Today it was announced that Google is preparing to complete the long-awaited “Find My Device” feature
There is, however, one issue that may affect the way you use Android device from now on: Bluetooth can only be put into standby mode, without being completely disabled.
The “Find My Device” feature will be rolling out in the coming days, allowing phones, headphones, and other devices to be located. This highlights the Bluetooth functionality in the next version of Android.
Read more: Google's Apple-friendly "Find My Devices" expected to launch in April
The key word here is “Bluetooth”. Billions of Android devices, participating in the network, interact silently creating a massive location tracking web. Every phone or tablet that participates transmits an encrypted location beacon, which is received and relayed by surrounding devices to Google. Only the owner of the “lost” device can see its location.
However, there is a problem: Bluetooth needs to be enabled for all of this to work properly. As Mishaal Rahman discovered (via Android Authority) with the removal of the APK, Google is working on a solution in Android 15 that lets you effectively press the “pause” on Bluetooth instead of turning it off completely. This is likely due to concerns about battery life if Bluetooth is constantly enabled and pinging your location.
The feature referred to as “Automatic Bluetooth Activation” provides the ability to disable Bluetooth, with a proposal to re-enable it the next day. This maintains functions such as “Find My Device”, while allowing battery energy saving during the required hours.
See also: JBL upgrades its popular Bluetooth speaker line
It’s worth noting that searching the source code doesn’t guarantee that these features will work. Additionally, some devices may not support automatic Bluetooth switching. We’ll have to wait for the official release of Android 15 to be sure, but this announcement suggests that Google is paying attention to privacy and battery life with the “Find My Device” feature.
Source: phonearena
