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LMaxi Anti Theft Review

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Anti-Theft Tools
Prey presents much of the information it gathers from your phone in Reports, which are collected at intervals you define and stored on the Prey Web portal. Depending on your settings, these can include Google Maps (and link to Google Maps) showing your device’s location, the IP address assigned to your device, and an image from the device’s front-facing camera.

Most anti-theft and security apps only capture images when someone is attempting to enter a passcode into the device, but Prey simply photographs whatever happens to be in front of the device at the time. In my testing this meant a lot of pictures of the ceiling.


Messages are delivered to the device, but are easily dismissable. Locking the device, I’m happy to report, uses the Android lockscreen and as such is very secure. I was also pleased to note that the alarm uses a rendition of a police siren and is piercingly loud even through headphones.

Prey also lets you activate or deactivate the anti-theft tools you define via an SMS command. This makes good use of Prey’s all-at-once approach, giving you more control without an Internet connection, or a computer. It pales in comparison to Editors’ Choice award winners avast! Mobile Security & Antivirus and Bitdefender Mobile Security and Antivirus extensive SMS commands, however.

 

If you have an Android phone, you can also nominate a trusted person, which Prey calls a “Hero,” to receive an SMS warning when the SIM card is removed from your phone.  In my testing, I replaced the SIM card in my Samsung Galaxy S III and a warning message arrived on my iPhone within seconds. A feature unique to Prey is a camouflage mode for your device, which replaces the Prey login screen with what appears to be a game login, the idea being that a would-be thief who nabs your device will simply ignore Prey instead of trying to uninstall or deactivate it. This feature is a nice touch, though hardly a deal-maker.

Let Us Prey
What’s most impressive about Prey is that it has tools for just about every kind of device—Android, iOS, laptops, whatever. It also lets you secure three devices for free, which should suit just about everybody fine.

For Android users, Prey provides a few more options than the baseline supplied by the Android Device Manager. But its awkward activation system and lack of remote wipe is disappointing. If you’re looking for a free anti-theft option, you’re probably better off installing avast! on your Android and getting malware protection to boot.
Source : pcmag.com




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