Google already has a Find My Device system for Android phones that lets you get back to lost devices, but notable upgrades are coming to it soon as Find My Device does come with limitations.
With the upcoming Android 15 OS, Google aims to address these limitations with a new powered Off Finding API, which, as the name says, will even let you find devices that are powered off.
This news comes from a report shared by Android Police which details how this API will work to locate devices that have shut down. This feature will work by storing pre-computed Bluetooth beacons within the memory of the Bluetooth controller.
However, the downside here is that users will have to sacrifice a bit of battery life for this feature to work and it will also require specialized hardware to work with the Bluetooth controller since it will be working even when the phone is off.
Some software engineering efforts are also necessary for this API to function properly and support Bluetooth Finder HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer). Users must also have the latest version of Find My Device as well as Android 15.
Knowing Google, the feature will likely be introduced for only Pixel phones at first before maybe becoming available to other OEMs in the future. Although the feature is expected to debut with the Pixel 9, Android Police claims that the current generation Pixel 8 series could also get this API upgrade once it updates to Android 15. Older devices such as the Pixel 7, Pixel 6, and Pixel Fold will likely have to wait longer for this upgrade.
