New 'Send Last Location to Apple' Feature Added to Find My iPhone in iOS 8

MacRumors · Jun 3, 2014

iOS 8 introduces a new feature to the Find my iPhone and Find my iPad functionality on iOS devices, allowing users to select a "Send Last Location" option that will notify Apple of a device's last known location when the battery drains to a critical level.

Currently, if a device is lost with Find My iPhone on and the battery drains and it cannot be located, iCloud will display the last known location for up to 24 hours, but after that, there is no way for end users to determine the last location of a device.

It appears this new Find My iPhone feature will authorize Apple to store the last known location of an iOS device after 24 hours have passed, potentially allowing customers to contact the company for location information after it is no longer available on iCloud.

The new option can be found in the iCloud section of the Settings app, listed under a new entry for Find My iPhone (or iPad). Tapping on Find My iPhone gives an option to enable the feature and to enable Send Last Location. With iOS 7, Find My iPhone was bundled into the rest of the iCloud settings, with a simple toggle to turn the feature on and off.

(Thanks, John!)

Article Link: New 'Send Last Location to Apple' Feature Added to Find My iPhone in iOS 8

CrimsonKnight · Jun 3, 2014

Sweet, that is pretty awesome. Will come in handy.

Sky Blue · Jun 3, 2014

omg Big borher! NSA Tim Cook is reading my emails

larrylaffer · Jun 3, 2014

It should also do it when the phone is turned off.

I was mugged a couple of years ago and my iPhone 4 was taken. By the time I got to a computer to look up where it went, it was nowhere to be found. We always figured the crook was smart and turned the phone off as soon as he took it.

I set a "notify when found" alert 2 years ago, and nothing.

richwoodrocket · Jun 3, 2014

larrylaffer said:
It should also do it when the phone is turned off.

I was mugged a couple of years ago and my iPhone 4 was taken. By the time I got to a computer to look up where it went, it was nowhere to be found. We always figured the crook was smart and turned the phone off as soon as he took it.

I set a "notify when found" alert 2 years ago, and nothing.

That's impossible if the phone is off.

goobot · Jun 3, 2014

Do GPS chips have unique identifiers? If so it would be cool if apple can link that to findmyiphone so even if the device is wiped you would be able to find it. Another interesting thing would be to figure out how to track it even when off. Doesn't the M7 still work when the device runs out of battery or is off?

AstronomyiPhone · Jun 3, 2014

Sky Blue said:
omg Big borher! NSA Tim Cook is reading my emails

How did I guess that this would be one of the first responses?

Nermal · Jun 3, 2014

richwoodrocket said:
That's impossible if the phone is off.

Yes, but presumably he meant as part of the shutdown process

LordQ · Jun 3, 2014

richwoodrocket said:
That's impossible if the phone is off.

Perhaps send the last known location as soon as the iPhone detects the hold of the sleep button to shut down? While the shutdown screen appears and the thief slides to power off it's plenty of time to finish the sending process.

A nice feature indeed!

CrazyForApple · Jun 3, 2014

I'm surprised that they never had this feature before

BreuerEditor · Jun 3, 2014

Am I missing something or is it not cool that it's only for the last 24 hours?? What is the limitations that it won't display the last known location until the device is found (or removed manually)??

Chrjy · Jun 3, 2014

CarlosQG said:
Perhaps send the last known location as soon as the iPhone detects the hold of the sleep button to shut down? While the shutdown screen appears and the thief slides to power off it's plenty of time to finish the sending process.

A nice feature indeed!

The story states:
when the battery drains to a critical level

So I'm guessing that the software will know when the battery is at a critical level and record its location. If a thief was to turn it off before the critical battery stage nothing would be sent to Apple.

That's my take on it anyway.

Rigby · Jun 3, 2014

BreuerEditor said:
Am I missing something or is it not cool that it's only for the last 24 hours?? What is the limitations that it won't display the last known location until the device is found (or removed manually)??

Today the phone's location is only sent to Apple when you actively request it (using the "Find my iPhone" app on another device or icloud.com). Basically, Apple then sends a push notification to the phone requesting the location. The phone does *not* send periodic location updates to Apple on its own. So, when the phone is offline, Apple at best knows the last location at the time when you last requested it.

