When a Circle device is first set up on your home Wi-Fi, the list of devices that show up in the Circle app can be a bit daunting.
Sometimes, those names are easy to understand, like "Patricks-Macbook-Pro" in the example screenshot below. Other times, the names may be confusing or unclear, like "android-42146abc00d,, and this can make it difficult to assign devices to the correct profiles.
To help, we've provided an interactive walkthrough below, as well as some tips and tricks that you can use to sort out which device is which on your Circle account.
Unknown Devices
Are you seeing a new "Unknown Device" join your device list each day? You may be seeing an issue related to new privacy features on Android 10 and iOS 14 devices. Learn more about this feature and how to turn that off at the article here.
Common ways to identify which device is which on your network
You can access a device's details by opening your Circle app and going to Menu >> Devices and selecting any device in the list. Each device has a collection of details that you can use to sort out which device it is.
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Check the device name. Some are clear enough to let you know what they are right off the bat.
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Use the device model and type details (Circle Home Plus only). Each device that is discovered is compared with our list of known device types. Circle adds those details to your devices list, as well as to the settings screen for each individual device, as shown below.
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Look for the manufacturer's name. Some devices may have a name like "Microsoft Device," and you can use the manufacturer's name to figure out where it might belong.
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Remove and re-add Apple devices to your network. Some Apple products will show up at first as "Apple Device," and it may take a while for Circle to discover it's proper name. To accelerate the process, we recommend that you turn Airplane Mode ON and then OFF on your Apple device, then swipe down on your device list to refresh the listings.
- Try Pausing the device and see if it stops connecting. A Paused device should not load online content. If you Pause a device and suddenly it cannot go online that's likely the one you're looking for! Assign it to the correct profile then un-pause it to regain activity.
- Add Android or iOS devices to Circle using the kid app (Circle Parental Controls only). Identify and add your kiddo's Android or iOS devices to Circle by downloading the Circle Parental Controls app on them and setting ip the kid app verison. This will add them to Circle for management on any network and make sure they are on the correct profile once you've assigned them. You can learn more about kid app device set up here.
Use the Kid Dashboard page to identify devices
To help you find the name for each device in your home, we have built a card into the Kid Dashboard experience to help you out. Here's how to use it.
- Make sure the device you think you're using is assigned to a Kid, Teen, or Adult level profile.
- After pairing your Circle device, open up a web browser on the device you don't know the name for, and go to mycircle.meetcircle.com (Circle 1st generation) or dashboard.meetcircle-blue.com (Circle Parental Controls).
- Tap the circular icon or picture at the top right of the MyCircle screen to show or hide the Device Name dashboard card.
- Open up your Circle app and tap the device icon at the top right of the home screen to bring up the device list.
- Find the proper device in the list, and select that device to reassign it to the proper family member. You may also rename that device if you like.
Using a device's MAC address to identify it
You can also match the unique network identifier (or, "MAC Address") for your devices with the MAC address found in each of your device list entries. Here is how to do this:
- Identify a device in your home that you would like to find the MAC address for.
- Access a support resource for that device that will help you identify the MAC. Typically, an Internet search of "MAC address" + the type of device will yield the results that you need. (Also check out our article on How Do I Find My Device's MAC address? for more help.)
- Once you know the MAC address for that device, check each entry that you haven't identified yet in your Circle app's device list to see if the MAC address for that entry matches the one for the device you're trying to identify (see image below).
