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Left my iPad on the airplane

Last week I left my iPhone 4 on the piano on the bottom floor of my dorm building. I didn't realize until about 45 minutes later while I was in my room eating lunch. I looked everywhere around my room for it until I remembered I had Find My iPhone set up.

I quickly got my iPad and opened up the app to see if I could get it to play a sound that way I could locate it in my room. I didn't hear anything though and I couldn't remember bringing it to my room, so I realized I had lost it somewhere. I quickly remote-locked it from the iPad, and I sent it a message displaying my email so they could contact me. My iPhone was also Jailbroken, and I was using the free trial of iGotYa which takes a photo with the front-facing camera if anyone enters the wrong passcode. I also had it set up where you couldn't turn off the device unless you entered the correct passcode, so that was really great, because I didn't have to worry about someone turning it off so they couldn't be tracked with GPS.

Nobody had tried to enter the passcode, but I tracked the GPS to the dorm building across from mine, and this building is where the front desk of mine is as well, so I thought that maybe someone had turned it in. I went there, and I found it waiting at the front desk. I felt so relieved that someone was nice enough to turn it in so quickly. They didn't even need to read the messages I was sending to the device.

The next day I went back to the piano and I noticed that there was a note on top saying "Lose something? Go to the front desk."
 
Just so you know, this is free http://www.apple.com/ipad/find-my-ipad-setup/

But at this point, I don't really think there's much you can do other than hope that one of the flight attendants picks it up and tries to contact you. But for the next iPad or iPhone you get, you should really consider setting up the find my iPhone/iPad on them. Sorry to hear about your less though :/ I'd be pretty deastated if that happened to me
 
As a frequent flyer, pilot and airport manager I would advise against putting anything in the back of a airplane seat. This happens all of the time.
 
MacsRNotMe said:
Well said, VidPro.
Until you lose something very valuable to you (be it sentimental or monetary) it is very easy to criticize and say "how could you have done that??":eek:

And I hope you gave the guy at the pick up counter a NICE tip for the return. :D

We do all need to keep in mind though that "it's just stuff". And stuff can (most of the time) be replaced.

We never did hear back from the airline or anyone on the iPad we lost in January of this year. Its now been replaced with an iPad 2, but we still miss the old one.... :(
Click to expand...

Good points.

A habit I tried to develop, and it has worked for the most part, is to always check the front seat pocket and to check the space underneath the seat in front of me whenever I disembark the plane. It doesn't matter whether or not I actually used those spaces, I just make it a habit so that I don't have to remember whether or not I used the space and whether or not to check it. This is a good habit to have.
 
M-5 said:
Last week I left my iPhone 4 on the piano on the bottom floor of my dorm building. I didn't realize until about 45 minutes later while I was in my room eating lunch. I looked everywhere around my room for it until I remembered I had Find My iPhone set up.

I quickly got my iPad and opened up the app to see if I could get it to play a sound that way I could locate it in my room. I didn't hear anything though and I couldn't remember bringing it to my room, so I realized I had lost it somewhere. I quickly remote-locked it from the iPad, and I sent it a message displaying my email so they could contact me. My iPhone was also Jailbroken, and I was using the free trial of iGotYa which takes a photo with the front-facing camera if anyone enters the wrong passcode. I also had it set up where you couldn't turn off the device unless you entered the correct passcode, so that was really great, because I didn't have to worry about someone turning it off so they couldn't be tracked with GPS.

Nobody had tried to enter the passcode, but I tracked the GPS to the dorm building across from mine, and this building is where the front desk of mine is as well, so I thought that maybe someone had turned it in. I went there, and I found it waiting at the front desk. I felt so relieved that someone was nice enough to turn it in so quickly. They didn't even need to read the messages I was sending to the device.

The next day I went back to the piano and I noticed that there was a note on top saying "Lose something? Go to the front desk."
Click to expand...

Now THAT'S an inspiring story! Honest college kids. :D

Please tell where you attend school...I have two children in college and can see it happening at one of their schools but not the other.:(
 
thibaulthalpern said:
Good points.

A habit I tried to develop, and it has worked for the most part, is to always check the front seat pocket and to check the space underneath the seat in front of me whenever I disembark the plane. It doesn't matter whether or not I actually used those spaces, I just make it a habit so that I don't have to remember whether or not I used the space and whether or not to check it. This is a good habit to have.
Click to expand...

