Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,490
30,730


Google today announced new automation and web features coming to Google Assistant for Android and iOS, with the most notable feature for Apple users being the ability to locate a lost iPhone using the digital assistant.

google-Assistant-find-my-iphone.png

Android users have long been able to use the Google Assistant to trigger a sound for their smartphone if it got lost. That same ability, much like Apple's own Find My system, is coming to the iPhone. The feature will let users who have a Google Assistant-enabled smart speaker and the accompanying Google Home app for iOS find a misplaced device.

The alert is triggered when asking "Hey Google, find my phone" through a Google smart home devices. Following the trigger, the Google Home app will send an iOS critical alert on the iPhone. Apple offers apps the ability to utilize critical alerts, which are special notifications that can break through Do Not Disturb, or silent mode, to ensure they reach the user. Apps with critical alerts require special approval from Apple, and Google seems to have obtained that approval.

Additional features coming to the Google Assistant app include "Assistant Routines," which Google says will make it easy to perform multiple actions at once with a single command automatically, and a Duplex update that makes ordering takeout and delivery easier with partner restaurants.

Article Link: Google Assistant Can Now Help You Find Your Lost iPhone
 

motm95

macrumors 6502
Aug 19, 2010
359
1,434
127.0.0.1
I still think it is an interesting choice that with Siri and Alexa, you are asking a disembodied AI "person" while with Google, you are asking ... well, Google. The all-knowing Google.
 

mrgraff

macrumors 65816
Apr 18, 2010
1,089
837
Albuquerque
Too little, too late. It chimes three times and that's it. Only vibrates the phone once if it's on silent.

Thankfully, I have other Apple devices to run "Find My" on.
 

PinkyMacGodess

Suspended
Mar 7, 2007
10,271
6,226
Midwest America.
So, 'they' can track *any* iPhone? Who feels comfortable that the company that once said 'do no evil', and HAS done evil, can now track our iPhones. (I hope they can't just vacuum up all of our locations at will. That could mean more 'targeted advertising' I'd wager)

Not that I'm paranoid, but I'd have more trust in my psychotic sister than Google, which means something quite a bit less than zero to something like way too many zeros precision.
 

PinkyMacGodess

Suspended
Mar 7, 2007
10,271
6,226
Midwest America.
i can help you find your lost iphone, but before i do — have you considered the pixel?

The pixel? I love pixels! The more the better. The smaller the better too. I LOVE 5k! 4K is good too. Lots of pixels. Yeah, I like pixels. Wait, a what? A 'droid' phone? You named it pixel? That's kinda dumb. Oh, would I want one of those? Why? I already have the world's best phone, why would I want one of those? Are you crying? Oh, it's hard to cross sell those? Well, I don't know what to say, except, maybe Apple has an opening, somewhere...
 

BornAgainMac

macrumors 604
Feb 4, 2004
7,281
5,250
Florida Resident
I wonder if they will ever have it so you can ask "Playback what you heard from my iPhone Mic 3 days ago between 3:30pm and 3:35pm." Google Assistant "<plays back that content>...." You say "Stop. Send both as a audio file and text transcript to my email and I'll review it later." Google Assistant "Done."
 

hagar

macrumors 68000
Jan 19, 2008
1,961
4,866
Me: “Hey Google, find my phone”
Google: (without blinking) “your iPhone cannot be retrieved anymore, you can buy a new Android phone from these vendors. They are impossible to lose because we track them 24/7”
 
Last edited:

Gasu E.

macrumors 603
Mar 20, 2004
5,033
3,150
Not far from Boston, MA.
Sorry, sometimes I don’t trust google with privacy.
Oh no, this is a great feature! Based on your prior patterns of movement and behavior, as collected and analyzed by Google, Google will be able to predict WHEN and WHERE you are going to misplace your phone in the future, with 99% accuracy! Caveat: only 70% accuracy if you ordered the black iPhone.
 

alexandr

macrumors 603
Nov 11, 2005
5,411
9,832
11201-121099
The pixel? I love pixels! The more the better. The smaller the better too. I LOVE 5k! 4K is good too. Lots of pixels. Yeah, I like pixels. Wait, a what? A 'droid' phone? You named it pixel? That's kinda dumb. Oh, would I want one of those? Why? I already have the world's best phone, why would I want one of those? Are you crying? Oh, it's hard to cross sell those? Well, I don't know what to say, except, maybe Apple has an opening, somewhere...
more or less my thought process :))) good to know there are still some great minds on this forum :)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.