TECH BYTE: Tech Helps You Track Lost Items, Loved Ones

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — Thanks to technology these days, it’s easy to literally keep track of your friends and family to make sure they’re safe.

Not to mention, you can also keep tabs on those everyday items you can’t live without.

Best Buy’s Nathan Roach says the Tile is one of their most popular trackers.

“There’s a multitude of uses for it,” Roach said. “It’s really awesome because how many times have you misplaced your keys, or maybe they’ve fallen down in the couch? You’re actually able to ring the tile tracker from your phone.”

Tile can even keep tabs on your luggage if you’re on a trip.

“Let’s say if your luggage were to get lost, you can actually mark it as lost or stolen, and then if anybody in the Tile community gets near your luggage, it’ll send you a notification showing you exactly where it is,” he said.

It can help you find your phone too.

“A cool feature that a lot of people don’t know about with a Tile is you can also ring your phone. So if you were ever to lose your phone, even if it’s on silent, you can actually ring it with an audible tone so you can find it.”

Roach says there are even trackers you can get for your car as well – like the Automatic Connected Car Assistant.

“In car audio, we actually have a device that will plug into your car’s computer,” Roach said. “It’s really cool, because not only is it a tracking device, but it’ll also tell you whenever you have any diagnostic issues. You’ll get notifications. You can also set zones. If you have areas that maybe you don’t want somebody to be in, it can send you notifications, and it’ll also tell you how fast they’re going, any hard braking, acceleration, and things like that.”

Roach says it’s great for parents with teen drivers.

“To not only be able to check in on how they’re driving, but it gives them an idea to make sure they’re in the right places where they’re supposed to be, and in the unforeseen chance they’re in an area they’re not supposed to be in, you’ll get a notification immediately on that.”

The Find My Friends app is another option you should already have on your iPhone.

“Anybody that has accepted the permissions, not only will you be able to see where they’re at, but they’ll also be able to see where you’re at,” Roach said.

You can also keep track of your loved ones using the Safe365 smartphone app.

It’s free, and you can download it through your phone’s app store.