Great ideas. Have you ever found something someone else left doing that?
 
M-5 said:
Last week I left my iPhone 4 on the piano on the bottom floor of my dorm building. I didn't realize until about 45 minutes later while I was in my room eating lunch. I looked everywhere around my room for it until I remembered I had Find My iPhone set up.

I quickly got my iPad and opened up the app to see if I could get it to play a sound that way I could locate it in my room. I didn't hear anything though and I couldn't remember bringing it to my room, so I realized I had lost it somewhere. I quickly remote-locked it from the iPad, and I sent it a message displaying my email so they could contact me. My iPhone was also Jailbroken, and I was using the free trial of iGotYa which takes a photo with the front-facing camera if anyone enters the wrong passcode. I also had it set up where you couldn't turn off the device unless you entered the correct passcode, so that was really great, because I didn't have to worry about someone turning it off so they couldn't be tracked with GPS.

Nobody had tried to enter the passcode, but I tracked the GPS to the dorm building across from mine, and this building is where the front desk of mine is as well, so I thought that maybe someone had turned it in. I went there, and I found it waiting at the front desk. I felt so relieved that someone was nice enough to turn it in so quickly. They didn't even need to read the messages I was sending to the device.

The next day I went back to the piano and I noticed that there was a note on top saying "Lose something? Go to the front desk."
Click to expand...

This story really warmed my heart! I love honest people!! I once found a purse in a mall parking lot shopping cart. I opened the wallet only for the drivers license.. I looked the name up and found a phone number, called it and offered to drop the purse off. turns out it was an elderly woman who was on her way to the pharmacy for her meds and had over $2000 cash in there :( she did take my name & number & a few days later her son called & wanted to reward me.. I declined.. It was my pay it forward ;)

Anyhow.. I didn't see anyone mention this BUT.. there is an app called Find My iPhone, which also works on the iPad. You DO run it through Mobile Me, but you don't have to be a Mobile Me subscriber to use this FREE service. I can log into Find My iPhone through any iDevice or my computer and it will show me where the device is..

You also have the option to LOCK the device or WHIP the device in case it is lost or stolen. I can log into my Find My iPhone app using say my brothers iTunes info and it tells me where his phone is.. GREAT APP..

Since it's too late for that I would hope someone is a good samaritan.. It's sad, but hopefully someone has some decency. I would report it to Apple because they CAN block it from iTunes which would make the device useless.. They did this with an iTouch my daughter lost.

Lastly, do contact your homeowners or renters insurance because they will cover it. All be it, you have a deductible, for us it is only $250 so I would still be able to recover SOME $ plus all insurance is different. Last year we had a power surge from a storm and lost everything on one wall of our home.. I was 2 laptops, printer & a cordless phone.. The insurance had us go to the store, bye new and gave us the check minus deductible for the REPLACEMENT VALUE.. It's worth a call to see.

Sorry this happened. Even those of us that are VERY careful, make mistakes :(
 
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MacsRNotMe said:
Now THAT'S an inspiring story! Honest college kids. :D

Please tell where you attend school...I have two children in college and can see it happening at one of their schools but not the other.:(
Click to expand...


Yeah it was very admirable of that person to turn it in; my day could have been so much worse! I only wish I knew who that person was to thank them. I attend the University of Texas at Austin by the way. It's still pretty surprising to me actually, considering how many bicycles, laptops, or other electronics I've heard of being stolen, particularly my freshman year.
 
M-5 said:
Last week I left my iPhone 4 on the piano on the bottom floor of my dorm building. I didn't realize until about 45 minutes later while I was in my room eating lunch. I looked everywhere around my room for it until I remembered I had Find My iPhone set up.

I quickly got my iPad and opened up the app to see if I could get it to play a sound that way I could locate it in my room. I didn't hear anything though and I couldn't remember bringing it to my room, so I realized I had lost it somewhere. I quickly remote-locked it from the iPad, and I sent it a message displaying my email so they could contact me. My iPhone was also Jailbroken, and I was using the free trial of iGotYa which takes a photo with the front-facing camera if anyone enters the wrong passcode. I also had it set up where you couldn't turn off the device unless you entered the correct passcode, so that was really great, because I didn't have to worry about someone turning it off so they couldn't be tracked with GPS.

