Android 15 will let you find your Pixel 8 even when it's off
Android 15 will let you find your Pixel 8 even when it's off
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so off doesnt mean off anymore. got it.
My work uses Dell servers, which have this thing called iDRAC, which is a separate embedded system that can manage the server even if the server is off. The iDRAC can turn the server on even if it's off. Even if the server is off, you can log into the iDRAC and check the status of the server and see if there are any hardware issues, see if the server is on or off, update the firmware, etc.
This sounds like overkill for a phone, but I wonder if they are doing it this way, with a separate embedded system. If they did, it could potentially use only a small fraction of the battery power Android uses. It could potentially last weeks or even months on a charge.
More likely, it's booting a separate image - not unlike recovery mode - when it turns off, and like you said, it's not actually off. But it would be interesting if it has a separate embedded system just for tracking the location even when the OS is powered down.
Ideally they'll let you turn off this feature regardless of battery implications, because it sounds like a security concern if your location can be tracked even if your phone is off.
Edit: wow, I worded my first section really poorly. But I'm to tired to fix right now. Hopefully you understand what I was saying.
If you set an alarm and shut down your phone, it will actually boot up again when the alarm is supposed to ring. This has been a thing for years on pretty much all phones, so they must have something like this already.
Some desktop computers can actually power on by a RTC trigger, so it's not a stretch.
as a sysadmin, ive useed systems like dells proprietary version of this for decades.
its a 'wake on lan' feature of the network card, which still gets power and 'listens' over the network when it gets an appropriate signal, it then triggers the machine to boot. the lan provides the power to run the 'monitor'.
very common, very old. and i agree similar.. but not quite what this phone thing is.
some computers/servers need a dynamic power state, but even so the WOL feature can be removed.
we are no longer in control of our phones hardware, so we cant just remove things.