There are many ways to trace a smartphone's location. Both Android and iPhone devices come with built-in location tracking utilities. These services are active as long as the GPS location services on the phone are enabled and the owner has granted an app permission to access this information.

The following are a few ways that these location-tracking services can be used to find your phone location.

How Can I Find My Device Location by Phone Number?

Many people dream of the ability to find their phone by number. Unfortunately, there is no app that will show you the location of a phone based on a phone number alone. Any app on the Google Play Store that claims to do is a scam.

The only way you can trace the location of a mobile phone is by installing software onto that phone and using it. The phone owner must give the software permission to utilize the location services on the phone. If you'd like to learn more about Android permissions, check out our article on how to use Privacy Dashboard.

Find an Android Phone via Google's Find My Device

Tracing the location of your Android phone couldn't be any easier. So long as you have location services enabled on your Android device, you can use Google's Find My Device page as a Google phone tracker to get the location of your phone.

Once you do, you'll see a pinpoint of the precise GPS location of your phone identified by a small green icon on Google Maps.

Screnshot of Google's Find My Device feature

To the left of the map, you'll see three services that you can use if your phone is not currently in your possession:

  • Play Sound: Your phone will sound the alarm for five minutes, even if the volume is set to silent. If the phone is anywhere near you, you should hear it.
  • Secure Device: If you know your phone is lost, you can make sure it's locked so no one can get into it. This option still ensures you can locate your device, and, even better, you can display a phone number with which someone may call you if they come across your device.
  • Erase Device: If you've lost all hope in finding your phone's location, you can remotely erase everything on it permanently.

It's a good idea to make sure you've enabled location services on your phone and provided Google with permission to trace your phone location. To do so, head to Settings > Google. Hit Find My Device and toggle it on to enable tracking. However, Find My Device is typically on as long as you add a Google account to your phone.

Additionally, for Find My Device to work, your phone must be turned on, be connected to the internet, have Find My Device enabled, and be visible on Google Play.

This way, if you ever lose your phone, you can quickly utilize one of these features to protect your information.

Find an iPhone via Apple's Find My iPhone

To track the location of an iPhone, you can use Apple's Find My iPhone service on iCloud.

Just like tracking an Android phone, you must have location services enabled on your iPhone for this to work. If you do, you can log into iCloud from a computer or another device to track your iPhone in the same way. It makes it easy to find your iPhone from an Android device.

Accessing Find My iPhone via iCloud Web

This service is awesome because it dramatically increases the likelihood that a user will be reunited with his or her lost iPhone; if you find a lost iPhone, you, too, can become a part of a success story like this.

When the service locates your iPhone, you'll see a green dot on the map indicating where your device is currently located. Tapping on the green dot will display a menu that lets you play a sound on your device, activate Apple's Lost Mode, or remotely erase your iPhone.

If Find My iPhone can't locate your iPhone, you will see Offline immediately under the device name. In that case, Find My iPhone will display the last known location for up to 24 hours. Select Notify me when found, so Apple can notify you when your iPhone is found via email.

Share Your Location on Google Maps

Another cool way you can let your family or friends trace the location of your phone is by sharing your location via Google Maps, one of Maps' best features.

If you open Google Maps and tap on your own icon in the search bar, you'll see a Location sharing option in the list. Hit the blue Share location button to share your location along with the amount of battery life left in your phone with anybody on your Contacts list or with another app or nearby device.

You can choose to do so for a specified amount of time, between 15 minutes to 12 hours, a day, or indefinitely until you switch the feature off yourself. Use the Plus (+) or Minus (-) buttons to change the time.

This is an awesome way for a parent to provide the family with peace of mind when they're away for any reason. It's also a great way for parents to track their child's location out in the world. Google Maps' location-sharing feature enables you to use your Android phone as a GPS tracking device.

Share Your Location on iPhone Using the Find My App

If you use an iPhone, you don't need to share your location via Google Maps. Apple's Find My app is also a great alternative that you can use, especially if your friends also own iPhones. Here's how:

  1. Open the Find My app on your iPhone.
  2. Tap Devices at the bottom. You'll see a list of the current Apple devices that use your iCloud account.
  3. Tap the Plus (+) button and select Share My Location from the pop-up menu.
  4. Search the name of the person you'd like to share your location with from your contacts.
  5. Tap Send, then select how long you'd like to share your location (for one hour, until the end of the current day, or indefinitely) in the top right to share your location.

Location Access on Mobile Devices Is Awesome for Many Reasons

Whether you go with Google or any other phone-finding service, locating a phone is easier than ever. There's really no reason you should ever be in the dark about where an important device is—even the phones of loved ones.

Once you try one of these, the feeling can be kind of addictive. Where is your phone location now? Okay, how about... now? The current location of your phone has never been more fascinating. For how to know the location of a mobile phone on your own turf, we highly recommend it.