recommended feature to use. Instead we recommend you change your attention words. If you do that, a person would have to know your attention words to use the app. This way you're not limiting yourself to the device you can use if you do lose your phone.
First you'll need to decide if you want to use the white list or the black list. Using it as the white list will only allow numbers on the list to activate the apps features. If you set it up as the black list then it will only block the numbers on the list, all other phones can use it.
Next let's add some numbers. The easiest way is to pull from contacts. Click the button to load your contacts and pick a number from there. If you have problems with that method you can manually enter a number instead. Be sure to enter the number just as it shows up on your caller id.
Be sure to test the app after setting up the list. It's possible the app may see numbers differently than you have them on the list and not function correctly.
The most common issue with the White/Black list having the numbers misconfigured. The best way to diagnose this is to send an attention word from a phone that you want to be able to use the app. No go into the Activity Log, its in the advanced menu. The log will say if it accepted or rejected the text base on the white list. Note how the phone number appears here. That is how the number should be entered on the white list.
Automatically detect if your device becomes stolen and react in a number of ways instantly.
First you should setup the triggers for the feature. These are the things the app monitors to detect if the device is stolen. This is how you tell the app what defines your phone as being stolen.
There are many different options. Lets go over each one.
If you have a screen lock enabled this will monitor failed attempts to access your device
Thieves will often remove a SIM card once they get a phone so it can't be tracked. With this you'll know it and the app will react.
If someone tries to remove the app.
Attempting to access Where's My Droid when you have a passcode setup.
A thief will often turn a phone off as soon as then steal it so it can't be tracked. Note: that the app tries to delay shutdown so it can trigger the actions, but some phones may still shut down too fast.
Sometimes they may want to play with your phone so they enable airplane mode to try and prevent it from being tracked.
They may be trying to download your personal info or hack your screen lock if you have one.
More useful if lost, as the battery gets low it can trigger the actions.
The actions are things the app can do for you once it detects your phone is stolen.
Probably the most useful. It can contain information like the current location, devices stats, and even pictures.
If you don't normally have a screen lock this can be a great way to enable one when it's really needed.
Show a custom message in the notification bar.
Cause the app to start ringing at full volume.
Updates your device location to Commander throughout the day. Great for seeing where your device has been since it was lost.
Simply enable it and you're ready to go. The device's location will be uploaded to your Commander account for you to view. The app updates its location every few hours or so.
Note: You must already have a Commander account setup in order to use this feature.
Activates an alarm if someone tries to pick up your phone. It uses the phones accelerometer sensors to determine if the phone has moved. This is a great feature if you need to leave your phone somewhere to charge, such as an airport.
Open the Motion Alarm menu in the app. Go into the settings menu. Here you can adjust how long the app waits before arming the alarm, and how long you have to enter the correct passcode after the alarm has been triggered.
You must setup a passcode. Motion Alarm uses the same passcode that is used to lock the apps menus. If you already use the passcode feature to protect the apps menus then you don't need to set this up.
When you need to set your phone down and leave it alone for a while.
If you're out in public you can set a geofence for the area you are in. If someone steals your phone and leaves that area the app will trigger the stolen mode of the theft detection feature.
Open the Geofence menu and click the settings button in the top right. Select the "Set Theft Actions" menu. Here you can set what you want to happen when the device leaves the area.
Each time you open the Geofence menu the app will find your location and show it on the map. Adjust the radius slider for the area you want. If the device leaves the orange circle it will trigger the stolen actions. Once you have the radius you want click "Enable". Then specify how long you want the geofence to remain active for.
Activate the app's ring feature from a land line. The feature will be activated anytime a call is missed from a number on the list.
Open the Advanced Settings menu and select the Call Setup feature. Enable the feature and add up to 10 phone numbers that will activate the apps ring feature.
Call your lost phone from a phone that is on the list. When the call is missed the app will turn the ringer up and ring at full volume.
Get stats about your device like battery level and see what wifi networks your device is near.
None required.
If you wish you may change the attention word for this feature in the Attention Word menu.
Text your Device Stats attention word to your lost phone. By default the attention word is "WMD Stats". The phone will respond with some device stats and the nearby wifi.
Log into your Commander account. Next to your device's name is a Device Info button. Click that to open the slide out with the stats on it. Click the refresh button at the top of the slide out to request updated device stats.
Open the WMD app on the device you want to add. Tap on the Commander button. Log into your account to add the device.
You can have up to 10 devices total on one account. 3 of them can be the free version of the app and the rest must each have Pro installed or you must have an Elite account.
When you add a device it becomes linked based on its device id, not the phone number. This means that if you get a new phone you need to link it as well.
A device can only be linked to one Commander account at a time. If you want to move a device a different account you must remove it first.
If you get a new device you may want to remove the old device from your account.
You can also remove a device from another device on the same Commander account.
