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I feel like Find my iPhone has failed me

N

nouveau-apple

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 29, 2014
807
98
It finally happened to me. First iPhone I've ever had stolen, it was a 5s. And I'm the one who always tells people to keep their phone secure. Activate Find My iPhone and keep your phone locked down with alphanumeric passwords and Touch ID. I used it all.

But now, my phone is stolen and I'm putting Find My iPhone to the test. So far, there's been no activity on it. Any reason why?

I've already taken all the appropriate steps as far as notifying my carrier and erasing the phone.

Now, that they have it, is there any way... ANY way that that person could get into it, like jailbreaking it or something?

Or will it be locked forever? :)
 
Last edited:
nouveau-apple said:
It finally happened to me. First iPhone I've ever had stolen, it was a 5s. And I'm the one who always tells people to keep their phone secure. Activate Find My iPhone and keep your phone locked down with alphanumeric passwords and Touch ID. I used it all.

But now, my phone is stolen and I'm putting Find My iPhone to the test. So far, there's been no activity on it. Any reason why?

I've already taken all the appropriate steps as far as notifying my carrier and erasing the phone.

Now, that they have it, is there any way... ANY way that that person could get into it, like jailbreaking it or something?

Or will it be locked forever? :)
Click to expand...

They will sell it for parts.
 
nouveau-apple said:
It finally happened to me. First iPhone I've ever had stolen, it was a 5s. And I'm the one who always tells people to keep their phone secure. Activate Find My iPhone and keep your phone locked down with alphanumeric passwords and Touch ID. I used it all.

But now, my phone is stolen and I'm putting Find My iPhone to the test. So far, there's been no activity on it. Any reason why?

I've already taken all the appropriate steps as far as notifying my carrier and erasing the phone.

Now, that they have it, is there any way... ANY way that that person could get into it, like jailbreaking it or something?

Or will it be locked forever? :)
Click to expand...

I think they can replace the logic board, therefore replacing the memory, and start it as a new iPhone. There would be no activity in the other account.
 
nouveau-apple said:
It finally happened to me. First iPhone I've ever had stolen, it was a 5s. And I'm the one who always tells people to keep their phone secure. Activate Find My iPhone and keep your phone locked down with alphanumeric passwords and Touch ID. I used it all.

But now, my phone is stolen and I'm putting Find My iPhone to the test. So far, there's been no activity on it. Any reason why?

I've already taken all the appropriate steps as far as notifying my carrier and erasing the phone.

Now, that they have it, is there any way... ANY way that that person could get into it, like jailbreaking it or something?

Or will it be locked forever? :)
Click to expand...

It's forever locked. They can only sell it or strip it for the parts.
 
noobinator said:
What about if the thief knew or was an Apple employee? Similar to how those unlocking people work.
Click to expand...

My understanding is that wouldn't matter as Apple says they cannot unlock it if you forget your password. I agree with the other posts, it's only good for parts.
 
forever locked, with find my phone on and icloud set up

without this they could resotre it in iTunes and get it working but find my phone and icloud puts an activation locked on it, so even if you think its restored when you swipe to setup it will get to a screen asking for icloud password without it you can't proceed.


we use iPhones at my work and when people leave they turn in their phone to me, a few have left find my phone on so I have to get our carrier to contact apple to unlock it
 
nouveau-apple said:
ANY way that that person could get into it, like jailbreaking it or something?
Click to expand...
To jailbreak your phone there are several conditions that need to be met.

First, the thief would have to be aware of the concept of jailbreaking. Most thieves have no idea what they have or how to use it, much less any idea that jailbreaking is a concept. They steal to make quick cash.

Next, the thief would need to gain access to your springboard, i.e., unlock the phone. Assuming they fool your Touch ID and you had a pin code and they passed that, then they would need to download and run a jailbreak app appropriate to your version of iOS.

Currently, there is no jailbreak for iOS 8.

Some jailbreaks require iTunes, so the thief would also need access to a computer running the appropriate version of iTunes if that was necessary.

Even if the thief succeeded in all this, the thief still does not know your AppleID password. Assuming you have set the App store app to require your password for installing or updating the thief would have to figure this out. If your phone was on iOS 7 or above, the first time the thief ever tried to restore he would be confronted with activation lock.

This is a highly improbable series of events predicated on the intelligence of the thief who in most instances wants to get rid of the phone for cash as quickly as possible.

Any attempt to restore your phone, jailbroken or not, will require either through iTunes or your phone your AppleID and password. Unless you are extremely lax with security or the thief knows you, the thief is screwed at this point. There is no way around activation lock without your AppleID and password.

So, as the others have said, your iPhone is most likely been parted out.
 
I wish apple would require TouchID or a password as an option to manually power off an iDevice. This would drastically aid in locating lost/stolen iDevices, at least until the battery dies.
 
tekkt0r said:
I wish apple would require TouchID or a password as an option to manually power off an iDevice. This would drastically aid in locating lost/stolen iDevices, at least until the battery dies.
Click to expand...

I think the Find my phone feature is more for lost phones and that added security to lock the lost device not to go hunting down theives, that could get dangerous
 
noobinator said:
or til they throw it in a swimming pool/lake/ocean
Click to expand...

Okay, there's that. I have a note on the inside of my case that explains stealing my phone is completely futile and that if they return it to me, they'll get a $50 reward. My wife's cell is in the note.
 
tekkt0r said:
I wish apple would require TouchID or a password as an option to manually power off an iDevice. This would drastically aid in locating lost/stolen iDevices, at least until the battery dies.
Click to expand...

You do not even need to power it off. Swipe up and invoke airplane mode and the phone cannot be located.
 
heisenberg123 said:
I think the Find my phone feature is more for lost phones and that added security to lock the lost device not to go hunting down theives, that could get dangerous
Click to expand...

Not for me it isn't, lol.

am-i-the-only-one.jpg
 
This just happened to my daughter's iPhone 4 at school. Running iOS 7, locked with passcode and immediately turned on "Lost mode". thief must have it turned off, I have one location ping yesterday at 3pm (busy highway, not residential), and nothing since.
 
jettrue said:
This just happened to my daughter's iPhone 4 at school. Running iOS 7, locked with passcode and immediately turned on "Lost mode". thief must have it turned off, I have one location ping yesterday at 3pm (busy highway, not residential), and nothing since.
Click to expand...

I would hide it in the back of a cab just to mess with people.
 
tekkt0r said:
I wish apple would require TouchID or a password as an option to manually power off an iDevice. This would drastically aid in locating lost/stolen iDevices, at least until the battery dies.
Click to expand...

Not at all.
Until they activate Airplane mode or remove sim card.
 
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