Other iPhone anti-snatching feature?

[klky]

Perhaps Apple could introduce an emergency switch in Apple Watch that emits a loud high pitched alarm on your iPhone or something to that effect. Is there currently a way to remote wipe your iPhone from Apple Watch? These would be additional selling points of the Apple Watch and attractive to those in the UK and other countries where phone snatching has become a problem.

 

[unregbaron]

Aren't they being stolen for parts? It doesn't really matter if they get wiped or locked.

 

[stocklen]

This is a little confusing.

I mean, wasn't activation lock which was introduced years ago supposed to be the answer to stolen iPhones rendering them 'useless' to thieves?

Seems now thefts are more prevalent than ever so my questions now are:

1. Does activation lock actually not do anything? It is so easily bypassed that its worth stealing phones?

or

2. If activation lock is effective.... are the phones just being stolen for spare parts?


I find 2 to be less obvious or lucrative as these phones must be able to be re-used somehow so the main question is why has activation lock failed as a mechanism to deter thefts?


Oc course its down to the owners to be a little more vigilant in a lot of cases. Personally if I am outside and need to take my phone out I will be very aware of whose around me and whose approaching me, and ill move to the back of the pavement not near the road and have a tight grip on the phone.

 

[Wando64]

Haha, I got my iPhone stolen in London some years ago. I reported it to the police. The police wouldn’t even investigate, and asked me to claim my insurance. And bye bye. “And no, you don’t need to come to the station to report it officially. We will send you an email for necessary information for insurance.”

Next time insist on a crime number.
They still won’t do anything about it, but at least it will swell their crime stats.

 

[okkibs]

Stolen Device Protection is the best for iOS at the present time.

Exactly. The only problem I have with the feature is that it's opt-in. At the very least it should be opt-out with a serious warning of how this will reduce device security. I hope Apple enables at least the 60 minute timer by default in the future (Face ID can remain optional but the wait timer is crucial).

You get one minute to deactivate the alert, or the phone gets wiped.
As the owner, you can always restore from iCloud.

I love it when I'm on the go and the iPhone mistakenly starts a 60 second timer in my backpack and turns itself into a brick until the 1TB restore from iCloud completes. That's like smashing the iPhone with a hammer but with extra steps.

 

[haruhiko]

This is a little confusing.

I mean, wasn't activation lock which was introduced years ago supposed to be the answer to stolen iPhones rendering them 'useless' to thieves?

Seems now thefts are more prevalent than ever so my questions now are:

1. Does activation lock actually not do anything? It is so easily bypassed that its worth stealing phones?

or

2. If activation lock is effective.... are the phones just being stolen for spare parts?


I find 2 to be less obvious or lucrative as these phones must be able to be re-used somehow so the main question is why has activation lock failed as a mechanism to deter thefts?


Oc course its down to the owners to be a little more vigilant in a lot of cases. Personally if I am outside and need to take my phone out I will be very aware of whose around me and whose approaching me, and ill move to the back of the pavement not near the road and have a tight grip on the phone.

The thieves will wait for the owner to send a notification via Find My to the phone to ask for return of the device, which most likely contains contact information. Then they will send a phishing SMS to the number or email, pretending that the phone has been found by Find My, together with a fake link to a fake Find My website. Once the owner logs into the fake website, the thieves can remove the activation lock immediately and remove the device from the owner’s iCloud account.

 

[Wando64]

This is a little confusing.

I mean, wasn't activation lock which was introduced years ago supposed to be the answer to stolen iPhones rendering them 'useless' to thieves?

Seems now thefts are more prevalent than ever so my questions now are:

1. Does activation lock actually not do anything? It is so easily bypassed that its worth stealing phones?

or

2. If activation lock is effective.... are the phones just being stolen for spare parts?


I find 2 to be less obvious or lucrative as these phones must be able to be re-used somehow so the main question is why has activation lock failed as a mechanism to deter thefts?


