Theft Aware 2.0 Trial

App. sounds great and its security aspects are definitely useful to protect the info in the phone.
My question is, if the phone is stolen and the app. GPS locates it, how many phones are truly retrieved that way? Is the phone owner going to go up to the thief and ask to get his/her phone back (a huge personal safety risk to take for any device)?
If the police gets contacted which police dept. would ever dispatch officers to retrieve a stolen phone?
In its practical application it seems most reasoning individuals would just opt to report their phone stolen to their carriers and have it replaced.

App. sounds great and its security aspects are definitely useful to protect the info in the phone.
My question is, if the phone is stolen and the app. GPS locates it, how many phones are truly retrieved that way? Is the phone owner going to go up to the thief and ask to get his/her phone back (a huge personal safety risk to take for any device)?
If the police gets contacted which police dept. would ever dispatch officers to retrieve a stolen phone?
In its practical application it seems most reasoning individuals would just opt to report their phone stolen to their carriers and have it replaced.

Thanks for your thought-provoking comment; you raise some valid points.
I'm going to ask around at the office to see if anyone's actually made use of this app in one of the ways you outlined above. I've been lucky so far and have never had my phone stolen.

Watch this space!

hi i think if i go to police with the phone number + the location of the thief it would be a bit of a shock to me if they would say: no we will not trace this. its different if you have no hint - but if you really KNOW they are obligated to handle the case.

Hi Reinhard,

I am not sure where you live, but here in Los Angeles and in the rest of the continental U.S. for that matter the cops WOULD NOT handle a stolen smart phone case and no, they are not obligated to. They will laugh in your face tho!
And by the way, the same would be true in Europe. Lived there 19 years of my life and know how police matters are handled

Hi Reinhard,

Got on the comments section of the app's home page and figured out why my questions seem to have upset you that much - YOU ARE THE APP'S DEVELOPER.

YOU HAVE NEVER TRULY TESTED SUCH FEATURE WITH A REAL POLICE DEPT BEFORE PUTTING THE APP. ON THE MARKET, HAVEN'T YOU?

May be in the future you can figure out a way to let the police in on your applications and your interest and agenda.
I am sure once they all understand them they are going to put the retrieving of the smartphone thru your application as the dept. number one priority.

A couple of more things come to mind.

Suppose the cops opt to go get your phone:

If the phone is in someone's house (assuming the app. GPS is that accurate and correct) here in America you need a warrant to enter somebody's house and go thru their property.

If the thief happens to be on the road the cops are going to need a REALLY good reason to search him (way more than a GPS location and a phone ringing in their pocket to let you know you found it) as this is not a state of police and people have rights which if violated could cause a lot of legal problems to the aforementioned police dept.

The person who stole the phone could be harmed and have other reasons (such as a previous record which could send him back to a very unhappy place called jail) to become defensive and may be even shoot at the cops.

These are definitely some of the things a deputy would evaluate before dispatching a unit to retrieve your phone. With most depts.being underhanded and the volume, seriousness and urgency of the cases they handle on a day to day basis being far greater than a stolen phone how many of them would be ready, willing and able to go get that phone even if they knew "its precise location"?

Actually I doubt, that cops laugh at your face, when you report a theft - doesn't matter where you live. I suppose, they will try to return your phone, if you have a lead on it.

Although my phone wasn't stolen, I lost it several times and got it back. So works fine with me.

You suppose? How much hands on experience do you have in working with the police dept.? Have you ever been in a police station in a big city for any length of time? Have you ever been put thru the boureucracy they have set in place? Do you have anyone you know in active duty in the police dept.?

Shogun, they may write a police report on the accident, but will not follow a GPS on it, that you can rest assure on - seen cops chuckle at people with more pressing issues at the local P.D.

I am glad you recovered your lost phone many times thru this app. 's features, nevertheless I find the advertisement (and name) on this application disturbing and misleading.
It is also disturbing to me how some individuals would only stop at what "works fine with them" in their immediate circumstances without any further questioning of possible consequences of using what "works fine with them".

I also find it disturbing that the app. received a 5 stars rating based on the way it was developed alone, not considering the possible consequences of using its features.