This new function now sends the location to Apple automatically before it shuts down due to low battery, so you can determine the location if you lose it and it runs out of power. Whether Apple extends the time for which the last location is stored (currently 24 hours) remains to be seen.

BTW, sending the location before a manual shutdown would be pretty useless, unless the thief is dumb enough to wait until he's home before shutting it down.

larrylaffer · Jun 3, 2014

richwoodrocket said:
That's impossible if the phone is off.

What I mean is, it should submit the location when the phone is being turned off, as part of the shutdown sequence.

tajec812 · Jun 3, 2014

I think this has been misconstrued from what it really is. First off, Apple doesn't constantly track your phone, only when you do via Find My iPhone application or via the web, that's the data that is available in iCloud. This is simply to send the location of the phone before it dies, because once it's off, theres no connections.

carjakester · Jun 3, 2014

Very cool but im not liking how big of a part locations are becoming, soon enough you're going to watch everyones dots walking around on a map.

PracticalMac · Jun 3, 2014

larrylaffer said:
It should also do it when the phone is turned off.

I was mugged a couple of years ago and my iPhone 4 was taken. By the time I got to a computer to look up where it went, it was nowhere to be found. We always figured the crook was smart and turned the phone off as soon as he took it.

I set a "notify when found" alert 2 years ago, and nothing.

Great idea! Suggest to apple.

OtherJesus · Jun 3, 2014

Great new addition to theft/loss security.

But where is "Require Apple ID & Password to power off device"

Seems like a freaking no brainer to me.

----------

richwoodrocket said:
That's impossible if the phone is off.

That's why I suggest require AID password to turn off. Just like you need the password to turn off Find My iPhone

Fofer · Jun 3, 2014

Or how about allowing the user to set a timer, so that when they do intentionally turn on Airplane Mode (ie: actually on an Airplane, or in a meeting, or whatever) that Airplane Mode will turn itself off? I've had a friend or two lose their iPhone on an flight, and because they turned on Airplane Mode, they had no chance to get it back.

There should also be an option to remove the "Airplane Mode" button from the lockscreen. Because a thief turning on Airplane Mode means "Find My iPhone" won't work.

Yes, I've already sent these suggestions to Apple.

Tankmaze · Jun 3, 2014

OtherJesus said:
Great new addition to theft/loss security.

But where is "Require Apple ID & Password to power off device"

That sounds like a great idea, but entering apple id and password every shutdown is a bit of hassle i think, maybe using touch id for every shutdown should prevent the thief turning off the find my iphone.

This will happen i think, until the ipad gets touch id.

Fofer · Jun 3, 2014

Tankmaze said:
every shutdown is a bit of hassle

Huh? How often do you shutdown? Not restart, I mean, full shutdown?

I do it maybe once or twice a year.

Rigby · Jun 3, 2014

Fofer said:
There should also be an option to remove the "Airplane Mode" button from the lockscreen. Because a thief turning on Airplane Mode means "Find My iPhone" won't work.

There is an option to disable Control Center on the lockscreen.

Yes, I've already sent these suggestions to Apple.

None of this will help a lot in case of theft, since a thief can simply pop out the SIM, or put the phone into a mylar bag or metal box to block the signal.

henzpwnapple · Jun 3, 2014

CarlosQG said:
Perhaps send the last known location as soon as the iPhone detects the hold of the sleep button to shut down? While the shutdown screen appears and the thief slides to power off it's plenty of time to finish the sending process.

A nice feature indeed!

To be even more proactive.. send an email to the owner's acct whenever a photo is turned off and while in lost mode it gets turned back on..

bushido · Jun 3, 2014

OtherJesus said:
Great new addition to theft/loss security.

But where is "Require Apple ID & Password to power off device"

Seems like a freaking no brainer to me.

----------

That's why I suggest require AID password to turn off. Just like you need the password to turn off Find My iPhone

but the thief could always just put it in dfu to let it crash. i dont think its possible to get rid of that option if your phone freezes and doesnt respond for example

576316 · Jun 3, 2014

Does this mean Apple can track a dead device? Or is that silly?

New 'Send Last Location to Apple' Feature Added to Find My iPhone in iOS 8

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