Hey, what happened to Spot? If you just had a pet go missing, there’s a new feature on Ring’s Neighbors app that can make it easier to get the word out. Also coming today: a way for fellow Neighbors to reach you without you needing to share your phone number.
Slated to roll out starting today, the new Pet Profiles feature lets you create a profile for your dog, cat, snake (hey, lots of people have snakes), or other pets, complete with photos, names, and other details.
Once you’ve created a Pet Profile, you can use it to quickly send out a Lost Pet Post in case your favorite pet goes missing.
You can include up to five photos in a Pet Profile, along with salient details such as your pet’s name, species, breed, color, and weight.
There’s also an “Other Info” section that lets you add (for example) any unique markings, health conditions, and needed medications. If you’ve had your pet microchipped, you can even include a microchip number.
You can add a Pet Profile to a Lost Pet Post in the Ring Neighbors app.
Ring
If your pet does go on the lam, you can use the Pet Profile in a Lost Pet Post, which allows you to add even more information, such as the date and time your pet went missing, where they were last seen, and other important details.
Alongside Pet Profiles, Ring is unveiling a feature that lets other Neighbors users get in touch with you without you sharing your phone number or other personal contact info.
You can enable the new (and opt-in) Contact Me feature on any post you create in the Neighbors app, including posts about lost pets, and you can select whether you’d like to be contacted via voice call or SMS.
When another Neighbors user clicks the resulting Contact Author button on your post, they’ll reach you using a temporary phone number, meaning there’s no need to expose your own digits. And once your wayward pet reappears at your doorstep, you can turn off the Contact Author to prevent any more calls or texts.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.