Just to be clear for others reading this, this only removes the activation lock. It does not unlock the phone allowing access to the data on it. The phone would need to be erased and started fresh as Apple cannot unlock the passcode/password lock. They can only remove the activation barrier.
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I feel like Find my iPhone has failed me
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Just to be clear for others reading this, this only removes the activation lock. It does not unlock the phone allowing access to the data on it. The phone would need to be erased and started fresh as Apple cannot unlock the passcode/password lock. They can only remove the activation barrier.
That's the thing about Find My iPhone, you only get a ping every once in a while.
I won't remove it from my account until maybe next year.
I just wanna know where it is? Why is it that they're not using GPS? Even if the phone is off....
And the crazy thing is is that they steal the phone but then they don't even turn it on or connect it to the internet? Like the fudge? They can't even use it.
GPS requires the phone to be on, but that won't matter because if you've suspended cellular service, the phone can't send its location. Pretty simple.
Since it's locked, the thief can't get in to connect it to a wifi network, unless he's dumb enough to turn it on near a McDonald's or carrier store with free wifi that the iPhone already knows.
But more likely, the thief hasn't turned it on at all. These people may not win a Nobel prize, but they're not quite as stupid as we would like to believe.
Your phone was immediately turned off, and will remained turned off until it can be fenced. That person will likely hook it to a PC with iTunes and do a DFU mode restore, and activation lock will inform him that he's SOL.
At that point it will be sold for parts, hopefully to the point of profiting over what was paid to the thief.
If I'm understanding your new thread title, there's a flaw with find my iPhone. What is it?
Thank you for sharing your experience, it is strengthening the community. There seems to be a few open questions.
Why would apple design a system meant to be used during a theft, that disables the location system in the process? Surely it would erase our personal info but leave the location system intact?
Why would the cell provider hear that a phone was stolen, then cut off the phone completely so it can't be located? Surely they would have procedures to disable a healthy demo but still allow GPS and 911?
And are we saying that apple would design the os to forget the removed sims info during a heist, like some kind of robotic movie kill switch?
The goal of the system should be to make selling it so risky and so unprofitable that this guy doesn't bother the next time and tells his buddies the same thing. But if the answer to the above is all 'no', then it's still open season on iPhone owners.
Why would apple design a system meant to be used during a theft, that disables the location system in the process? Surely it would erase our personal info but leave the location system intact?
Why would the cell provider hear that a phone was stolen, then cut off the phone completely so it can't be located? Surely they would have procedures to disable a healthy demo but still allow GPS and 911?
And are we saying that apple would design the os to forget the removed sims info during a heist, like some kind of robotic movie kill switch?
The goal of the system should be to make selling it so risky and so unprofitable that this guy doesn't bother the next time and tells his buddies the same thing. But if the answer to the above is all 'no', then it's still open season on iPhone owners.
Right - I said it helps, not that it completely achieves it. Nothing will ever cause it to cease completely just as alarms, Lo-Jack, police stings, and other tactics will never completely rid us of car theft. However, it's certainly far less attractive now.
I've never actually found an iPhone using Find my iPhone. It never updates.
That's because there's no actual GPS on it. Something that can locate it even when it's locked.
My personal information must be protected. I used everything including Touch ID. I'll probably never remove the phone from my account, because that would allow the phone to be used.
It's going to remain locked and hopefully someone can figure out how to connect it to a Wi-Fi network so that it can erase itself.
I doubt the person who has my phone found a charger for it. I doubt they even know how to use an iPhone.
Lots of people I've seen now just steal the iPhone but then can't use it. They take it everywhere and say, "I can't use this phone, I don't know that Apple user's ID..."
They go to the carrier store, they go to their friends, they go to Apple... smh
How exactly do you think it would do so given that you turned off the cellular service???
100% incorrect. There is a true GPS chip in the cellular hardware and it works even when the cell phone is locked. It even works when the cellular service is suspended, but can't do anything since having the service suspended prevents the phone from communicating... Unless you get VERY lucky and it finds a wifi it already knows.
You shot yourself in the foot here suspending the cellular service before getting a location.
I can reactivate cellular service and I have. But I guess the person who has the phone doesn't have a charger for it.
I just don't want anyone to have access to any of my data. And removing the phone from my account would give them that access.
Basically I'm just waiting for it to be wiped.
Then you must have the original 2007 iPhone, because every one since then has a real, honest-to-goodness GPS in it that works when the phone is locked. I have located my iPhone and iPad dozens of times with Find My iPhone.
No, because that does not remove the requirement to disable Find My iPhone on your phone before it can be set up again.
That's pretty much your best bet. I would have left the cell service active, you would have potentially gained a lot of intelligence about where it is, if calls were being made, photos getting synced to iCloud, etc... Maybe they can re-activate it, even briefly, to allow you to find and/or erase it?
No I wouldn't I have T-Mobile. Find My iPhone wasn't working. I even reactivated the service and it still says the device is offline.
Ok. I see the frustration.
I would bet money this is due to the phone being turned off, with the SIM card removed, probably already fenced, waiting to see if they can wipe & resell.
In that case, the phone getting turned back on will present a passcode lock (assuming you use one) and activation lock will make it difficult for them to sell. 99.9% likelihood that your data isn't interesting to them.
Basically there are two types of theives.
Those who know what their doing, and the clueless idiots.
While we all wish for the clueless idiot type, (turns on phone, tries to call his girlfriend while joyriding in a stolen car smoking a blunt) smarter theives are the ones who do this for a living. Spend time in jail for stealing stuff and you'll either get smarter or you'll just go back and spend more time in jail. Darwinism isn't kind. At all.
