Locating your lost smartphone just got simpler as Google announced a new tool to track a lost Android phone from your desktop. Search engine giant, Google unveiled a tool that tracks down missing handsets by searching for the term "find my phone" on the site's homepage.

In an attempt to further increase the security level of Android smartphone, Google on April 16 announced that users can now employ the search engine to track their lost smartphone, NDTVGadgets noted.

Google made the announcement via a Google+ post.

The tool works with all Android phones that have the latest Google app installed and, apparently, when a user is signed into Google account on Chrome. However, this has not yet been confirmed.

How does it work?

Users reportedly need to simply type "find my phone" in the Google search bar while logged in with the same Google account registered on their smartphone.

A map appears as the first search result with a message asking the user to sign in again to confirm their identity. This basically prevents people being able to track a person's phone in case the user forgets to log out of their Google account on a shared Google Chrome browser. Users can then see an approximate location of the device.

In addition, the Android Device Manager will enable users to ring their device, which will allow them to locate it. Once the ring option is chosen, the phone will ring for 5 minutes.

However, the smartphone's location services should be on so that Google can locate the phone.

Check out the process in the animated gif below:

Users will need to install the Android Device Manager (ADM) app if they want these features. The ADM was introduced in 2013 and actually allowed locating, resetting and deleting data for Android devices from Web.

Do you think simply using Google search on a desktop, makes locating a lost phone more convenient and effective? Let us know what you think in the comments below!