ZDNET’s key takeaways

• “Notify when left behind” appears in Google’s Find Hub.
• It notifies you when registered devices are left at an unsaved location.
• The feature is limited right now, but it’s a welcome update.

A much-needed update — “Notify when left behind” — is rolling out to Google’s Find My hub. The feature sends a notification when a registered device is separated from your phone, except when you leave it at your house.

According to 9to5Google, this feature was first previewed in October, with the notification available for Chipolo trackers and Moto Tag.

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‘Notify’ finally comes to Android

“Notify when left behind” is my all-time favorite device tracking feature on iOS. Any device set up on my Find My network is compatible with this feature, including my MacBook Air, AirPods Pro 3, and Apple Watch, three devices I often take out of the house — and have indeed left behind once or twice.

If these devices are separated from my phone in an unsaved location, I’ll get a notification of which device I left and where. In iOS, you can customize which locations are “safe,” and won’t notify you if you leave them there.

On Android, this feature is currently limited to only notifying you when a device is left at a location other than the home address registered to your Google account. Hopefully, location customization is on the horizon.

How to enable the feature

Right now, this feature appears to be limited to specific Bluetooth trackers. Photos shared by 9to5Google show compatible trackers have a “Notify when left behind” tab at the bottom of their menu in the Find Hub, so it’s expected that future supported devices will operate the same way.

9to5Google reports that previous updates to Google Play Services indicated this feature’s existence. According to 9to5Google, “Notify when left behind” should be a feature that users can enable when registering a new device with their Find Hub.

Once Google matures and fully rolls out this feature, there should be a setting inside the Find Hub to enable these notifications on every device in your hub.

Android’s advantage over Apple

Android’s breadth of compatibility with third-party manufacturers is its most significant advantage over Apple. Regarding device tracking, you can add Sony headphones, Motorola trackers, and Samsung Galaxy smartwatches to the same Find Hub.

However, my Beats headphones that appear in my Find My hub are not currently supported by this new feature. If Google can expand this feature to all Fast Pair-compatible devices, such as Bluetooth trackers, headphones, smartwatches, laptops, and more, it’ll be easier for consumers to keep tabs on their ever-growing armory of devices.