How To Find Your Stolen iPhone or iPad for Free
Disaster struck last night - my iPhone was stolen. It was like losing a limb. Well it was like losing a limb, my phone, my camera, my photo album, my iPod, my diary, my calendar... You get the picture.
Like with any big loss, I'm currently moving through the five stages of grief..
Denial: At first I thought my friend had accidentally taken it by mistake. Wishful thinking at it's best. Turns out, I was wrong.
Anger: I may have taken the lord's name in vain several times this morning.
Bargaining: I tried to convince our nightlife editor, zammo, and our dining editor, geofferson, to swap their iPhones for my retro Nokia 3310. All the hipsters are carrying them.
Depression: Numb, devastated, crushed, gutted, mortified - these all describe how I've felt today.
Acceptance: Well I haven't gotten there just yet, but I'm sure that with time (and a couple glasses of scotch) I will.
This whole experience got me thinking about all you City Weekenders who have an iPhone. Now that you've downloaded the free City Weekend App, your iPhone value has skyrocketed. Although I didn't do this myself, follow these steps from AppStorm to protect your baby. Here's what I should have done.
The Find Your iPhone and iPad Tutorial
Up until recently, locating your lost iOS device was a feature only paid MobileMe subscribers enjoyed. However, with the most recent software update Apple decided to toss in this service free of charge for all devices.The Heads Up
You may have seen this little screen pop up. Apple is offering a free service that you should be using just in case the worst-case scenario ever comes true and you find yourself without your precious Apple device. Here's the iPad setup but the iPhone version is basically the same.
Adding A MobileMe Account
The first thing you want to do on your iOS device is go to Settings and tap on Mail, Contacts and Calendars. From here you want to Add a MobileMe account. Don’t worry if you’re not signed up for MobileMe, as long as you have an iTunes account you should be fine.
Once you’ve selected a MobileMe account, you’ll be asked to sign in. Type in your ID and password that you use for iTunes.
Now, once you’ve signed in, you may or may not receive a message saying that the MobileMe terms have changed. If you do, simply read the 32 page agreement (yeah right) and hit “accept” at the bottom. Once you do this, the Settings app quits. It just goes away! As it turns out, the Find My iPhone service is still very much a part of MobileMe, so this process signs you up for the free portion of the service. Next you'll need to check your email. Here you’ll find a verification message like the one below. Simply click the “Verify Now” link
This will take you to Apple’s website where you can verify your account. Here you once again just type in your iTunes credentials.
Start Over
Once you’ve verified your account, go into Settings on your iPhone/iPad and see if the MobileMe account has appeared. If not, tap Add Account once more, select MobileMe and log in with your iTunes account. If you think this all sounds terribly redundant, you’re right, it is.The good news is that from here the headache is over. This time adding a MobileMe account should give you the option to turn on “Find My iPad.” Flip the switch and hit “Allow” to activate the service.
That’s it! Now you’re signed up and your device will begin tracking its own location.
Now What?
So now that you’ve got the service all up and ready, where do you go to see it? It turns out there are two options. The first is through any web browser. Stop by Me.com and sign in with the same info you just used forty-two times above.
Once you’ve signed in, you should see a simple Google Map showing the location of your device. Tapping on your device will bring up three options: Display Message or Sound, Lock and Wipe.
If you’re like me, you’ve got plenty of personal information floating around in apps like Evernote so it’s really nice to be able to lock or wipe the device remotely. Obviously, at this point you would call the police and kindly ask them to go beat the crap out of the dirty thief who took your iPad.
The App
The second option for viewing this data is the free iPhone app from Apple, Find My iPhone. From here you can track multiple devices (obviously, if one is stolen, you’ll have to use another) and perform the same actions as we saw on MobileMe: send message, wipe or lock.
It’s interesting to note that the sound will go off even if your device is on silent. This alarm will sound for two minutes and is sure to freak out the abductor. From here you can continue to berate him/her with scary messages.
