If you’ve ever misplaced your smartphone, you know how hard it can be to retrieve a lost device. So when you find a deserted device, you should return it as soon as possible. While you’re examining the area, do you see anyone looking around forlornly for their missing device? Observing the people around you is the quickest way to restore the phone, and it also ensures that you don’t accidentally steal somebody’s device while their back is turned! The owner also might come rushing back to the area in search of their phone, so hang around for a little while if you have time. Of course, it’s impossible to keep a phone on if it dies. While you may not find the charger next to the lost phone, you can use your own cables, or those of a friend, to juice up the handset. You’ll need a Lightning connector charger for iPhones and a microUSB or USB-C charger for Android devices. If you don’t have a compatible charger lying around somewhere, go on and buy another—it’s cheap, and the original owner will probably reimburse you. While you’re at it, you should probably add emergency contacts to your own phone’s lock screen—just in case. On an iPhone, go to the Settings app, tap the Health app entry, touch Medical ID, and then Edit. On Android, you can go to the Personal Safety app, tap the cog icon in the upper left corner of the screen, and set up your emergency contacts. To pull up the assistant on an iPhone without a Home button, press and hold the power button. For iPhones with a Home button (typically older models), press and hold the Home button instead). On Android, swipe up from one of the bottom corners of the lock screen. Once you’ve accessed Siri or Google Assistant, try saying “Call mom,” “Call home,” or another command that might access one of the phone’s owner’s contacts. Siri also has a trick that Google Assistant doesn’t: Ask “Whose phone is this?” to bring up contact details for the owner, if they’ve provided them. You can usually access a smartphone’s camera from its lock screen: On iOS, swipe left; on Android, double press the power button. To use this to your advantage, snap an image of your personal contact details. If the photo syncs to the phone owner’s backup system, they can easily reach out to you. If the owner of the phone is signed into their Apple or Google account on any other devices, they should have access to their reminders there. In that case, they’ll see the note you’ve left pop up at 2 p.m. (or whatever time you choose) every day. After that, it’s up to them to get in touch.
