Help locate phone when on silent? recommendations

[chezybezy]

hi any recommendations for finding my phone when on silent?
i initially thought you could do this via htcsense but it appears to only be the desire hd that you can do this with (you may be able to do so with the Desire if it would ever let me log in to have a look!). How does this one work?

essentially im wanting to find my phone down the back of the sofa if i leave it on silent, but dont want the app to use wifi (as i only turn it on when i need it) and would prefer the app to use a little resources AND battery life as possible.
other apps seem to be able to locate your phone if you left it in the office / its been misplaced / stolen which may be very helpful in the future but at the moment im discounting these.

any ideas?

 

[formicae]

Seek Droid can do audible alarms even on silent, and doesn't seem to use much in the way of resources unless it's actively being called.

 

[madhatter1689]

Wheres My Droid - free on the Market

 

[chezybezy]

Thanks Guys will have a look at them both, any experience with either?

 

[madhatter1689]

It worked fine for me when I had it on the phone i.e. tested it out once or twice, though never lost my phone so never needed to use it properly.

 

[formicae]

Thanks Guys will have a look at them both, any experience with either?

I've used Seek Droid to figure out whether or not I'd left my phone at the office to save me a trip, haven't had to make it beep yet but I'm sure it works fine. However it does cost a whole dollar, so if Where's My Droid offers all the same functionality, maybe try that one out first.

 

[Baz8755]

Use Tasker and set up a script to do one of the following
- take the phone out of silent mode when near a specific cell tower
- always ring when called by a specific number
- make a noise when receiving a text message from a specific number or with a specific message

All these options will use no extra battery plus you'll have all the other features to play with

 

[formicae]

All these options will use no extra battery plus you'll have all the other features to play with

All those options aren't as easy as turning on your laptop and clicking a bookmark, especially the one that depends on having a specific other phone to ring your Desire with.

Don't get me wrong, Tasker is pretty cool...

 

[Pinmac1]

Baz8755 - would you mind telling me how you set up Tasker to always ring when a specific number calls? I have tried to do this in Tasker and am failing miserably. I have Googled it and there are all sorts of complcated solutions to do with silencing a phone at night except for a specific number. All I want it for is to be able to ring my phone if I have left it on silent and lose it around the house. Thank you.

 

[Rob.G]

Although I use a text message as my trigger with a certain word that only I know, you could use a phone number also. Just realize that whenever you get a call from this number it will ring, even if the phone is in silent mode in the middle of the night.

First you will have to set up your cancel task:

Select Tasks > New Task, give it a name (ex. Cancel)
The plus sign adds new tasks, so:

+ Media > Music Stop > Done, then Done again.

For your profile, select New, give it a name ex. "Find Me"
Select Event > Phone > Phone Ringing, either enter the number or select the magnifying glass icon and choose from your contacts.
New Task, give it a name if you wish but not needed.

+ Audio > Media Volume, select what volume you want > Done
+ Media > Music Play, select a sound file by choosing the magnifying glass > Done
+ Alert > Popup Task Names, in the Text you can put a title (ex. I'm Found), on the first Task line click the magnifying glass and choose your "Cancel" task, scroll down and tap Done, then Done again.

That's it, now whenever you call your phone, even if it is in silent mode, it will play this sound. The reason you aren't using the phone ring (unless you choose this sound from your sdcard) because when you call the phone, it is already ringing so Tasker would turn off silent mode, but you would have to call again to hear the ringer. If you want to call twice to find your phone as a safety precaution, then try:

For your profile, select New, give it a name ex. "Find Me"
Select Event > Phone > Phone Ringing, either enter the number or select the magnifying glass icon and choose from your contacts.
New Task, give it a name if you wish but not needed.

+ Audio > Silent Mode, OFF > Done, Done

Edit: Also, if you want this to ONLY work when the phone is on silent, then add another context to your profile. This way it will ring normally when not in silent mode and only ring with your special ring when in silent mode.

To do this, while looking at your profiles list, tap the context box (it starts, "Phone Ringing") and up pops a dialog box, select Add > State > Airplane Mode.

 

[Pinmac1]

Many thanks for the detailed response, Rob. I set up the first version and when I rang from my home phone to my mobile, it both rang and played the tune. I'm not too fussed about that as I'm glad it's playing something when on silent. I didn't really understand what you said in this bit:

The reason you aren't using the phone ring (unless you choose this sound from your sdcard) because when you call the phone, it is already ringing so Tasker would turn off silent mode, but you would have to call again to hear the ringer. If you want to call twice to find your phone as a safety precaution, then try:

For your profile, select New, give it a name ex. "Find Me"
Select Event > Phone > Phone Ringing, either enter the number or select the magnifying glass icon and choose from your contacts.
New Task, give it a name if you wish but not needed.

+ Audio > Silent Mode, OFF > Done, Done


Does that mean that one phone call would turn the Silent mode off and a second phone call would make it ring? If so, that would be great as it would mean that the family could ring me normally but I could still use it to find the phone if I lost it.

Also, could I be really cheeky and ask how to send a text message as a trigger as you mentioned as that could also be really useful?

Thank you again.

 

[Pinmac1]

To the OP - sorry to have hijacked your post! To answer your question, I have just bought Seek Droid and tested the alarm it sends to the phone. Instant response and loud enough to make me jump when I was holding it! I was using iIfi at the time though so I will give it a go without Wifi and post back.

 

[Rob.G]

Does that mean that one phone call would turn the Silent mode off and a second phone call would make it ring? If so, that would be great as it would mean that the family could ring me normally but I could still use it to find the phone if I lost it.

Basically, yes. What it means is when your phone is set to silent and you call from the phone number, if using just a task to perform the second example: + Audio > Silent Mode, OFF > Done, Done, the phone will turn off Silent Mode. However the Phone Ringing event has already been started and cannot be changed midway through. So, since the first call turns off Silent Mode, the second call coming through would be able to ring normally.

If you add a second context to the profile, then it would only activate when it is in Silent Mode. To do this, while looking at your profiles list, tap the context box (it starts, "Phone Ringing") and up pops a dialog box, select Add > State > Airplane Mode.

Also, could I be really cheeky and ask how to send a text message as a trigger as you mentioned as that could also be really useful?

Instead of using Phone Ringing for the context to start your profile, use:
Event > Phone > Received Text. You can specify a certain sender if you wish, however if MY phone were lost or stolen, I wouldn't know which phone I would try first so I left that blank and instead there is the Content box. In there I put a word or phrase (ex. happpy birthday).

Yes, I know it is misspelled, but that will stop it from accidentally activating because nobody would send something like that to me. You can make it whatever you want just make it something someone will never send you.

 

[Baz8755]

When you start using text messages with Tasker the world is your oyster.

I have a received text profile that will intercept any text beginning with '##'

So for example a text of '##' will emit a loud ring even in silent mode
Amongst the other text messages I have set up I have one that will acquire the current GPS location and send it back the sender, the sending phone then also intercepts this text and shows the location of the phone in Google maps.

Baz.