The company’s unknown tracker alerts and other safety measures, announced at Google I/O in May, should start appearing on Android 6.0+ devices beginning today.
If your Android phone notifies you about a discovered tracking accessory, you can tap on the alert to learn more about it, including a map of where it traveled with you and (in some cases) a serial number and info about the device’s owner.
Once your phone receives the update, navigate to Settings > Safety & Emergency > Unknown Tracker Alerts, and select the “Scan now” button.
Google says the manual search only takes about ten seconds, and if it finds one, you’ll see the same options as if you received an automatic alert.
Google decided to wait for Apple to implement its full unknown tracking protections into iOS before rolling out the new feature.
Note that Google’s anti-stalking measures may reduce the effectiveness of following tracked stolen items on a map since enterprising thieves can soon quickly discover hidden trackers, no matter which phone they use.