FMD (Find My Device) from F Droid

nandohyphen1

I really like the concept of this app
https://f-droid.org/packages/de.nulide.findmydevice
But it doesn't seem to work. I've added my phone number so I can test it. If I text "fmd help" to my phone number, I get this response;
"FMD Commands:

bluetooth [on | off] - Toggle Bluetooth on and off
camera [front | back] - Take a picture
delete <pin> [dryrun] - Factory-reset the device
gps [on | off] - Toggle GPS on and off
locate [last | all | cell | gps] - Locate the device
lock [msg] - Lock the device
nodisturb [on | off] - Toggle Do Not Disturb on and off
ring [long] - Make the device ring
ringermode [normal | vibrate | silent] - Change the ringer mode
stats - Get network statistics
help - Show the help"

So say I want to locate the device. How would I respond? I've tried;
"locate last"
"locate [last]"
"locate (last)"
But none of them return my location. Neither do any of the other commands work. Am I responding wrong? This app looks sweet - if it'll work. And I'll also add, all the required permissions are granted (except Root or ADB, which I'm not using)

OOLEHLEH

Have you tried "fmd locate" just on its own? that works for me, unless thats you meant by what you've tried so far

nandohyphen1

OOLEHLEH hey, THAT was it! Thanks so much! I was just trying "locate" but using "fmd locate" worked! Thanks again! :)

gMan

Locate and control your device remotely

that last part seems a bit scary, especially given it hasn't reached 1.0 yet - and the PIN being optional (???) is a potential disaster for the unaware

personally i dedicate as much attention to my phone as i do my wallet and i've NEVER EVER lost my wallet ......... except for once, but it was returned to me a year later!

/just jinxed myself

eggy

gMan nah, the real scary part is that it's still targeting v32 SDK which is 4 years old now. I did bring this up with the main maintainer so hopefully it'll be fixed soonish. I also fully rewrote and redesigned the FMD web UI, so its users can prepare for a damn sexy update in the next month or so.

nandohyphen1

gMan I think the reason I'm trying it is because I love to test FOSS apps and provide feedback, report bugs, and see just how useful they really are. :)

gMan personally i dedicate as much attention to my phone as i do my wallet

I'm exactly the same way! ;)

gMan i've NEVER EVER lost my wallet ......... except for once

See, I'm the other way around. I've lost my GOS phone once. I had no PIN on it, and no way to locate it at all. Luckily I found it in my car, it fell between the seats. Since then I've set a PIN, Duress PIN, Auto Reboot, and now I'm trying out FMD.

Vincent96

eggy Nah, the scary part is giving anything from F-Droid these permissions over your device.

AgentM

nandohyphen1 I also have lost my phone (with PIN etc.) and it never came back. Since then I at least use https://github.com/keepalivedev/KeepAlive , so it will send its location after some hours of not being unlocked, at least after first unlock. Could also be useful in other cases what it normally was meant for...

gMan

nandohyphen1 Since then I've set a PIN, Duress PIN, Auto Reboot ...

speaking of a Duress PIN, one of the GOS peeps suggested writing that down on a piece pf paper and keeping it in your wallet ... coppers confiscate wallet > enter duress PIN > poof - pretty slick idea

eggy

Vincent96 that's actually a good point. If f-droid ever gets compromised, they could push out an FMD update with their certificate which is game over as FMD is an admin app.
I've heard that Obtanium-friendly builds are on the roadmap for the near future for FMD.

nandohyphen1

gMan one of the GOS peeps suggested writing that down on a piece pf paper and keeping it in your wallet ... coppers confiscate wallet > enter duress PIN > poof - pretty slick idea

Yep. I keep mine behind my phone case. Someone takes my phone, takes off the case, finds the pin, and says, "Oh look. Some idiot left their pin there just for me!", they, enter it, boom my phone's wiped. :)

dawt

eggy

Or just don't have auto-updates enabled? Using Obtanium has the same issue except with the original devs.

gMan

nandohyphen1 i like the case idea - good tip

eggy

dawt the risk of devs going rogue is a given no matter what method you use to get apps. It's not like fdroid is doing sophisticated code vetting on their builds. Using fdroid means you have to trust an additional party on top of the devs.

Vincent96

dawt If F-Droid is compromised or goes rouge it's feasible that ALL apps it ships would be updated to be malicious.