Google recently heralded the first birthday of its My Account feature, which provides account holders with settings for many aspects of activity on the platform, including Gmail and Google Plus.
Rather than eating some cake and having a good old singalong, Google has marked the occasion by launching some useful new features for My Account, one of which gives a helping hand to account holders, should they be faced with the frustrating scenario of losing their phone.
The ‘Find Your Phone’ feature is designed to protect your personal data, including photos, emails, bank account information and even text messages.
Not only does the feature allow for the secure locking of a handset by taking a few simple steps, but it also allows you to locate it, and even leave a callback number on the screen for the person who may have found the device. Working on both Android and iOS smartphones, ‘Find My Phone’ will soon come up automatically when a user of the Google search engine types in “I lost my phone”.
Access to My Account is another area Google have been working on. They have looked at the figures for mobile voice searches, which have tripled in the past two years, and will now make it possible to log into My Account simply by using your voice. From now on, all you will have to do is say the words “OK Google, show me my Google account,” to access My Account. The feature works in English and will soon be available in other languages.
The magic doesn’t end there. Search engine users that type their name into the search box will be able to access My Account, with a shortcut taking them straight there, should they be signed in.
The features are all designed to make our life even easier, and our data more secure across many devices. Google says that it bases many updates and changes on the feedback of users, so if you have any suggestions for them, make sure you get in touch, and your idea could be featured in the next round of improvements!