Let's take the instance of a teenager or someone who does not fully understand the possible implications of retrieving a stolen phone on his/her own, for whatever reason - he/she is either young or is caught in the anger of having his/her phone stolen and seeks to get it back at all costs and maybe even seeks to get back at the thief - basic human nature once emotionally triggered.

What if this person who decided to take matters into their own hands (no police dept.) goes get his/her phone using the application's GPS (thinking this is the best feature ever) and as an outcome he/she gets shot by the thief or incurs into injuries and losses far greater than a stolen phone?

WHO IS GOING TO BE LIABLE FOR THE LOSSES, INJURIES AND DAMAGES THIS PERSON AND HIS/HER FAMILY SUSTAIN AS A RESULT OF USING THIS APPLICATION'S FEATURES?

IF YOU WERE THAT PERSON OR KNEW OR WERE RELATED TO THAT PERSON HOW WOULD YOU FEEL AND WHAT VENUES WOULD YOU GO THRU AND TRY TO USE TO GET SUCH LOSSES COVERED?

WHAT GOOD CAN COME OUT OF PUTTING THE OWNER OF A STOLEN PHONE AND THE THIEF OF THE PHONE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY OF ONE ANOTHER?

Let's now reverse the situation and take the instance in which a person in good faith finds the phone and for whatever reason he/she is not yet able to get in touch with the owner (isn't it one of the app. 's features to be able to "Block phone" and "Lock settings") or has not been able yet to drop the phone off to a police dept. or to the cell. provider.
What if the owner of the phone is a really angry and retaliative person or may be even a gang member (say he has all his "homies" and gang info in that phone and really resents being separated from that for any length of time) and gets to the person who has the phone using the GPS on it before the person can do what she in good faith wants to do(restitution).

What if it is a child who finds the phone and ends up being confronted by its angry and may be even armed owner?

DOES THE DEV. HAVE ANY IDEA WHO HE IS SELLING THE APP. TO? WHAT DOES HE KNOW ABOUT THEIR MORAL CHARACTER AND WHAT USE THEY ARE GOING TO DO OF THE APP. GPS FEATURE? HAS HE EVEN PUT ANY THOUGHT IN ANY OF THIS FOR THAT MATTER?

What is very discouraging and unjust is that scenarios like this can very likely be triggered by the app. GPS feature but may be difficult to trace back to it if the offended party gets fatally injured and can not give his/her account of the events. In the meantime our dev. is sitting pretty somewhere in Germany collecting 10 euro a pop every time he sells the app., oblivious and even careless of the events he can set into motion thru such sale; accountability a word non existent in his vocabulary.

ISN'T AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION WORTH A TON OF CURE?

wow... all this energy spent for a ~€ 10.- app... take it or leave it and let others think for themselves if they consider the app's functions useful or not... not worth fighting over ;)

@Martina: thumbs up :-)

Energy very well worth INVESTING - in America we do have something called freedom of speech and when something raises red flags we voice our opinions to assist others in thinking more comprehensively. It is how we learn and how we grow and avoid costly and dangerous mistakes.
It is obvious I raised some valid points here.

Ms. Hollywood Dog,

The AndroidPIT community is all about exchanging thoughts, experiences and even concerns regarding Android apps, but I have to agree with Martina -- if the app isn't for you, that's fine, but this is turning into a storm in a teacup.

And what is your point?

I spent the better half of my life in law enforcement and I have to agree with Ms. Hollywooddog - the dangers of this app. far outweigh its benefits!

Wow, long discussion here! I love this app. And even if the police would not go after my phone, it is extremely useful. Btw: if you would be robbed, the police would surely try to locate the thief.

In my opinion Ms Hollywood Dog's points are exaggerated. I really don't get the point. I mean, this feature is even standard on every iPhone. And it is really useful.

Iphone feature is called mobileme and is a yearly subscription that can be purcased for $99/year - just got off the phone with an att wireless representative - the provider with the sole right to sell Iphone in the USA.
Also asked her if she thought the police would take any action once phone located - she said no.
Also asked what she thought of someone retrieving a stolen phone on their own - she said it would be dangerous.
Exaggerating? Have you ever been in the close proximity of someone who places no value on human life? Someone who would hurt you just because they can?

