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Find My iPhone

34 'Find my iPhone' stories November 2011 - May 2014
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Find My iPhone is part of the Find My application that Apple preloads on iPhones, iPads, Apple Watch, and iCloud.com.

What is Find My iPhone?

Find My iPhone allows a user to track their lost iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch. If you lose your iPhone, you can use the Find My app on another device to see its last known location.

In previous versions of iOS, Find My iPhone and Find My Friends were separate applications. Starting in iOS 13, they were combined into a single app that allows you to locate your devices and check the location of your friends and family.

Find My iPhone has become a way to make iOS devices less attractive to steal. Once Find My is enabled on an iPad, iPhone, Mac, or Apple Watch, the device cannot be unlocked without the iCloud password of the original account.

How to enable Find my iPhone

To protect yourself from losing an iPhone, it’s important that you turn on Find My iPhone on your iPhone. You should also turn it on on your iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch as well.

Find My iPhone

On your iPhone, go to Settings > Choose Your Account at the top (where it says Apple ID, iCloud, iTunes & App Store). Go to Find My.

In the top section, make sure it is enabled. You can also enable “Share My Location” in order to also let your family and friends know where you are at. This feature is handy if you have Family Sharing enabled for checking to see the location of your spouse or children. If you have a HomePod, you will want to enable this feature to be able to make personal requests regarding your data.

How to locate a missing iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGvaaMAwzB8

If you have misplaced your iPhone, it’s easy to track it using the Find My application on another device or on iCloud.com. To get started, open the Find My app, go to the Devices tab, and find the device in the list.

Once you locate the device in the list, you can play a sound, get directions to its locations, Mark as Lost, or even erase it. If the device is offline, it’ll receive commands once it comes back online. You should only erase the device if you don’t expect to be able to recover it.

How to disable Find My iPhone

Disabling Find My iPhone should only be done when selling a device or sending it off to be repaired by Apple. Apple requires the service to be disabled before generating a return code.

To disable Find My iPhone, go to Settings > Choose your account > Find My > Turn Off. To turn it off, you will be forced to authenticate the request using your iCloud password.

Again, just to clarify, the only two times you should disable the service is when you are selling a device or at the request of Apple Support prior to sending a device in for repair.

How to bypass Apple’s activation lock

If an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or iPad is locked with an iCloud account, the only way to unlock is it with the password of the account or by getting in contact with Apple. Apple will only unlock the device if you can provide the original proof of purchase that matches the serial number of the device. Apple’s policy is to protect against device theft.

If you don’t remember the password of the account, you can reset it using the email address tied to the account.

Find Missing AirPods

Find my Airpods

The Find My application can also locate AirPods. If you have Find My enabled on your iPhone, it will automatically be enabled on your AirPods as well.

If your AirPods are lost, not in their case, and are somewhere close, you can use the Find My app to locate them. If your AirPods are out of range of your devices, have dead batteries, or are in the case, the Find My app can still help by showing the time and location where they were last connected.

If you can find your AirPods on the map, you can have them play a noise. This  feature can be helpful if you lose a single AirPod in the couch or in the bed. If you can’t find your AirPods, you’ll be able to see their last known location. If your AirPods come back online, you will then be able to make them play a sound.

Apple denies iCloud breach was responsible for device lockout attack, advises users to change passwords

Avatar for Mike Beasley May 27 2014 - 11:29 pm PT
2 Comments
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Last night we reported that several Mac and iOS users were finding their devices remotely locked by hackers who had gained access to the users’ Find My iPhone accounts and demanded a ransom to return the devices to a working state.

Today Apple issued a statement on the problem, noting that—as suspected—the iCloud service itself was not actually breached, but individual user accounts may have been compromised through password reuse or social engineering:


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Australian Mac and iOS users find devices remotely locked, held for ransom (and how to keep yours safe)

Avatar for Mike Beasley May 26 2014 - 10:03 pm PT
15 Comments
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The Sydney Morning Herald reports that several Australian Mac, iPhone, and iPad users are finding that their devices have been locked remotely through Apple’s Find My iPhone service by someone using the name “Oleg Pliss.” The hacker (or hackers) then demand payments of around $50 to $100 to an anonymous PayPal account in order to restore the devices to their owners.