Log into your account at wheresmydroid.com.
Mobile websiteIf you have an Elite account, removing a device will take away its Elite features.
Data is needed for Commander to send its commands to your device. Be sure that you have some kind of data service enabled.
Check your phone's data sleep policy. Some phones may shut data off when the device is in sleep mode, screen off. Without data, Commander can't get its commands to your device.
Do you have any power saving apps? These may be turning data off in order to save power. They could also be killing WMD background processes in an attempt to save power.
Do you have a task management app? If so this may be killing WMD's background process when it tries to locate your device. Please configure your task manager to ignore WMD.
Make sure you have the latest version of Google Play Services. This is an app required for Commander to work. All devices should come with this pre-installed, just make sure its up-to-date.
It's possible for the app to become out-of-sync with Commander. Restarting your phone forces it to re-sync, but if it still doesn't work try removing the device from your account and adding it back.
When you get a new device you need to be sure to link your new device to Commander. Start by removing your old device from Commander, so there is no confusion. Then log into Commander though the app on your new device to link it to your account.
The most common reason to see the "Not Registered" status message is if the app was uninstalled from that device. When the app gets uninstalled it's no longer "registered" in the system. The device stays in your account so you can still see that last known location. To fix this make sure the app is installed on your device and log into Commander though the app.
Use voice commands to find your phone with Where's My Droid.
Search for "Where's My Droid" in the skills section of the Alexa app. Once enabled you'll be asked to log into your Commander account.
Next you'll be asked to pick a default device. This is the device you'll most likely want to use with Alexa. If you don't tell Alexa a specific device to find she will find the default.
Note: Be sure you already have an account and that your primary device is linked to it before linking Alexa.Alexa supports both the ring feature and locate by GPS. The easiest way to locate your phone is to say "Alexa, open Where's My Droid". If the app has a recent location for your phone she will say it, then ask if you want to make your phone ring or get an updated location.
To make your phone ring say "Alexa, ask Where's My Droid to make my phone ring."
To get your phones location say "Alexa, ask Where's My Droid to find my phone."
If you want to have Alexa find a different device on your account say the name of the devie in place of "my phone". Say it as you have it labeled in Commander.
For example, "Alexa, ask Where's My Droid to make Nexus 7 Tablet ring."
Purchasing Pro will unlock extra features in the app. For details on which features are available in Pro check out the features page.
If you bought a new phone Pro will follow you to your new device. This works because we use Google Play for handling the license. As long as you use the same email account with Google Play you will get Pro.
If Pro doesn't unlock the first time you open the app on your new device you may need to open the Upgrade to Pro menu. Each time that menu is opened the app checks for existing purchases.
Pro is indented to be per device. However it does link to your Google Play account so it will transfer to other device with that account
To transfer Pro to another device all you need to do is open the Upgrade menu. As soon as the menu opens the app will check for your purchase and unlock Pro if it sees it.
If your devices use different email account with Google Play you will have to purchase a Pro license for each email account you want Pro on.
Purchasing Elite will unlock extra features in the app. For details on which features are available in Elite check out the features page.
You must have a Commander account to purchase Elite. This is because Commander is used to validate the subscription.
When you purchase Elite its for all devices on your Commander account. Once you complete the purchase your account will become an Elite account. All other devices will unlock Elite shortly. You can force a device to check for Elite by opening up the Upgrade menu.
Elite is tied to the Commander account you purchased it for. If you need to use a new Commander account you'll need to cancel your current subscription and start a new one with the new Commander account.
You can manage your subscription from your Google Play account. A quick way to get there is from the Upgrade menu of the app.
Some anti-virus apps have been known to flag Where's My Droid. This isn't because it has a virus or any malware in it. Its due to the fact that Where's My Droid requires a lot of permissions. Many malware apps ask for a lot a permissions so they can steal personal info. That's what these anti-virus apps are warning about.
If you have an anti-virus app that is flagging Where's My Droid you may contact us at support@wheresmydroid.com. If you tell us the anti-virus app you are using we will contact them and can often get Where's My Droid removed as an alert. You can also usually report Where's My Droid as a false positive though the anti-virus app itself. This will also help to get us removed.
WMD works best with the stock Android "Messaging" app by Google. If you wish to use a third-partying texting app it may require some work to get it working.
Here is a list of known apps that will work with WMD with some modifications
Verizon recently made some changes to Message+. If both phones use Message+ then Verizon may send the message over the internet rather than via a real text message. When this happens WMD can't read the incoming text.
Most users report that disabling "Chat" mode will fix this. It will force the app to send all messages over the network rather than via the internet. You can change this by going to the Message+ app -> Click top left menu button -> Settings -> Advanced -> Enable Chat.
If that doesn't work your other option is to switch to the stock "Messaging" app on the phone that is sending the text. Once done you can switch back to Message+ and you won't lose any of your settings or texts.
