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  • Google Find My Device tag recommendation?

I read on another thread that GrapheneOS will not be implementing the offline find my device capability that google is pushing out. I was at first scared of this feature as a massive privacy breach, but I'm also realizing this will be a very useful feature for preserving my family's physical safety and at least for us, the privacy sacrifice might be worth this physical safety benefit. Apple has apparently had this same functionality for awhile too so I'm not really sure why there is more freak out when Google implements it.

When using googles' location tracking in the past, location often didn't update for hours if someone's phone turned off or if they were in a basement etc. I'm also seeing more and more news stories of people tracking stolen property through google's and Apple's device tracking networks.

In lieu of GrapheneOS not supporting the offline find my device functionality, I'm considering purchasing an android equivalent air tags to keep on person instead (we don't own any Apple devices so Air Tags won't work). I understand this goes against many people's anti-Google stance, but my threat model is not very high and Google already knows where I'm going and where I live since I use google maps.

This might also provide an extra benefit of being able to keep location off on my phone most of the time and save battery while not losing the ability to be found.

There are a number of air tag like products out there. Anyone on here have a recommendation? Looking for one that works as intended and with minimal extra privacy baggage, like sending location info to another company in addition to Google.

Also probably a dumb question, but does anyone know if keeping this on me would in any way interfere with my phone's signals or anything? Like if I found a compatible form factor, could I keep one in my phone case or in my wallet?

    Sbpr Apple has apparently had this same functionality for awhile too so I'm not really sure why there is more freak out when Google implements it.

    Because what Google does can potentially affect the Google-owned foundation (AOSP) of GOS. What Apple does cannot affect it.

    a month later

    TLDR: My new Chipolo tag is not working so far with my GrapheneOS phone.

    I am having a very hard time finding a definitive answer on this, both here and on GrapheneOS Matrix/Discord.
    I bought some chipolo with the Android Find my network feature and received them recently.

    So far they don't work with GrapheneOS. I have tried several things, enabled all relevant permissions for the google play services, Google app and Find my device application but I was never able to link my tags correctly. They show up some time when activating linking mode but the enrollment process never completed in the Find My Device application.

    I ended up linking them to my account with an old Galaxy S5 I have with LinageOS. The process went through without issue, I got a email saying the Find my device Network will be enabled on my other devices in about 3 days. It haven't been enabled on my GrapheneOS phone yet but it is going to be 3 days tonight. I am not sure if it is going to happen at all since the option for the Find My Device Network is not available to be manually activated so far on my GrapheneOS phone.

      Untangled2272

      I managed to get my new pebblebee clip tags into Find My Device application. I basically used your steps with an old phone, linking them to my account. When opening FMD on GrapheneOS it asked to provide the unlock key and the tags got synced. However, GrapheneOS is not able to update the "last seen" status for the tags. Hope this gets implemented in future.

      11 days later

      Sorry for the lack of updates. Find My devices was enabled on my GrapheneOS phone after the 3 days delay.

      I am having the same experience as you have. None of the "proximity" features like triggering the sound alarm or find a nearby device would work on GrapheneOS, I have to use the old phone to use those,

      Another thing I noticed is that if my old phone that I used to link the tags is turned off, the tags location do not refresh on my main GrapheneOS phone, even if it was refreshed through the FMD network, this may be the explanation to your "last seen" not being updated.

      I also was not able to share the tags with my partners phone which is also on GOS. Opening the link on her phone just gave an error that the feature is not supported.

      18 days later

      Came here to say that I too have trouble with my new Moto Tag's :-(

      Managed to get it working the same as you guys, using old LineageOS phone. However, none of the FMD features seem to work from the GOS phone unfortunately.

      My findings, in case they are helpful:

      1. bluetooth pairing via FMD on GOS is not possible/allowed.
      2. using FMD a tag pairs via Bluetooth on 1x non-GOS phone.
      3. it is not possible to Bluetooth pair the tags on multiple (GOS or non-GOS) phones, so you are stuck using the non-GOS phone for any tag tracking/maintenance.

      In GOS, everything about FMD seems to be in place and working, however pairing and/or scanning using Bluetooth does not.

      Obviously I understand privacy concerns, but if the team would create a possibilty for us to knowingly allow Bluetooth scanning/pairing with just a setting, that would be very helpful. As it stands now, I'm actually considering flashing my Pixel to a less secure ROM.

      a month later

      Yes, I too would love the option to enable these tags

      After recently coming very close to losing my only car key, I decided that I cannot live without these tags - considering FMD works for the phone itself, I don't see why we can't have the tags?

      For now I'll try and make do with a 2nd phone. But am I right in understanding that you need to use the device (2nd phone) they were paired with to track the tags (or at least, the 2nd phone needs to be powered on?)

      P.S did anyone open an issue on github in the end?

      21 days later