BTW-nice touch to add a time out on the session on your website and then not allow to resign so all info can be lost - if u just want people to agree with u why don't u start your own dictatorship?

If u are robbed u file a police report- what is this? A german action movie gone wrong?
Spoke to tech support at Verizon wireless - the man I spoke to said apps as this are useless in his experience.
On missing persons and kidnapping cases police goes by mainly E911 and the ping signals sent by the phone (even if no call is placed) to the nearby towers.

Why is it thus far my points have been minimized and even brushed off but no factual answers were given to me?

THIS SITE HAS A GERMAN PAGE- WHY DO ALL THE INDIVIDUALS VEHEMENTLY SUPPORTING THE GPS FEATURE HAVE GERMAN NAMES AND WHY R THESE PEOPLE READING THE ENGLISH PAGE TO BEGIN WITH?
R U ALL THE DEV.' S FRIENDS?

ms hollywood: i am not willing to discuss this with you further. i also ask others to do so. dont understand me wrong i am always willing to listen to users and customers. but first of all this is no discussion forum, its a feedback page. it is enough to bring your point once and everybody can read it but please stop blaming our good product over and over again just because you seem to have a bad time. honestly i believe you belong to some nervous competition it is very strange that you did register on the day the review went out and only posted on our product, and did no other activity on androidpit. if you want to blame anti theft products you would have to blame several as we're not the only one... but strange - you do not do that. so please stop insulting our work and our product in that unfair way. thats NOT cool. also accusing me for being oblivious, careless etc. personally is calumny and i want to disassociate myself from such low level, insulting statements.

You are grasping for straws here Reinhard - the bottom line is the wireless companies have been more transparent and forthcoming in their answers than any of you or your people have been and the reason I have kept on asking valid questions and presenting you with possible scenarios is because all I kept getting were coercive and suppressive statements.

Stop acting like the offended party and get some copeing skills!!! The abusive man who lashes out routine is really old and has been done before.

Everytime you put a product out you are going to get some questioning and some people are not going to like it and have their reasons - it goes with the territory. You have been taking this personally and acting uninformed and defensive from the very beginning - in business it is going to put you in a nervous competition - for real.

No, Ms. Hollywood Dog, we are not all dev's friends. I am one of the founder of AndroidPIT. So it is clear that I am hanging around here from time to time... ;-)

What I try to do is to have an objective conversation. My impression is that you discuss very emotionally. Which is absolutely okay. But there are always pros and cons in a story. And it would be certainly more helpful to discuss them with an open mind. In a discussion, an opponent always have some right points. But if someone talks too loud, he or she would not hear them.

I don't want to say that you are talking too loud. But it is helpful for a good communication to try to understand the point of someone else...

Just my two cents..

Hi Fabien,

I appreciate your 2 cents and can say I have been hearing what has been said rather clear - I just never got any answers to the questions I asked and in a business conversation truthful, honest answers are crucial.

I said it in my initial comment - app. sounds great - security features sound awesome, but why use a Gps feature to track down a stolen phone and give people that feeling of false empowerment?
The app would be just as awesome without Gps.
I understand there are other apps
of its kind on the market and am questioning them as well.
They seem to be too much of a double edged sword.

Just because Gps can be used to track down a stolen phone does it truly make sense to do so?

Why use Gps tracking as an advertising strategy?

I understand Gps has assisted some in finding their devices, but is finding a lost phone worth making Gps available to the public at large?

I am sorry you feel I discuss emotionally, even tho I feel very strong about this, I have asked very rational questions.

Those r my points in a nutshell - by all means - I am always willing to listen to someone else's.
On the other hand telling me I spend a lot of energy on a 10 euro app and to let others think for themselves is not a point and it does not further a conversation - it is more like telling me to hush and go away. Same holds true for telling me I am exagerating/ am making a storm in a tea cup and can take the app. or leave it- Reinhard even put me in a nervous competition (do you guys really have these kind of competitions out there?- if you do this opens a whole new spectrum of questions I would like to ask you!).

People always choose, it is the info they base their choices upon which can make a true difference for them.

