That sinking feeling of dread sets in and your stomach becomes one giant knot … you can’t find your mobile and you don’t remember the last place you had it. Was it in the car? Did you leave it at the restaurant? Did it fall out of your bag in the cab? Did someone take it out of your bag?

Considering how expensive these devices can be and how much personal information we store on them we’re usual desperate to get the device back in our own, non-malicious hands. If you don’t take the precautionary measure of installing one of these apps then all you can do is hope that it turns up on its own, a good samaritan turns it in or the person who took it only wanted the phone itself and just erases your data without giving it a second look. If those options don’t sound so hot, go with one of these four apps (highlighted by Read Write Web) that will help locate your MIA device.

Find My Phone (iOS)
By far the best-known method for finding a lost device is Apple’s free Find My iPhone app. It has all the key features, including geolocation, remote alarm and remote wipe. All you need to do is enable the app from your device settings.

Prey (iOS, Android, Linux, OSX, Windows)
Prey is the only mobile-recovery application that works across phones, tablets and computers. An open source product, its features include geolocation, snapshots, screenshots and remote hide/wipe.

Lookout Mobile Security (iOS, Android)
Lookout locates a missing device somewhere in the world every 5 seconds. But in terms of device tracking, the free version isn’t as feature rich as some competitors – it lacks remote wipe and lock, for example, but does include other features like security and data backup.

iGotYa (Jailbroken iOS)
It uses snapshots and geolocation to help find your device. Once you’ve downloaded from the Cydia store (available only for jailbroken iOS devices), ensure you have an iPhone device passcode set up, then go to the iGotya settings to enter your email address and enable secure mode.

For more details on each app, visit ReadWriteWeb >>>

You can get most of these apps for free, so stop dragging your feet and get one set up before that sinking feeling of dread sets in and your stomach becomes one giant knot.