Sony Ends Xperia Phones' Remote Tracking Service ‘My Xperia’

Sony Mobile has quietly terminated its remote tracking service for its Xperia smartphones. Called “my Xperia,” the security app previously allowed users to track their phones and even protect their personal data.

Xperia Blog just recently revealed that Sony has pulled the plug on the “my Xperia” service without issuing a formal statement about this. The site only found out about this through the Sony Mobile Talk Forums because a support staff confirmed it in response to a user query.

When an Xperia phone owner pointed out weeks ago that he can no longer find the “my Xperia” app on his phone even though he is certain that he did not delete it, the support staff responded: “The ‘my Xperia’ service and ‘Protection by my Xperia’ are discontinued starting from Xperia XZ Premium, that is why you can’t find the service in the settings menu of your device.”

The support staff went on to say that Xperia owners can now rely on Google’s “Find My Device” service to remotely lock or wipe their device. True enough, when users try to access “my Xperia” on their phones, they are automatically redirected to Google’s “Find My Device” website.

When one phone owner who has been using the remote tracking service asked why it the app was discontinued, the support staff wrote: “I’m afraid that I don’t have any information to as [sic] why this service has been discontinued, however as of January 17, 2018, the ‘my Xperia’ web service has also been discontinued … I understand that is not the answer you were looking for, but it’s the information I have available.”

Meanwhile, another Xperia owner chimed in and opined that Sony may have ditched the service in order for it to “trim some fat from the software and cut the costs of support.” According to the Xperia user, doing so would mean Sony doesn’t need to continue developing the app and maintaining the servers for it to function.

Sony launched “my Xperia” in 2013 for its Xperia handsets. The app came with several features such as remotely sounding an alert on an Xperia phone, locating a lost device on the map, locking the device to keep personal data safe and even pinging the device a message with contact details. It also came with a feature that enabled users to remotely wipe data stored on the lost phone and SD card.