How to find lost Android devices

Organizations face critical issues when their employees misplace or lose their mobile devices containing corporate data. If such information falls into wrong hands, the results could be catastrophic.

Hexnode UEM’s ‘Lost Mode’ is a security feature aimed at protecting the valuable information on your corporate devices in case of device theft. It lets you remotely lock your misplaced or stolen Android devices.

To enable Lost Mode,

• Hexnode UEM must be installed on the device.
• The device must be connected to Mobile Data or Wi-Fi.

Enable and disable Lost Mode instantaneously

You can enable Lost Mode on your device instantly.

Following are the steps to Enable Lost Mode on Android Devices.

1. Log in to the Hexnode UEM Console.
2. Navigate to Manage > Devices. Identify and select the lost Android Device. This will take you to the corresponding device summary page.
3. Click on Actions > Enable Lost Mode.
4. Phone Number: Enter a valid contact number to reach the owner.
5. Message: Enter a short message to be displayed on the lock Screen.
6. Footnote: Enter a valid footnote.
7. Click on Continue.
8. A confirmation box will pop up. Click on ‘Yes’.
9. You will be prompted to enter the Hexnode account’s password. Click on ‘Go’.

This will lock down your device into lost mode. You can exit from this mode only if you know the Exit password (Admin > General Settings > Global Exit Settings (Android)).

1. Navigate to Manage > Devices.
2. Check the lost device > Click on Action > Disable Lost Mode.
3. A confirmation box will pop up. Click on Yes.

Enable Lost Mode Automatically

You can enable Lost Mode on your device automatically if it remains inactive for a specific number of days.

Here are the steps to enable Lost Mode automatically.

1. Log in to the Hexnode UEM Console.
2. Navigate to Admin > General Settings >Android Lost Mode Settings.
   1. Auto Lock Down – Select the checkbox to enable auto lock down of devices.
   2. Lock down device after ‘n’ days of inactivity -Lock down the device if it remains inactive for the specified number of days.
   3. Show Wi-Fi button in the launcher – Select this option to display Wi-fi button in the launcher.
   4. Show mobile data button in the launcher – Select this option to display mobile data button in the launcher.
   5. Phone Number-A valid contact number to reach the owner.
   6. Message– A short message to be displayed on the lock screen.
   7. Foot Note– A valid footnote.
   8. Disable ‘Lost Mode’ on ROM enrolled devices–
      Check this option to disable Lost Mode after ROM enrollment. While booting, a custom ROM configured device is in ‘Lost Mode’ with options to connect to the internet. Once the device is connected to the internet, it gets enrolled in Hexnode UEM. Unchecking this option lets the device to continue in ‘Lost Mode’ even after enrollment.
3. Click Save after configuring lost mode settings.

This will automatically lock down your device in lost mode after the specified number of days of inactivity.

There are several other methods to handle misplaced or stolen Android Devices.

You can track the recent location of your device by configuring Location Tracking with Hexnode UEM. The first step to finding your lost device is to perform a location scan to find the whereabouts of your device. Hexnode UEM’s instant location scan (Manage > Devices > Select Device Name >Action > Scan Device Location) fetches the current device location instantly and can be viewed by clicking “Location History”. But retrieving the last known location can be useless if the last location check took place hours ago. You must have location services turned on to use this feature.

Hexnode UEM enables you to take some additional steps to secure data on the devices you manage. One or more of the following operations can be performed in the event of a device being lost or stolen.

1. Log in to the Hexnode UEM Console. Navigate to Devices sub-tab in the Manage tab. Identify and select the lost Android Device. This will take you to the corresponding device summary page.
   1. Lock device – Go to Actions and click on Lock Device to remotely lock your lost device. The user would be blocked from using the device.
   2. Wipe Device – Go to Actions and click on Wipe Device to clear device data and restore your device to factory settings. This option comes in handy if your device contains valuable sensitive Information. If UEM is not installed as a system app, wiping the device uninstalls Hexnode UEM software from the device and removes the device from the Lost Mode. If Hexnode UEM is installed as a system app and ‘Wipe Device’ action is initiated, as soon as the device is connected to a network, Lost Mode is enabled back on the device.



2. Log in to the Hexnode UEM Console. Navigate to Policies > New Policy > Android > Restrictions > Basic.
   1. Disable Power Off (Samsung Knox devices only) – You can prevent the stolen/lost device from being turned off by disabling the power button (Uncheck ‘Power Off’).
   2. Disable USB (Samsung Knox devices only) – You can prevent the information from being shared with other devices by disabling the USB options.
      1. Uncheck ‘USB Data Transfer‘ to prevent device from transferring data to another system via USB.

Once your lost device is found, you can unlock it through Hexnode UEM.

Partnering with OEM

UEM’s can pre-load their software into OEM devices and allow customers to purchase devices with UEM’S installed in it. In such a case, you can make the Hexnode UEM app as a system app, UEM pre-configured and kiosk mode pre-activated before the device is turned on. This can be done by creating a ROM image to flash all Android devices. You can also give device ownership access to UEM to establish complete authority over your device.

Suppose that your device running in kiosk mode was stolen and reset. Hexnode cannot be uninstalled as it is a system app. When the device is switched on, it functions normally until the completion of initial device setup. Here, the user can either setup Wi-fi or connect to the internet or refuse to make a connection. In the former case, as soon as a connection is detected the device will get enrolled and activate the kiosk mode. In the latter case, the device remains unusable until it is connected to the internet.