Oc course its down to the owners to be a little more vigilant in a lot of cases. Personally if I am outside and need to take my phone out I will be very aware of whose around me and whose approaching me, and ill move to the back of the pavement not near the road and have a tight grip on the phone.

I’ve no idea if activation lockout can be circumvented. What I care for the most is the ability of thieves to access my information.
The recently introduced Stolen Device Protection helps a little, but the reality is that if my phone is unlocked, the thief has already access to a lot of my information, and the potential to unlock more, until I erase the phone (which ideally should be done within the hour, as this is the delay imposed by Stolen Device Protection).

As for why phones are being stolen, parts alone make it worthy, so I don’t think any measure will stop the crime, unless the phone self destructs 🤣 or unless the parts are coded so that they cannot be used on other devices (but this would have ripercussions on the right of self repair).

I just would like to be sure that if the phone is taken off my hands, access is immediately stopped.

 

[Wando64]

I love it when I'm on the go and the iPhone mistakenly starts a 60 second timer in my backpack and turns itself into a brick until the 1TB restore from iCloud completes. That's like smashing the iPhone with a hammer but with extra steps.

That would be a very badly implemented feature.
In any case, like all iPhone features, you have the choice of using it or not.

By the way, the only thing that is “like smashing the iPhone with a hammer but with extra steps” would be to smash your iPhone with a hammer with extra steps. Having to download some data from iCloud is not the same thing.
Finally, your iPhone might well have 1TB capacity but, even when fully utilised (which it isn’t) the iCloud backup would be considerably smaller. You can check this AppleID/iCloud/Manage_Account_Storage/Backups

 

[okkibs]

That would be a very badly implemented feature.

And? My Apple Watch fall detection sometimes activates when lifting boxes at work. Can you promise me there wouldn't be a false detection that wipes the iPhone before I have a chance of noticing it?

Finally, your iPhone might well have 1TB capacity but, even when fully utilised (which it isn’t) the iCloud backup would be considerably smaller.

I am aware of that, I got a device with 700GB used that has a 350GB backup size and a 1TB very full device I use for filming that can't compress too well and the backup is about 750GB in size. When switching to a new model I had to restore the smaller 700GB device once locally with a TB3 cable and 10Gbps speeds and it took multiple hours - no cloud involved, just restoring from the Mac. It was a fresh one out of the box that I couldn't use until the day after because the first day was wasted just on the restore.

That's not an issue for a secondary device or a new one you can set up a day later, but when it's my main phone I use for work too and need to work I can't just randomly have it turn into a brick. And that's before considering data limits or reception out in the field on the go when restoring via internet.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Desperate people will find a way to circumvent all your clever contraptions. Or act destructively out of apathy, with no care to what they can gain from stealing or destroying your property.

And Apple certainly wouldn’t launch a feature like this just because one country is experiencing extreme levels of crime and property destruction.

No sensors or algorithms can fix the mess the UK is in right now.

 

[stocklen]

I’ve no idea if activation lockout can be circumvented. What I care for the most is the ability of thieves to access my information.
The recently introduced Stolen Device Protection helps a little, but the reality is that if my phone is unlocked, the thief has already access to a lot of my information, and the potential to unlock more, until I erase the phone (which ideally should be done within the hour, as this is the delay imposed by Stolen Device Protection).

As for why phones are being stolen, parts alone make it worthy, so I don’t think any measure will stop the crime, unless the phone self destructs 🤣 or unless the parts are coded so that they cannot be used on other devices (but this would have ripercussions on the right of self repair).

I just would like to be sure that if the phone is taken off my hands, access is immediately stopped.

Im genuinely interested how they make this work for them and why its worth the hassle/risk of the theft.

So, in your first instance, you have to assume that the thief is generally on a bike and surely a phone has the screen set to auto lock? In the time it takes them to 'get away' wouldn't the phone screen have re-locked?

 

[Ctrlos]

Apple will probably remind you they sell a wroist-mounted device that allows you to keep your phone in your pocket on the streets and thus keep it unstealable.

