Apple Developing iPhone Anti-Snatching Feature That Locks Stolen Phones Instantly

[Marzzz]

All great apart from the fact that it requires you to have an Apple Watch linked. Useless feature for me as I don't have an Apple Watch. The basic SE starts at £219 which isn't cheap for a body worn device liable to get knocked. I work in hospitality and I'm currently wearing a Fitbit Inspire 3 which has got bashed a fair few times but it cost me £35 on sale. Not risking a £200+ smartwatch which is probably more likely to get damaged.

The possible solution to that is to link it to an AirTag, which you could conceal on your person when you are traveling. oops someone just beat me to it!

 

[Apple_Robert]

I like the idea although it will be interesting to see how well it actually works.

 

[ikramerica]

OK this seems like not the worst idea, but they still refuse to address the real security issue:

Stop letting the iPhone PIN override all other account security

At least give me that as an option. They'll potentially force lock me out of my device by forcing on SDP without a Face ID scan, with the chance that Face ID will fail. But they won't give me the option to trust myself not to forget my Apple ID password.

“Must use pin on restart” is the stupidest feature on the phone. How about must use PIN and Biometric both on restart?

 

[cdsapplefan]

Just happend to me this weekend in North London. Got into all my finance apps, sold my crypto investments, moved money around from current accouts to PayPal/Revolut. Even made apple pay transactions in Apple Store & John Lewis.
Most annoying thing is I seriously doubt they will get caught and basically got away with it.

Did they snatch your phone? 📱

 

[gummybear2026]

Just happend to me this weekend in North London. Got into all my finance apps, sold my crypto investments, moved money around from current accouts to PayPal/Revolut. Even made apple pay transactions in Apple Store & John Lewis.
Most annoying thing is I seriously doubt they will get caught and basically got away with it.

Did you not have Face ID setup on your finance apps?

 

[macshmack]

Just happend to me this weekend in North London. Got into all my finance apps, sold my crypto investments, moved money around from current accouts to PayPal/Revolut. Even made apple pay transactions in Apple Store & John Lewis.

oh yeah? so did you have all the passwords turned off, or they snatched the phone along with your face maybe?

 

[jagjitr]

Did they snatch your phone? 📱

They snached my friends phone and he ran after them. I tried to find them and couldn't, then in a side street I got mine taken while trying to find my Uber driver.

Did you not have Face ID setup on your finance apps?

I thought I did, I work in IT and quite tech savy whcih is a gift and a curse. Everything is on my phone, all my passwords in a password manager, 2FA apps etc. You never think it can happen to you until it does...

 

[simply258]

I’m surprised this wasn’t implemented years ago, it’s so easy to code when you already have so many sensors on the phone.

 

[CarAnalogy]

If that is what Apple's entire security system depends upon, it is going to be tough to fix. We may never know, though.

They allow the device passcode to reset the Apple ID password, and the Apple ID is the core of everything. With that, one can wipe or lock every other device. All with one stolen passcode. And Apple’s only solution seems to be to add a biometric double check, instead of giving the option to not let the device PIN reset the Apple ID password.

Sadly I know why they do this and will likely never change, as I have personally witnessed far too many people do exactly this just to get past all the login screens to install a “free” app from the app store. They have no friggin idea what an apple id even is because it’s another screen they blew past during device setup.

But they know their PIN. Which may or may not be probably is something like 000000 or 111111.

 

[Howard2k]

I’d still like a way to prevent them from turning it off so I can at least still track it using Find My.

Find My can still work when the phone is off.

 

[Howard2k]

All great apart from the fact that it requires you to have an Apple Watch linked. Useless feature for me as I don't have an Apple Watch. The basic SE starts at £219 which isn't cheap for a body worn device liable to get knocked. I work in hospitality and I'm currently wearing a Fitbit Inspire 3 which has got bashed a fair few times but it cost me £35 on sale. Not risking a £200+ smartwatch which is probably more likely to get damaged.

they should implement it so you can just use a second phone in your other hand. Then when it detects the phones moving apart rapidly it will engage.

 

[Kriss_De_Valnor]

Definitely making this feature with central London in mind with the scrotes on bikes

It will not stop them. They will just chop off your arm with your watch and iPhone. Sad state of London.

 

[cdsapplefan]

They snached my friends phone and he ran after them. I tried to find them and couldn't, then in a side street I got mine taken while trying to find my Uber driver.

I thought I did, I work in IT and quite tech savy whcih is a gift and a curse. Everything is on my phone, all my passwords in a password manager, 2FA apps etc. You never think it can happen to you until it does...

Were you in a crowd? Did they sneak come up to you and snatch your phone from behind or did they come face to face with you?

 

[Chris443]

What about a setting that would enable (a user opt-in option) for TWO separate user iPhone passcodes to be implemented and set?