An active thread on Apple’s support forum was started yesterday as users started to discover that they had been targeted by the attack. According to that discussion, users are finding all of their devices locked at once rather than a single device per user. Based on that report and the fact that Find My iPhone is being used to hold the devices hostage, it seems likely that the perpetrator has gained access to these users’ iCloud accounts—possibly through password reuse by those users—rather than some device-specific malware or hack.


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iOS 7 bug allows anyone to disable Find My iPhone and bypass Activation Lock without a password

Avatar for Mike Beasley Apr 3 2014 - 12:00 am PT
83 Comments

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvbter05UpA]

Starting with iOS 7, deleting an iCloud account or restoring a device requires Find My iPhone to be disabled. Find My iPhone, in turn, requires the user to enter the password for the Apple ID attached to the iCloud account. This system ensures that phone thieves can’t remove the account and avoid being tracked through the Find My iPhone website.

Unfortunately, there’s a pretty easy way to bypass this requirement, as demonstrated in the video above. To do so, you first need to tap both “delete account” and the switch to disable Find My iPhone at the same time in the iCloud settings panel. That’s actually the hardest part of the entire process. When prompted for a password, hold down the power button and shut down the phone.
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Nearly a fifth of all grand larcenies in NYC involved Apple products

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Jan 13 2014 - 4:41 am PT
4 Comments
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Thefts of Apple products made up 18 percent of all grand larcenies in New York City last year, reports the WSJ, citing NYPD figures. Of the 47,000 grand larcenies occuring in the city last year, 8,465 involved Apple products.

Many of the thefts happen on public transportation, where most people are buried in their devices and aren’t paying attention to their surroundings, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired New York Police Department detective. “It’s easy pickings,” he said … 
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San Francisco district attorney calls on Apple to enable Activation Lock by default on all iPhones

Avatar for Mike Beasley Dec 18 2013 - 4:36 pm PT
8 Comments
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When Apple debuted iOS 7 earlier this year, one of the many new features covered at the keynote event was Activation Lock. The feature is an addition to the existing Find My iPhone system that helps recover lost or stolen iOS devices. While Find My iPhone mainly focuses on locating tracking the missing device on a map, Activation Lock is designed to keep thieves from using stolen phones.

George Gascón, San Francisco district attorney, has called on Apple to enable this feature by default, requiring users to opt-out of the service rather than opting in. Gascón cites a recent survey of 313 San Franciscans which revealed that 79% of responding iPhone users had enabled Find My iPhone and Activation Lock.


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Botched Find my iPhone update only allows developers to log in [Update: fixed]

Avatar for Scott Buscemi Aug 22 2013 - 10:54 am PT
20 Comments
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Update: Apple confirmed on its iCloud status page that Find my iPhone is back to normal:

Screen Shot 2013-08-22 at 3.30.09 PM

The Find my iPhone iOS app has been updated with a new iOS 7-style icon while the rest of the UI remains the same. This icon is the same as the one found on the updated beta.icloud.com website:

However, many are noting that you cannot log in to the new Find my iPhone app without having a developer account:
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Google copies Find my iPhone with new ‘Android Device Manager’

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Aug 2 2013 - 10:47 am PT
7 Comments

Android-Device-Manager

Google today announced on its Official Android Blog that it’s launching a brand new tool called ‘Android Device Manager’ that will let users easily locate and remotely wipe misplaced or stolen devices. Anyone familiar with the Find My iPhone feature that Apple has made available to iOS device users will already be quite familiar with how the software works.

Much like Apple’s service, Android Device Manager will let users locate their device on a Map in real-time, as well as remotely wipe the device of all data if happens to get into the wrong hands. You’ll also be able to make your device ring at maximum volume if you happen to misplace it in a nearby location.

If you ended up dropping your phone between those couch cushions, Android Device Manager lets you quickly ring your phone at maximum volume so you can find it, even it’s been silenced. And in the event that your phone or tablet is out of earshot (say, at that restaurant you left it at last night), you can locate it on a map in real time

Google’s announcement comes at a time when government officials are pressuring Apple, Google, and other smartphone manufacturers to implement new theft deterrent features. While Google’s new tool would be one step in the right direction, it doesn’t appear to go beyond what Apple has already had in place since back in 2010.

