In the modern digital world, with technological advancement, you today have the option of tracking people and even devices. To track a device’s or a smartphone’s location, you need to ping the phone location. Pinging has several advantages and uses. Often people think that they will need to hire tech experts for this but there are some very simple cost-free ways in which you can ping your phone.
Read further to understand what is pinging and the need for it and the various ways in which you can ping your phone.
What Is Meant By Pinging A Phone?
To ‘Ping a Cell Phone’ means to determine its location with the help of the GPS that is installed in the cell phone, and this needs to be done to a considerable level of accuracy. In this particular process, the device receives a message or signal from the signal towers. This signal gets returned information of the device’s GPS location.
Why Do You Need To Ping A Cell Phone?
Pinging a cell phone helps in finding its location and this is particularly helpful when you lose your Android smartphone or iPhone. It is also used by certain agencies in keeping a track of the people who have any criminal charges against them by tracking their live location. This is also used by certain android spy app firms in order to keep a track of the user’s phone. Different spy apps can be used to keep a track of individuals and many parents track the locations of their children using this technology to ensure the safety of the children.
However, it is important to note that tracking a person’s device or spying on their location, without their permission is an illegal activity. You should therefore inform the person about you tracking them in this manner before installing any such spy apps or using such technology.
The Technology Behind Pinging A Phone
You can track the location of your phone with the help of your cellular network provider in two ways. These are Pinging and Triangulation. Pinging a phone is an entirely digital process that involves sending a signal to some cell phone and receiving back whatever data had been requested. If you ping a new digital device, it will determine its longitude, as well as the latitude via GPS, and these coordinates, are sent back by the SMS system of the phone. Triangulation on the other hand is a process of analog to find the location of a phone.
6 Ways In Which You Can Ping Your Phone
Given below are 6 simple methods which can help you ping your phone and keep a track on its location. This allows you to find your phone easily if it gets lost and also has several other advantages.
1. GPS Tracking Software
One of the easiest ways to ping a phone to keep a track of its location is to use certain GPS tracking softwares which are available. Different GPS tracking softwares are available for both Android smartphones as well as iPhone. Two of these apps which have high accuracy in pinging a phone and are also a common choice of individuals are mentioned below.
- Google Maps – a highly reliable app which you would have heard of is Google Maps. It is popular given its efficiency as a tracking app which helps to ping the cell phone in order to track its location. Google Maps is also freely available for both iPhone and Android devices. The app also allows you to share the location and also track the location of the device in case you lose it. Also, you should regularly update Google Maps to the latest version or else it might affect the performance of the app.
- Life 360 – Life 360 is a GPS tracking software which allows you to ping your cell phone and in turn find the device’s location. It has various useful features and this can not just track the location of your device but also the location of other members of the family.
Apart from the apps mentioned above there are various other GPS tracking softwares and applications available in the market which can easily be installed and used to track the location of the devices. These apps work on your phone when the GPS is turned on and in case any pirated version of GPS is installed in your phone or the GPS is turned off, these apps will not be able to track the location.
2. Default Mechanisms of the Phone
The default mechanism of the cell phone can be used to ping the cell phone when the GPS has been turned off. Android devices have a default feature which is inbuilt, known as the ‘Find My Device’ and iPhone counterparts have ‘Find My iPhone’ inbuilt in the device by default. These help you track the location of your cell phone. You can ping your cell phone using ‘Find My Device’ feature by following the steps mentioned below:
- Visit android.com/find
- After that, sign in to your account on Google using your Gmail credentials
- You will be able to see the live location of your device on the map
- You will also be able to play any ringtone from your remote location, erase data, and even lock your cell phone
3. Spy Applications
Spy applications are an effective way to ping your cell phone and have advanced features and technology which help them to track the location of your device or any other target cell phone accurately. These are available for Android devices as well as for iPhones. Along with tracking someone’s live location, these apps also enable you to read the user’s conversations, monitor, and manage chats on different social media platforms, keep a check on the browser history, record calls or the operations on the screen, listen to calls and the background sound, and so on.