A couple of more questions- can a phone still be tracked thru Gps after the battery has drained or after the phone has been turned off?
The site has now a time limit after which it asks you to re enter password to leave a comment, but will not accept password and send an error message instead. Could u please address that?

Thanks for your time

P.S. Had Android Pit app. for over 6 mo.and found "tests" section very useful and informative. Thank u for bringing up interesting apps
Please keep it up!

As a THANK YOU to all fans of Theft Aware we are now announcing a contest: http://theftaware.blogspot.com/2010/11/ok-now-listen-to-this-theres-big-prizes.html - check it out! :-)

wow, ms. hollywood dog,

you do not want to comment - you want to rant! and then you decide how we do things in america. i am an american and could not disagree with you more. take a pill, calm down, use your energy wisely. stress kills!

Update build 1620 was released. Check www.theftaware.com for more details.

Hi,

in Oberhausen/Germany (pop 220000) someone located his iPad with internet/gps/... and with the help of the police he got his iPad back.

Here are some german newspaper entries about this:

http://www.rp-online.de/digitale/internet/Gestohlener-iPad-uebers-Internet-geortet_aid_916860.html

http://www.pcwelt.de/news/Nordrheinwestfalen-Polizei-klingelt-bei-iPad-Finderin-1049027.html?r=95958294095742&lid=92909#

http://www.krone.at/Digital/Deutscher_ortet_verlorenes_iPad_bei_unehrlicher_Finderin-Mit_Polizei_abgeholt-Story-224789

http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/oberhausen/Polizeieinsatz-wegen-eines-verlorenen-IPads-id3818632.html

They have not used this app, but it is a success story for tools like this.

Regards
Andreas

Finally it is decided: YEAH Theft Aware is the only mobile app that won top 3 prizes in EVERY category available in the M-Days awards. 3rd place public voting award, 3rd place jury award, 2nd place Mobile Monday AppCircus award. A BIG "thank you" goes to all our supporters and to all our friends! Hurraaaay! Go party, go party... :-)

NEW: SMS forwarding & carbon copy, call notifications :-)

Theft Aware can be installed hard reset proof without rooting the device.
all you need is an unlocked bootloader. several manufacturers already offer to unlock the bootloader without third party stuff.

a step by step guide can be found in the third comment of this blogentry:
http://theftaware.blogspot.com/2011/08/hello-all-wow-it-has-been-months-since.html

Well, all I can say is congrats to the TA team for producing a truly excellent product. I've installed 3 of these security products so far on my Galaxy S2 and this is, by far, the most intelligently coded software I've had the pleasure of using. The fact that the GPS icon doesn't light up when you send a "lost" command to the phone, the postioning accuracy using the TA maps is SO accurate, even when inside a building is scarily accurate, the stealth mode, the amazing range of sms commands that can be used, the list goes on and on. By the way, I'm not affiliated to TA in any way whatsoever, but after trying the trial version and subsequently purchasing the full version I felt I had to give the devs the praise they deserve.

As for some of the comments here about the use of getting your stolen phone back using an app such as this beggars belief. Use the app to locate your phone, go there and send a siren command to it to make the noise and keep your ears open. But I guess most people would be using an app like this simply to retrieve their phone when mislaid. If the police don't want to intervene then you have 2 options - sort it out yourself or do nothing. It's that simple ! Don't go blaming an app dev for situations outside of their control. Apps like these, and this one in particular are fantastic for finding a device, after all, people install tracker sytems on cars and suchlike, do you think they merely say " oh well, I'm too scared to go after it! hmmmm.

Great work Devs ! I look forward to updates. The other 3 apps have been removed :)

Where/how do we get the license code? Purchased through paypal and the license isn't showing as registered when connecting to their servers.
What exactly does "(license codes will be forwarded automatically)" mean?

Update build 1620 was released. Check www.theftaware.com for more details.

@Simon: you can always contact our support for help!

Finally it is decided: YEAH Theft Aware is the only mobile app that won top 3 prizes in EVERY category available in the M-Days awards. 3rd place public voting award, 3rd place jury award, 2nd place Mobile Monday AppCircus award. A BIG "thank you" goes to all our supporters and to all our friends! Hurraaaay! Go party, go party... :-)

NEW: SMS forwarding & carbon copy, call notifications :-)