One user passcode (that could be set to be short) so 4-8 numerical PIN could be set to effectuate exclusively at specific user generated, geo-locations within settings (i.e. home and work) and a SEPARATE 15+ character ALPHANUMERIC passcode that would be set to enable EVERYWHERE a user goes, that is OUTSIDE of the parameters defined by those⬆️ users generated geo-fences - everywhere someone goes, outside of work or home

Doing this would maintain maximum user security (when it becomes warranted and necessary to do so) while balancing a user-convenient approach when security is obviously not as necessary (while a user is at home or at work)
Or if Apple allows even more customization: a third, forth or fifth (user input) geo-location

Apple’s current passcode security infrastructure is literally already designed around a geo-fence approach. What you are allowed to do outside of your home or work (password and security wise) is vastly different than the security/administrator options while you are at home. For example, there is a time sensitive wait requirement for changing one’s password while out and about - as there SHOULD be:

This is a great idea. MFA with a geo factor isnt new, but havent seen it in a phone. Combine that with eliminating an unlocked device as an MFA form to the rest of your Apple ecosystem and it may actually become a bit more secure.

 

[Tdude96]

Considering the device contents are harder to decrypt once the phone has been turned off

For that reason, I think the default behavior for this Anti-Snatching feature should be to restart the phone, not just lock it. Perhaps an option to just lock it instead, for people who find ways to trigger it outside of snatching.

 

[Shirasaki]

They allow the device passcode to reset the Apple ID password, and the Apple ID is the core of everything. With that, one can wipe or lock every other device. All with one stolen passcode. And Apple’s only solution seems to be to add a biometric double check, instead of giving the option to not let the device PIN reset the Apple ID password.

Sadly I know why they do this and will likely never change, as I have personally witnessed far too many people do exactly this just to get past all the login screens to install a “free” app from the app store. They have no friggin idea what an apple id even is because it’s another screen they blew past during device setup.

But they know their PIN. Which may or may not be probably is something like 000000 or 111111.

Sounds like PEBKAC problem at its peak, all too often tales of tech users. Our generation is a bit more literate than that but not sure how much it will impact us a couple of years later when AI is at the forefront of every single person’s life, not just those who are more adventurous and those who are in the field. We are not there yet but getting close rapidly. Will Apple change this security model? I hope so, but I don’t have hope on them.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Sounds like PEBKAC problem at its peak, all too often tales of tech users. Our generation is a bit more literate than that but not sure how much it will impact us a couple of years later when AI is at the forefront of every single person’s life, not just those who are more adventurous and those who are in the field. We are not there yet but getting close rapidly. Will Apple change this security model? I hope so, but I don’t have hope on them.

The older I get I see young people who are good at using the computers, but a lot of them still seem to have about the same amount as always as to how they actually work at even a basic level.

The real issue these days is identity and nobody even talks about that.

 

[eifelbube]

Better late than never.

Android’s theft protection features keep your device and data safe

Android rolls out theft protection features to safeguard your data before, during and after a theft incident.

blog.google

Not sure why your post got a thumbs-down. I followed your link. Well-designed protection measures … seem to be more comprehensive than Apple’s and ahead of time (2024). Thanks for sharing.

 

[grovian]

This will not help with the London situation as they steal them for parts, the thieves in black balaclava do not care if the phones work or not.

 

[robvalentine]

If you are concerned about digital investigators getting your phone and unlocking it, just keep your iphone up to date. Makes those forensic tools almost worthless on the most updated OS

I really wouldn't rely on the latest iOS or Android version being 100% safe. Bad actors such as celebritie and nso know about many zero days and keep them secret from apple etc for as long as possible. the new iPhone 17 memory should help, but malware companies like nso and cellebrite will usually find a way sadly

 

[Luis Ortega]

There’s something pathetic about people who need to live with their phones in their hands.

 

[Jonas Danielsson]

In English please?

the Wank-o-meter

Klippt från androidpolice:Think of what this app could be like, and I promise you that your mind will be blown, and whatever you just imagined is nothing compared to what you’re about to see. It’s real. It’s unique. It’s got stats. Rankings. Charts. Burned calories. Alright, that’s enough, I...

swedroid.se

 

[I7guy]

Not sure why your post got a thumbs-down. I followed your link. Well-designed protection measures … seem to be more comprehensive than Apple’s and ahead of time (2024). Thanks for sharing.

The post got a thumbs down because it’s a criticism of Apple when trying to better its’ ecosystem and disingenuous as well.

SDP was introduced in 2024, the same year the article was written. Apple already had frameworks in place under content and privacy restrictions to stop the change critical systems without a pin. Additionally biometric protection can be applied to specific apps. Remote lock, remote wipe, remote find…all of that was there.

What wasn’t there was the ability to detect when a phone was snatched from your hand.

It of course was up to the user to decide on what to implement if anything. Of course before SDP one could still guard against social attacks.

 

[robvalentine]

the Wank-o-meter

Klippt från androidpolice:Think of what this app could be like, and I promise you that your mind will be blown, and whatever you just imagined is nothing compared to what you’re about to see. It’s real. It’s unique. It’s got stats. Rankings. Charts. Burned calories. Alright, that’s enough, I...

swedroid.se

Ah ok. Sorry if my comment was rude, I thought it was gibberish 😂 but my mind (for once) didn't go there 😂

 

[Fomalhaut]

It's all in good fun. There has to be a way to unlock it in the case of error. My mom's apple watch thinks she's fallen a few times a day so she has to cancel the detection before it calls emergency services.

My Garmin bike computer does the same thing. It has “crash detection” that sometimes gets triggered if you brake sharply at a junction or traffic lights. It gives you only about 15 seconds to cancel the alert before it sends a message to your emergency contacts. A good feature but not foolproof.