My Galaxy S22+ was stolen; Samsung Find couldn't help me find it
Samsung Find can pin an online phone to around a street, but chasing a thief is another story
A Samsung Galaxy S22+ was stolen, and the owner opened Samsung Find, expecting it to help locate the device. However, the phone was offline, and Samsung Find was not set up properly. The owner learned the importance of setting up Samsung Find fully, as it can help locate a lost phone if it is on Wi-Fi or mobile data. The settings allow the user to lock the phone, make it ring, erase its data, or log in to their Samsung account on another device to check its location.
However, a thief can easily deactivate these features by removing the SIM card or turning off mobile data or Wi-Fi. If the phone is turned off and disconnected from the internet, Samsung Find has nothing to track. With Offline finding active, the phone's location can still be found without an internet connection. After 30 minutes of being offline, the phone broadcasts a Bluetooth signal that nearby Galaxy devices and tablets can pick up and report the phone's location to Samsung.
To turn on Offline finding, follow specific steps, but activating it makes the phone a helper device that reports the location of lost offline Galaxy devices nearby. Despite activating Offline finding, the owner had to rely on IMEI tracking and police assistance to recover the stolen phone, as a thief could turn off the phone or turn on Airplane mode to render Samsung Find useless.
The owner advises Galaxy users to set up Find properly and keep their phone online, even with Offline finding active, for better chances of recovery.
Written by urgent.news from Android Police's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