Most people with at least minimal brain function know that a cell phone is easy to track. Cellular triangulation has been around for a long time and doesn't require anything special to work. So the phone is immediately turned off, the sim is removed. Unless your phone was swiped by a complete idiot, that's what happened.
While GPS is a passive technology that only needs to receive to work, the device still requires 1) some sort of data connection to broadcast its location, (Cellular or wifi) and 2) electrical power to do the broadcasting with. GPS chips in devices do not broadcast, only receive. And as far as I know, the law requires removable batteries or power buttons that really and truly turn devices off, so hidden powered on functionality is kinda out of the question.
So unless they turn it back on and it had a way to phone home, find my iPhone isnt going to give you a location.
Finally I think there is some confusion about what find my iPhone is for. It isn't meant as a theft tracking device. It is designed to locate lost/misplaced iDevices. Wake up Sunday morning without your iPhone and use FMi to figure out in which bar/restaurant/designated drivers car you left it in.
While it can be used occasionally to find stolen devices (see clueless idiots above) FMi's abilities there are limited.
Activation Lock is what is designed to prevent theft. This prevention however is on a macro level, not a find my personal stolen device dammit level.
The business is given a new phone. Apple can't undo Find My iPhone.
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Don't remove the phone from your iCloud acct. If you do it can be reactivated overseas.
Clarification: triangulation hasn't really been used for a long time. At this point I believe nearly all phones have a GPS chip inside to support e911.
The cell companies can command the phone to provide its GPS location to the network upon request. This is sometimes used by police to track a suspect, and under "exigent circumstances" the carriers will provide the info in advance of receiving a search warrant. The phone has to be turned on for this to work. My info is court testimony by police officers and cell phone carrier representatives during a trial in which I was on the jury.
Rest of your post is spot on. I'd also point out that if Apple did strive to market FMiP as a "find the $#*&^@$ who took my phone" service they'd likely face a few lawsuits when the phone owner shows up at the thief's place and gets his azz kicked (or worse).
Your first statement is 100% incorrect. Find my iPhone/activation lock can be removed under the correct circumstances after a thorough review of the situation. Businesses and education clients use this process frequently.
if i was to steal an iphone that i couldn't get past the pin code, i would kill the battery fast and sell it to someone for parts and or it would find its way overseas.
or it might have just been dumped in the trash. the way some people are i wouldn't pick up a lost phone to try to return it
or it might have just been dumped in the trash. the way some people are i wouldn't pick up a lost phone to try to return it
I am a part of a Boston electronics facebook group... they sell mostly stolen stuff from the looks of it. Anyway... couple guys claim they can remove icloud locks. I searched for it, and there are a couple of sites that offer the services. Never used them. Never plan to. Won't put a link here for obvious reasons. But apparently it's doable. At least from what I read.
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I imagine pulling the sim would work. You can also power it off, which is ridiculous. Would be so easy to NOT allow powering the device off without a pin or touch ID. I can only assume that some legal issues require this to not be an option?
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I imagine pulling the sim would work. You can also power it off, which is ridiculous. Would be so easy to NOT allow powering the device off without a pin or touch ID. I can only assume that some legal issues require this to not be an option?
Surprised that nobody has really addressed this, but Find My iPhone is for the times when you absent-minded placed it somewhere and for the life of you, you can't seem to remember where. It isn't meant to be a stolen iPhone tracking tool.
Would be a good feature but after they turn up the brightness and turn on the flash light it's not going to take long to die
Find my iPhone worked perfect for me. My iPhone was stolen last year while working in Manila. I tracked my phone via Find my iPhone on my iPad. I watched it travel all around metro Manila. Of course the police wouldn't help me recover it. I guess phones are not that important when you're dealing with 20 plus million people in one city. :-D.
After I couldn't get any real help I erased the info on the phone. After I erased the iPhone it couldn't be tracked any more. I knew that would be the case BEFORE I erased it tho.
It hurt but it could have been much worse. Sorry you had your phone stolen. Find my iPhone has always served it purpose well for me.
After I couldn't get any real help I erased the info on the phone. After I erased the iPhone it couldn't be tracked any more. I knew that would be the case BEFORE I erased it tho.
It hurt but it could have been much worse. Sorry you had your phone stolen. Find my iPhone has always served it purpose well for me.
Find my iPhone did not work for you. Technically you never found your phone.
3 phones have been stolen in my family with find my iPhone. 0 recovered.
2 phones have been stolen since I jailbroke every members phone and installed IcaughtUpro. 2 recovered.
iCaughtUpro prevents the phone from being turned off on the lock screen. When the thief tries turning it off or enters the password wrong, a text message will pop up, takes a picture and sends the picture and phones location to my email.
WHY APPLE has not allowed this without a JB is beyond me.
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Thats why you disable control center from the lock screen.
It's pretty useless as there will always be "dfu" which is important to have. For example when the phone freezes
See https://www.apple.com/icloud/find-my-iphone.html
It's a little nuanced, but the whole gist is to help your phone get back to you if you lose it and a non-thief finds it. Nothing there about locating the phone once it falls into "the wrong hands", just preventing access to your personal data. Then as a last resort making it useless as a phone via Activation Lock.
Something else to consider:
Say Apple did advertise Find My iPhone as a means to find your phone after it was stolen. Someone then locates their stolen phone, naively goes to the house/apartment and finds themselves on the wrong end of a gun / knife / baseball bat. Guess who's getting sued...
It would be nice if they allowed preventing power-off, but then any phone thief with half a brain will carry a paperclip and pop the SIM out in two seconds. (Might increase sales of those metal-frame bumpers though?)
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