Nobody had tried to enter the passcode, but I tracked the GPS to the dorm building across from mine, and this building is where the front desk of mine is as well, so I thought that maybe someone had turned it in. I went there, and I found it waiting at the front desk. I felt so relieved that someone was nice enough to turn it in so quickly. They didn't even need to read the messages I was sending to the device.

The next day I went back to the piano and I noticed that there was a note on top saying "Lose something? Go to the front desk."
Click to expand...


How do you set it up where you can't turn off the device unless you enter the correct passcode?
 
iphone joe said:
How do you set it up where you can't turn off the device unless you enter the correct passcode?
Click to expand...

I used the app "iGotYa" from Cydia, which is only available for Jailbroken devices. Once you install the app, you go into your Settings, and in the iGotYa menu you click "Prevent Power OFF when locked."

It's not a free app though. I believe it's $4.99, though I'm currently on the Free Trial period. Every time someone enters the wrong passcode, a photo gets taken with the front-facing camera and sent to the email address you wish to send it to. Though that does result in a lot of photos of me being sent to my address since I tend to enter the wrong passcode quite frequently on accident.
 
M-5 said:
I used the app "iGotYa" from Cydia, which is only available for Jailbroken devices. Once you install the app, you go into your Settings, and in the iGotYa menu you click "Prevent Power OFF when locked."

It's not a free app though. I believe it's $4.99, though I'm currently on the Free Trial period. Every time someone enters the wrong passcode, a photo gets taken with the front-facing camera and sent to the email address you wish to send it to. Though that does result in a lot of photos of me being sent to my address since I tend to enter the wrong passcode quite frequently on accident.
Click to expand...

This just made me want to jailbreak my iPhone. :confused: whether I should
 
I read a story once where an ipad was left on a plane on Jet Blue, and when the passenger called to ask them about it, it was nowhere to be found.....a day later, the guy decided to use the tracking from mobileme, and found his ipad in some random apartment complex in NY, he called the police and they went to the location he told them and found the ipad, it was in the hands of a Jet Blue employee who cleans out the planes or something....find my iphone is a great app.

I however found an iphone once in a parking lot outside a bookstore, and luckily it wasnt locked, my wife had looked in the recently dialed tab and called a number that was recently called. It turns out it was the owner of the phones husband. He was greatful and said his wife was in trouble as well :) we did leave it at the bookstore so they could retrieve once the wife realized.

We did our good deed for the month! :)
 
It is great to read about some good Samaritans in this thread.
I once read about some dude found a Canon 5dii at a shopping store. He took it home and erased all the photos on the memory card so leave no trace of the previous owner. He then felt guilty and tried to locate the person. Unfortunately, he could only remember the person from the memory card is someone foreigner.
To make the long story short. He claimed that he tried to locate the owner, but ended up sold the camera on eBay.

So many of us tried to convince to find the owner and return the camera. But his mind is evil, and in the end he sold it for cash. I hope karma will come back and bite him one day.

I once found a purse at a parking lot. The thief took everything, but the ID and what's left in the purse. Bad thing was, the owner thought I was the thief that took her purse. Luckily I have alibi(a couple saw the same purse and saw i picked it out of the garage)prove that I was not the thief.
 
blackberrypilot said:
As a frequent flyer, pilot and airport manager I would advise against putting anything in the back of a airplane seat. This happens all of the time.
Click to expand...

+1. It's happened to me. Even on a short flight, if you're tired, there will come a time when you'll leave something there.
 
My story?

Last year, I was sitting in a coffee shop with my iPhone out - it was late at night

A dude walked by, swiped it, and bolted out --- I was SHOCKED

Nonetheless, there was another Mac user in the coffee shop who asked if I had MobileMe --- within five minutes, we were looking at a map, with my iPhone pinpointed - called the police and 15 mins later, the iPhone was back in my hand

I feel bad for the guy who stole it, as he was probably on hard times, but laws are important --- I was greatly thankful to the Mac user who pointed out MobileMe

Anyways - long story short - MobileMe paid for itself, about 5 to 8 times over that night, and personally, I think it is worth its weight in gold - so lesson learned - when you buy your new iPad, I highly recommend MobileMe, if only for the 'find my iPad' feature