 

[I7guy]

Firstly, I don‘t think Apple supports real-time backup/live backup for iCloud backup, meaning your backup is always only a few seconds old. Secondly, just like what klasma said, not everyone buys iCloud storage and not everyone backs up their devices regularly either.

One also needs car insurance to drive on public roads in most places and yet there are people who drive without it.

 

[toobravetosave]

i think a better solution is simply requiring biometrics for certain critical functions

you should not be able to bypass my face id with my phone password

if an app touches money in any way you can currently protect it with face id but biometrics should be the last line of defense not the password

 

[Mr.Ben]

They made anti-theft briefcases, maybe someone could do the same for phone cases 😄

 

[toobravetosave]

Aren't they being stolen for parts? It doesn't really matter if they get wiped or locked.

new apple theft detection algorithm can detect theft and automatically overload the capacitative vibration mechanism to generate a 2.3m explosion at over 1000°C

😎 apple pie

 

[Shirasaki]

The only problem I have with the feature is that it's opt-in. At the very least it should be opt-out with a serious warning of how this will reduce device security

I am actually glad that the feature is opt-in, and there’s no glaring warning messages to scare people from turning it off. Why? The most recent impediment I encountered when Stolen Device Protection active was the inability to install profiles. I ended up having to wait 2 hours to disable protection before I get it installed As first attempt I tapped it back on again. People should Be informed more on what the impact will be when turning it on rather than assume “it has all upsides and no downsides”.

I just would like to be sure that if the phone is taken off my hands, access is immediately stopped.

You would be hard pressed to know how easy the false positive gotta trigger.
For example, you are arguing with someone, and the other side snatches your phone violently away from you with no intention to steal. What would happen in that scenario? Will fall detection trigger the same effect? There must be hundreds if not thousands of testing before such feature can get implemented properly.
With that being said, if all you want is the phone immediately locks itself if it suspects itself being snatched, I think it’s fine. At least thief won’t have easy access to your everything. Make it Face ID Touch ID unlock only in the next hour.

 

[Larbo]

Maybe the phone could be set to automatically lock when it gets separated from the watch using Bluetooth.

 

[WU27f1xcCs]

I have automations setup to lock my phone when shouting is detected, or when my AirPods are disconnected from my phone (e.g. Due to proximity). Yes I live in London.

 

[cjsuk]

Phones companies have been asked by the UK Home Office to help tackle the rise in phone snatching crime.

If a watch can detect a fall, and a phone a car accident, it seems feasible to implement a feature whereby a phone can detect when it has been snatched from someone‘s hands.
At that point it could A:Lock itself, B:generate a silent alert, C:after 30 seconds emit a loud alarm, D:after 1 minute wipe itself off (unless unlocked with authentication), with only Find My remaining forcibly active. During all this time, the Off button to be deactivated.

Why not?

I would rather my phone has a case made of thermite which can be ignited from my watch should the event occur thus immolating the individual and allowing me to dance upon the ashes.

 

[ukms]

Would be interesting to know any accurate stats on how many snatched (unlocked) phones are actually used and compromised in any way as opposed to broken down for parts. I’ve read speculation both ways but never seen anything reliable.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Would be interesting to know any accurate stats on how many snatched (unlocked) phones are actually used and compromised in any way as opposed to broken down for parts. I’ve read speculation both ways but never seen anything reliable.

I would imagine it would be very difficult if not impossible, to collect accurate stats for both categories.

 

[mansplains]

The iPhone should be equipped with pop-up spikes. They activate when someone else tries to take it, much like the Dawson's Creek Trapper Keeper Ultra Keeper Futura S 2000.

 

[ukms]

I would imagine it would be very difficult if not impossible, to collect accurate stats for both categories.

The usage one should be fairly easy …. Anything else doesn’t really matter.

 

[okkibs]

The most recent impediment I encountered when Stolen Device Protection active was the inability to install profiles.

What is the issue with waiting though? I haven't encountered the hour wait even once yet so it's not like daily or weekly activities will trigger it. The timer is also disabled if you are making changes from a trusted location, you can add those yourself too.