Go to the profile tab and click "Settings". Go into the "General" tab and find "Advanced settings". Turn off the "Priority to messaging" option.
Tap the "Inbox" dropdown and select "More". Click on the "Settings" menu. Select the "Default Messaging application" and set that to "Disable".
In Android 4.4+ Google changed the way texting is handled. This means that any of the above apps will work without modification.
Apps like WhatsApp and Google Voice use the Internet to send messages. These messages are secure and are not broadcast out for other apps to see. For this reason its not possible to use WMD via texting in this way.
Even though you may not have downloaded a third-party app, it may have come pre-installed with one. Many phone manufactures are making their own texting apps an pre-installing them on your phone. Most should work but some use RCS (Rich Communication Services). WMD can't read texts that come though this way so you must disable this mode.
Sorry to see you go :(
Use our handy fast uninstall option. You can access it from the upper right hand corner of the apps main menu.
First, you should unlink the device from your Commander account. Do this in the Commander menu of the app.
Second, disable the Uninstall Defense feature if you have it enable. Otherwise the next step will lock your device.
Third, you must remove the app as a 'Device Admin'. This can be done from the phone's System -> Security menus.
Finally, you may now uninstall the app from either Google Play or the phone's system menus.
The app has extra features available in both the Pro and Elite versions of the app.
The upgrade to Pro and Elite must be done though the app. Open the main menu of the app. Click the menu button in the top right and select Upgrade. Here you can now pick between the Pro version and the Elite version.
We no longer sell the Pro version, but if you already bought it then you still get access to all the features you paid for. If you have any questions email us at support@wheresmydroid.com.
Elite is for your whole Commander account. You will purchase Elite on the primary device that will manage the subscription. Every other device on your Commander account will then also get Elite.
Elite not show up on your other devices? Open the Upgrade menu to have it check for Elite status.
I know there is a lot of confustion about us no longer selling the Pro version. Allow me to clear this up. Since 2009 we have had the Pro version which had a few extra features such as Lock, Wipe, and Camera to name a few. As the app grew we added more features to it up until about 2013. For years we didn't add any new features. This was because many features we wanted to add could not be supported by the one-time fee for-life model of Pro. In January of 2016 we finally add many features we had been working on, and put them in a new package called Elite. Now with Elite as a subscription mode we could finally offer many more features.
For 3 years we offered 3 packages: free, Pro, and Elite. Pro had a few extra features, then Elite had everything of Pro and more. In early 2019 we decided to stop selling Pro. This was due to the confusion between one package that was a one-time fee for one device, and another that was a subscription and covered mulitple devices. Each with different feature sets and options. Also, due to Elite being a better value no one was buying Pro anymore.
Now, even though we have stopped selling Pro, we still support it. So for those of you who already bought Pro you still get all the same features you paid for. In fact we have since added a few more things to Pro as well. But if you are really mad about this change, just email me at support@wheresmydroid.com and I'll convert your Pro purchase into an Elite one.
If you would like to permanently you may do so within your account online. Log into your account, click on your profile in the top right, select My Account. There are some tabs on the right of the profile page. The one labeled Delete will remove your account. Please keep in my this is permanent. It will delete all information stored about all your devices, as well as your whole account. You will no longer be able to login, and we will no longer have any information about you in our system.
User Permissions are things that the app can access on your device. You may wonder what some of them mean and why they are needed for the app. We have made this page to explain them to you.
Identity
Used to pull your email account for Commander.
Contacts
For uploading contacts and call log to Commander.
Location
Used to find the location of your lost device.
SMS
Used to read your texts to look for the attention words and to be able to send text messages back.
Phone
Also needed for the call log feature and the hidden icon feature.
Photos/Media/files
Allows us to save the pictures take with the camera feature. Also needed for the remote wipe feature.
Camera
Needed for the camera feature.
Wi-Fi Connection information
Used in the Device Stats feature where you can see nearby wifi.
Device ID & call information
In order to link your device to a Commander account we need the device ID information.
Lock the screen, Change the screen lock, Set password rules, Set screen lock password expiration
These four permissions allow the app to changes your phone's screen lock password and engage the screen lock remotely.
Monitor screen unlock attempts
Allows the app to take a picture when someone fails to unlock your device.
Erase all data
Give the app permission to remotely wipe your device's personal data. If you do not want the app to be able to wipe you can disable it in the Wipe Setup menu.
Network Communication
Your location
Phone calls
System tools
Your messages
Services the cost you money
Hardware controls
Your personal information
Your Accounts
Storage
Default
You may also wonder why the free version needs some of the same access that the Pro and Elite versions need. Thats because the free version contains the same exact app as the Pro/Elite version. Pro or Elite can be upgrade to from within the app.
If you have future questions about how we use this information check out our Privacy Policy.