Conclusion
Take my advice and protect your iPhone guys. I'm kicking myself for not doing this earlier. Have you had your phone or tablet stolen in Shanghai? Did you ever get it back? What kind of crazy messages would you send to the thief if you had this setting switched on? Hit us up below.
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Most Recent Comments
Great article, i`ll be hitting that up real soon!
I remember once i lost a nokia n96 before, what i did was to send the following.
"Hey i know you got my phone ok great, but since it has a GPS tracker on it i basically know where you are and live, so i can come over to get it or you meet me somewhere, shucks i`ll even throw you a few hundred for it,, lets keep things simple mate, and btw , the tracker still sends a signal even if the phone is turned off, be fair and consider others "
I sent that message in Chinese though. Now the phone did not have a gps tracker but who would take the risk,? as they cant be sure, and the way i spoke made them feel like i am willing to come to their place and i really do know where it is, although i know 90% of people will insist you meet outside, so i actually managed to get that Nokia back.
2 words " Mind Fuck " if you dont have gps, then mind bang them into thinking your in control.
Oh thanks for spotting that one narsfweasels.. My eyes were a little blurry from the tears I've been shedding over my loss.
Haha, nice one. My offer to "mug" your mom when she's in town and use her wallet to buy you a new phone still stands. Are we getting a "How to Find Your Stolen Nokia 3310" post next?
@funshanghai: What a fantastic scare tactic. What was it like when you met up with them? Did you give them money? I tried calling my phone as soon as I realised, but the sneaky buggers had switched it off.
@geofferson: "How to Steal Your Co-workers iPhone"... watch out!
what if the phone is switched off, or have the battery taken out?
or the SIM card is switched?
Great article!!!!
My phone got stolen by an ayi today, left my iphone on my bike to chat to a friend with-in ten seconds she snaked my phone!!!!
Fortunately she was stupid enough to answer and held my phone for ransom asking for 3,000RMB!! I told her fine thats reasonable i am just grateful that you found it :)
Whatever u do dont call the police they were useless, they told me to go fill out a form and thats it hahaha "i told them the thef would give me the phone back if i pay 3,000rmb" they said "ok, go get your phone and then come fill out a form" "can you get me my money back" "ohhh 不好意思 （no we cant)"
Anyways on the way to meeting this person i thought of every hostage negotiation scenario haha then i saw her and she was half my size i said "can i check to see if the phone is ok?" she handed me the phone and i said "look i will give you 300RMB but i am not giving you 3,000RMB" she blew up and wouldnt let go of me and was asking me to get it back I did a little face push and she started screaming i decide to run because i didnt want to be that guy that hits a woman haha
CHK CHK boom! got my phone back and didnt pay a cent was more than happy to give 300 but if ur going to be greedy well f ya!
@branded spirits
Good for you, I had a similar experience.
My old ayi destroyed a 2000rmb cashmere sweater by putting it on a boil wash - even after I told her not to do my washing any more.
So I fired her and refused to pay, called the company and told them the situation and they basically didn't give a rats...
"oh, but you must pay her."
"in the contract it says that any damage done to property by negligence will be paid by the ayi."
"2000 RMB is a lot of money."
"yes, yes it is. It was a really great jumper"
"I don't think she can afford to pay."
"then I won't pay her for the month and we will have to call it even"
"oh, no! You must pay her, it says you must pay her in the contract."
"Then when do I get my 2000rmb?"
"oh, I don't think she will be able to pay that..."
"Then she's not getting paid. End of story."
"Oh but you must pay her!"
Then a week later, the ayi turns up on the doorstep, husband with large hammer in tow. I called the police but they refused to even countenance discussing with the ayi.
Ended up getting dragged to the ATM and paid her under threat of violence.
Unluckily for her, she had told me the hospital where her husband worked. It was a small matter to have a friend of mine visit him and get the money back. With interest on his ankles. I gather he was unable to work for quite a while afterwards,
"It was like loosing a limb. Well it was like loosing"
LOSING! LO-SING!
I can't believe it, my application to join the hallowed halls of Cityweekend Towers was rejected, and you employed someone who can't even SPELL?
Bunch of loosers.
(useful article, downloading the app ASAP)