But otherwise OP, sorry about your loss - I once left a nice pair of headphones in my seat pocket and didn't realize it until I was just about to exit off the airplane - if you fly a few times a month, then you're bound to forget something, even an iPad, once every 5 to 10 years

Anyways OP - as others have stressed - figure out if Apple can track it down - I would call Apple with the serial number (give them your receipt number if you didn't write down the serial) and see if they can track it

Also, if you activated a Verizon or AT&T data plan, they might be able to track it

Changing your passwords is a very good next step, but think long and hard whether you left Social Security numbers on there of you or your loved ones (or credit cards or bank account numbers) - although it is unlikely, someone could potentially borrow money on your credit now --- with that, I would say open a membership with something like FreeCreditReport (or something like that) and start monitoring your credit - a membership is around $20 a month or so (well worth it, regardless of iPad theft) and you'll be notified of anything fishy, in time to cancel it

BUT THAT SAID - take the precautions above, but also take a deep breath - more than likely, if someone is going to use your iPad, they'll wipe all of your data and start fresh - people are seriously unlikely to go through a list of contacts looking for social security numbers

AND LAST NOTE - to the HATERZ --- for God sakes folks - if you wanna take your nerves out on someone, join a boxing gym - we're a community here - treat that with love
 
Well I think the original post was written before Find My iPhone became a free service without the need of a MobileMe subscription. So everyone should definitely set that up on their iDevices
 
A forum member once mentioned creating an evernote with your contact information, screen shot, then put that as your lock screen.
 
M-5 said:
Yeah it was very admirable of that person to turn it in; my day could have been so much worse! I only wish I knew who that person was to thank them. I attend the University of Texas at Austin by the way. It's still pretty surprising to me actually, considering how many bicycles, laptops, or other electronics I've heard of being stolen, particularly my freshman year.
Click to expand...

You could leave a Thank You sticky on the piano?

This kinda sounds like the makings of a love story.
 
This is why I have find my iphone set up and also why I passcode lock my phone and ipad. I hope a lot of people do this and I hope thieves know about it--maybe it will deter them somehow. Though I guess there are probably ways around it.
 
snouter said:
I really do not typically lose things, so I really did not think this was a possibility, but I kinda woke up nappy groggy and the thing is so slim and fits in the seat pocket so nicely... anyhow... gone.

Still hoping that someone tries to contact me. My email addresses are pretty easy to see in the email app. I even pushed a .pdf called please_return_my_iPad.pdf with my phone number in it to my Dropbox (the only account I have not changed the password on, yet.)

Spent all morning changing all of my email passwords and my iTunes and my mlb.com and my kindle and my amazon 1 click and my twitter and my Evernote and every account I can think of.

Of course, now that I have lost it, I read that there are a lot of things I could have done to make it easier to locate and that even mobile.me could reset it, even though I have no interest in a mobile.me account. I could have set it so you had to enter a passcode to open it, but, that would have actually made it HARDER for someone to open it and see my 10 email address in the email app.

I guess my question is, is there anything else I can do to either push messages to it, or reset it or kill it?

I have the box right here with the serial number. Can Apple put a note on my serial number that if anyone tries to service it or whatever that it's not theirs? Or if that serial number joins iTunes not to let it?

My number 1 priority is making sure my accounts are safe. After that, I would like to do something to prevent the person who now has it from enjoying it as much.

Thanks.

I'm kinda bummed, but, it's my fault, so, what can I do? Kindle and iPod app and movies was killin' it on the airplane too :(

If you travel, label the thing with your contact info, and look into the various apps that help you track it down if you lose it.

I either need Delta to step-up (I filed a lost claim) or a good Samaritan to emerge.
Click to expand...

How long after you got off the plane was it before you realized that you lost it?

Sad to say but you have used that for the last time, hopefully you had it locked so that after so many attempts it would wipe it clean, but the person that has it still has a free iPad2

Good Luck and God bless.
 
michaelsviews said:
How long after you got off the plane was it before you realized that you lost it?

Sad to say but you have used that for the last time, hopefully you had it locked so that after so many attempts it would wipe it clean, but the person that has it still has a free iPad2

Good Luck and God bless.
Click to expand...

Ummm....this thread started 10 months ago....the OP didn't lose an iPad 2 last August.
 
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