OnePlus 13 could join Pixel 9 and iPhone 16 in offering powered-off tracking: Here’s what we know
Losing a smartphone is never easy. Not only do you lose financially, but you also risk losing precious personal data—which, let's face it, could fall into the hands of a thief and be used for malicious purposes. Fortunately, Google has taken significant steps to help users track down lost smartphones through the Find My Device feature. However, this feature is often rendered useless if thieves switch off the device immediately after stealing it, preventing users from tracking its location (as noted by Android Police) Now, with the arrival of the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, phones like the OnePlus 13 may finally have a solution. Thanks to the FastConnect 7900 platform included in this chipset, the device could maintain a powered-off tracking capability.
According to Android Authority, this feature is unavailable on previous hardware, such as the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered OnePlus 12. However, at the same time, while the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset includes this functionality, it ultimately depends on the manufacturer to enable it.
The publication also reports that while it's not yet confirmed whether this feature will come to the OnePlus 13, there's a good chance it might. The feature was previously seen in the OxygenOS 15 beta for the OnePlus 12. However, the OnePlus 12 itself may not support it, as it lacks the necessary hardware.
The Pixel 9 and Pixel 8 series already support this feature, making them highly secure when it comes to locating lost or stolen devices—even when powered off. Google has integrated a robust tracking system that allows Bluetooth beacons to share the phone's location with nearby devices even while it's turned off, making these phones easier to track and more secure against theft, especially if the thief turns off the device. Also, iPhones have had this for a while now, and that's what makes them hard to steal.
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