Recently, Apple announced a new Activation Lock feature that requires an Apple ID and password to reactivate a stolen phone after being remotely erased/wiped by the owner through the Apple Find my iPhone feature. The login information will also now be required to turn off Find My iPhone. If a user’s device is stolen, wiping the device clean will essentially leave the thief with a device that is inoperable without the user’s Apple ID and password. It doesn’t appear that Google’s new tool includes a similar feature.

Google said the new Android Device Manager service will available later this month for devices running Android 2.2 and up, and an Android app will also be available to help users manage their devices.

Apple announces ‘Activation Lock’ theft deterrent feature for iOS 7 ahead of gov’t meeting on rising smartphone crime

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Jun 10 2013 - 1:40 pm PT
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Ahead of a meeting with government officials later this month to discuss how Apple could prevent increasing smartphone crimes, Apple today introduced a new feature called ‘Activation Lock’ that it says will be “a really powerful theft deterrent” when released later this fall in iOS 7.

We told you earlier this month that government officials in the US were calling Apple, Google and others to a “smartphone summit” later this month on June 13 to discuss the increasing amount of smartphone related crime in New York city and the rest of the country. State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon have been pushing smartphone makers to come up with solutions to prevent crime and discourage thefts of devices.

Today, during its WWDC keynote presentation ahead of the meeting later this month, Apple introduced the ‘Activation Lock’ feature that will require an Apple ID and password to reactivate a stolen phone after being remotely erased/wiped by the owner through Apple Find my iPhone feature. The login information will also now be required to turn off Find My iPhone.

If a user’s device is stolen, wiping the device clean will essentially leave the thief with a device that is inoperable without the user’s Apple ID and password (as pictured above):
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Apple’s iCloud servers once again experiencing major outages for a growing number of users

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Apr 23 2013 - 5:34 am PT
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Update, 9:34 AM: Apple has now updated its System Status page to confirm the outages we reported earlier this morning. Apple reports some users experienced issues with account & sign in for iCloud, purchases for iTunes, Game Center, and creating new Apple IDs:

Screen Shot 2013-04-23 at 3.51.58 PM

Over the last couple of months Apple’s iCloud servers have been experiencing major outages approximately every couple of weeks and today a growing number of users are once again complaining of issues accessing various iCloud services.

9to5Mac readers in several countries have reached out to Apple support who confirmed the outages, although Apple is yet to update its System Status page to reflect the downtime. Apple is typically at least a few hours behind in reporting outages.

As highlighted by hundreds of users on Twitter, the outages appear to be affecting multiple iCloud services including Mail, third-party apps attempting to access iCloud credentials, and Find my iPhone. Others are simply receiving an error message when attempting to access any iCloud service. Some users are also reporting that iCloud is requesting they reset their passwords as if their account is experiencing a security issue.

We’ll update this post when/if Apple finally reports the outages.

https://twitter.com/himanzoo/status/326669089533722624

https://twitter.com/KhaledYousry/status/326666876124033024

https://twitter.com/ridewithgarrett/status/326664553310081024

Find My iPhone helps police arrest an armed robbery suspect

Avatar for Jake Smith Nov 22 2011 - 1:14 pm PT
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LA Times reports that Apple’s Find My iPhone app was used to assist in the arrest of an armed robbery suspect last Thursday. The male suspect entered a female’s home at gun point and took her purse, which held her beloved iPhone inside. The suspect left the home, and thought the coast was clear.

However, the victim then called police and remembered that she had Find My iPhone and notified them. Luckily for her, a random citizen on the street let police use his laptop to track the suspect down via Apple’s website. The officers later found the man and he was arrested on robbery charges. The LAPD told the LA Times how crucial it is to have tracking software installed whenever possible:

LAPD officials say computer and phone theft is a major contributor to crime in Los Angeles, and the theft — and its outcome — illustrate the value and benefit of using tracking applications and software for computers, cellphones and portable tablets.

Find My iPhone was also used in September to help sift through the wreckage in the terribly sad Chilean plane crash. Find My iPhone has important use cases everyday, and we’re glad to see the poor woman got her items back. This is a great reminder that you should have it installed (and to criminals to pass on taking Apple devices!)


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