Various spy apps are available in the market for you to ping your cell phone. When using any such app, you should always ensure that these are authorized apps that you download and install from secure websites. Given below are some basic steps involved in pinging a phone using spy apps:
- Using your device, open the app and create your personal account on it
- After this, you can select a device as the target which you want to monitor
- Certain plans might get displayed, you can choose one as per your requirements
- After this, you should install the particular app on the device chosen as the target device
- Once this is done, you can begin tracking and will get real-time information about the GPS location and other information as per the plan that you have subscribed for.
4. Pinging a Phone through Computer
You can also ping a phone using your computer and in turn, get its location. For this, you will need the IP address of your phone. It should also be noted that this method is only useful for Android users. You can follow the steps given below for pinging a phone through a computer:
- Go to Settings on your Android phone
- Tap on the ‘About Phone’ option
- Next, select the Status option and look for the IP address
- After this, switch on your computer and on its search for Windows Command Prompt
- This opens CMD as ‘Run as Administrator’
- Type the word “ping” and then the IP address of your device
- Press Enter.
5. Using Number Details to Trace
You can also find the location of the phone by tracking the cell phone’s number details. There are various apps through which you can get a universal caller ID for your smartphone and this allows you to keep a track of the phone number if you lose your device. Some popular tracker apps of phone numbers include CallApp, Showcaller, Truecaller, etc. These apps help you to check the owner of the SIM card or to whom a particular number is registered, place of registration, and other such details. These apps are used by many people to check for spam calls and block them or for checking the location and other details of an unknown caller.
6. Phone’s Carrier’s Assistance
If the above-mentioned ways do not work, you can always seek the assistance of the cell phone’s carrier to ping your cell phone. The cell phone carrier firms often help out their customers in finding their lost cell phones by ways of tracing the live location of the device. A process known as the triangulation process is used for finding out the phone’s location.
FAQs
1. Can I ping a cell phone for a location for free?
Unfortunately, you can’t directly ping a cellphone unless you have direct access to the carrier system. It is typically only available to law enforcement officials or carriers. The best way you can work around it is by installing a phone tracking app and syncing the phone’s details to track it. However, that comes with a lot of obligations too.
2. Can I track someone’s location by phone number?
If you have an Android device or have access to Google Maps, you can track a person’s location using the Google Maps app. However, the only obligation is that the person you are tracking should have shared their location with you. Otherwise, this feature won’t work and you’d have to resort to third-party tracking apps to do so.
3. Can I track live location by mobile number?
The only way to track the live location of a user by their mobile number is when they actively share the said live location with you. If they don’t share the same with you via Google Maps or other apps, there are no way you will be able to track them down based on just their phone number.
4. Is there an app to track a phone without them knowing?
There are multiple phone tracking applications available online that can allow you to track a phone without the other person knowing. It isn’t as complicated as you think and most of these apps are safe and reliable. They do come with a recurring monthly subscription, so that’s something you need to be mindful of.
5. Can someone track my phone without me knowing?
Certain phone monitoring apps can allow other people to track your phone without you knowing. We’d recommend that you practice safe browsing and keep an eye out for unwarranted activities on your phone.
Conclusion
With growing fields of computer science and information technology, it has become easy to track one’s location and that of the device. As is clear from above, there are also software and apps that can help you keep a track of others using their phone numbers and other techniques. However, uninformed tracking can make you a suspect of illegal activities. It is therefore important for you to engage in pinging other people’s locations and keeping a track of such activities only after informing them and having their consent.
Also, if you are unable to ping your device, it is always better to contact your manufacturer or seek the help of an expert because, at times due to some bugs or virus, your phone might not function well and install proper updates and apps which can prevent you from pinging your device properly. It can be a complex process and experts can help you deal with such issues.