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Stolen iPad (Find My iPhone)

L

littleguy

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 29, 2011
5
0
So I've had my iPad stolen today. I live in a dorm, so I know that it is somewhere in this building.

My question is, how does Find My iPhone work? Does it need to be downloaded on the stolen device already in order to work? Is it naturally built into iOS?

My prep school shuts the internet off at midnight and turns it back on around 5 in the morning, so the device is currently offline. Since I cant sleep, I figured I'd try to get some info on what plan of action to take tomorrow.

If I try tracking it in the morning from my iPhone, will it locate the device even though I never downloaded the app on the iPad?

Any help would be appreciated. I'm sure it is somewhere near me, but I feel helpless right now since it is offline. Should I have hope that I can locate it in the morning once it goes back online or am I out of luck since Find My iPhone is not downloaded on the iPad?
 
  1. Sorry to hear about your situation.
  2. Find My iPhone needs to have been already downloaded/installed on the device for you to be able to track it.

Sorry, not sure what else you can do.
 
Go on [icloud.com] and login to see if your iPad is listed under the devices. if there's no lock screen password, you need to find it asap before the thief disables findmyiphone on the iPad.

As far as I know, the findmyiphone app doesn't actually need to be downloaded on the iPad for it to be tracked.
 
Last edited:
You do not need the app, but you do need to have turned it on in your iCloud settings.

Log into www.icloud.com and see if you can see it.
 
The app is for looking for other devices. As long as it was enabled in settings, you should be able to find it. I believe when you set up your iPad it asked if you wanted to enable it.
 
VinceDae said:
I THINK you need to activate it in settings, but it is installed (im 99% sure) - But I dont know if its activated by default...

Hope you get it back :)
Click to expand...

That really sucks. Hopefully whoever took it is a dope and hasn't wiped it clean so you can track it. Did you have "find my iPhone" enabled? How did they steal it?
 
littleguy said:
I figured I'd try to get some info on what plan of action to take tomorrow.

?
Click to expand...

I know you are mad now but you best plan of action is to move on and look towards getting another device. Worry more about any info they might get from your iPad.

Sorry to learn of your loss but there is little you can do to recover it through the Internet at this point. Hope you had some kind of insurance!
 
The Find My iPhone application doesn't need to be installed from the App Store in order to track your iPad. If you have an iCloud account setup on your iPad, your iPad would've asked you at the time of setting up your iCloud account, if you want to enable Find My iPhone. If you want to check and see if it's enabled, go to http://iCloud.com and login. Then, click on Find My iPhone. You'll then be presented with Google Maps, and a menu in the top left, showing all devices with Find My iPhone enabled. If your iPad is in the menu, click on it. You'll then see the iPad's location via GPS if you have a 3G iPad, or via Triangulation of the WiFi signal. If you want to lock, erase, or sound an alarm on the iPad, click on the blue circle with an arrow on the map, next to the iPad's name. Click on "Remote Lock", and enter a 4 digit passcode. The iPad is now locked from use. If you want to display a message, and have an alarm sound at full volume, click on "Send Message or Play Sound". Then, type in your message, and make sure "Play Sound" is turned on. Click send, and your iPad will display the message, and play the sound at full volume. The only way to turn off the alarm, is to unlock the iPad with the passcode you provided. If you want to wipe all data, click on "Remote Wipe" and confirm the action. Keep in mind that once you wipe the iPad, you'll no longer be able to track the device, as your iCloud account and settings will be deleted.
 
So if the thief has the phone and you send a message the tone will just keep ringing. That is kind of neat. Theoretically you might even be able to hear it as the GPS locator could locate it fairly precisely. Try sending the message at 3 in the morning and see which dorm room's lights come on. Even if you can't hear it, at least you will be disturbing their sleep for the rest of the night.
 
TallManNY said:
So if the thief has the phone and you send a message the tone will just keep ringing. That is kind of neat. Theoretically you might even be able to hear it as the GPS locator could locate it fairly precisely. Try sending the message at 3 in the morning and see which dorm room's lights come on. Even if you can't hear it, at least you will be disturbing their sleep for the rest of the night.
Click to expand...

You missed the part about:

"My prep school shuts the internet off at midnight and turns it back on around 5 in the morning"
 
fhall1 said:
You missed the part about:

"My prep school shuts the internet off at midnight and turns it back on around 5 in the morning"
Click to expand...

and the part about it being an ipad that was stolen rather than an iphone...

As others have mentioned, if Find My iPhone (iPad) wasn't turned on in settings before it was stolen, the OP is SOL. No way I know of to turn it on retroactively. See http://www.apple.com/icloud/setup/

If it is on, and the device is wifi only, then the location is likely to not be nearly accurate as if it were a 3G ipad with the GPS chip.
 
5 in the morning seems early enough, especially on the weekend, to at least annoy the thief. But if findmyiphone isn't on, I guess they are SOL.
I just tried it for my phone and iPad. Both were found quite quickly and the location of each seems fairly accurate. They definitely identified what building I'm in and in fact correctly identified that I'm sitting toward the south east portion of the building.
 
Sorry to hear your experience. Let us know if you find the iPad and how. Are you insured if you don't get it back? If so you maybe lucky enough to get an iPad 3 out of it!
 
Wish the best of luck, but there's a high percent of probability the thief has already reinstalled iOS.
Also, even if you find it (knowing where it is doesn't mean you have access to it), how do you plan to take it back? (Out of curiosity).
 
Dont know if anyone has mentioned this yet.... but if the iPad is in the same building as you then find my iPhone is not going to help you.... Find my iPhone is going to pinpoint that the iPad is in that building but if you already know this to be a fact then find my iPhone wont make a difference.... It wont tell you what floor or unit number its in.

Now if the person who has it leaves the building and starts walking around with it then youre in business
 
First off, I would like to thank every poster here who was helpful in my search. Find My iPhone worked absolutely perfectly this morning.

I set my alarm for 5am, waited for the iPad to reconnect to WiFi and go back online, and I immediately locked it. My plan to use the "Play Sound" option worked great as it was early in the morning and dead silent.

Long story short, I followed the sound, and I tracked down the scumbag's room (I assume he couldnt get the sound to stop since it had now been remotely locked), and I got the iPad back. The kid could easily be kicked out of this school if I were to report it, but I dont plan on doing that. All I cared about was getting my property back.


Contrary to what one poster said above, the power of the internet is very powerful. I was expecting the worst, but hoping for the best, and I was ecstatic that everything worked out so perfectly.

Again, I'd like to thank everyone here for their help-- it was very reassuring while I was panicking last night!



bigjnyc said:
Dont know if anyone has mentioned this yet.... but if the iPad is in the same building as you then find my iPhone is not going to help you.... Find my iPhone is going to pinpoint that the iPad is in that building but if you already know this to be a fact then find my iPhone wont make a difference.... It wont tell you what floor or unit number its in.

Now if the person who has it leaves the building and starts walking around with it then youre in business
Click to expand...
Find My iPhone has some more useful features on it than just the ability to track the device ;)
 
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