With Touch ID, what do we do about lost & found phones?

[mcdj]

Over the years, I've found a few unlocked phones in cabs, and knowing better than to leave it to a cabbie (some do the right thing; some won't, or don't know how to), I've taken it home, opened the contacts or texts and fished around til I found an obvious friend/spouse/family member, then called them.

Now, if I find a 5S (and likely all future iPhones) with Touch ID activated and immediate scan required, I'll have found a brick. Great security, but no hope of getting the phone to the owner.

It seems like the time is right for an Apple designed lock screen app that gives someone who finds a locked 5S a way to return it to the owner. Something that can send an email to the owner with the finder's contact info. Or some program by which a found phone can be taken to an Apple store and the owner can pick it up. Something, anything?

Are we all so paranoid now that we'd rather lose our phones entirely than have some hope of getting it back if it's lost?

 

[CXsjr]

'Find my iPhone'?

 

[PNutts]

Unless I misunderstood your comments, iCloud's Lost Mode gives you a way to publish your contact information to the Lock Screen and allow the finder to call you with it.

From the link:
You can immediately lock your device and send it a message with a contact number. Then whoever finds it can call you from the Lock screen without accessing the rest of the information on your device.

 

[mcdj]

'Find my iPhone'?

Find My iPhone is great if you left it on a rock in a deserted park. If someone actively finds your phone, and takes it home, you're not going to get much info about getting it back from a blip on a map.

 

[mcdj]

Unless I misunderstood your comments, iCloud's Lost Mode gives you a way to publish your contact information to the Lock Screen and allow the finder to call you with it.

From the link:
You can immediately lock your device and send it a message with a contact number. Then whoever finds it can call you from the Lock screen without accessing the rest of the information on your device.

Well color me stupid! Not sure how I missed that. Thanks.

Ok, just to salvage the thread, and play devil's advocate, if FMI is turned off, or was never activated, a lock screen app that activates after say 10 attempts at unlocking, could be useful. No?

 

[PNutts]

Ok, just to salvage the thread, and play devil's advocate, if FMI is turned off, or was never activated, a lock screen app that activates after say 10 attempts at unlocking, could be useful. No?

YES! Good save!

 

[DefBref]

Over the years, I've found a few unlocked phones in cabs...

Now, if I find a 5S (and likely all future iPhones) with Touch ID activated and immediate scan required, I'll have found a brick. Great security, but no hope of getting the phone to the owner. ...

So its nothing to do with touch Id and its just like finding a phone with a passcode on, not really sure what your point was.

 

[Merkie]

What has Touch ID got to do with anything? How is it different from devices that are locked using a passcode?

 

[617aircav]

What has Touch ID got to do with anything? How is it different from devices that are locked using a passcode?

I was thinking the same thing. A locked phone is a locked phone, touch Id or not.

 

[mcdj]

Well in NYC if you find a phone in a cab, chances are the person who left it there just left. If they had a pass code only, set for more than 10 minutes, you might be able to get into the phone. With touch ID, you are immediately locked out.

 

[Tyler23]

Well in NYC if you find a phone in a cab, chances are the person who left it there just left. If they had a pass code only, set for more than 10 minutes, you might be able to get into the phone. With touch ID, you are immediately locked out.

You can still attempt to enter a passcode. Passcode unlock is fully available even with Touch ID enabled.

 

[cwosigns]

Over the years, I've found a few unlocked phones in cabs, and knowing better than to leave it to a cabbie (some do the right thing; some won't, or don't know how to), I've taken it home, opened the contacts or texts and fished around til I found an obvious friend/spouse/family member, then called them.

Now, if I find a 5S (and likely all future iPhones) with Touch ID activated and immediate scan required, I'll have found a brick. Great security, but no hope of getting the phone to the owner.

It seems like the time is right for an Apple designed lock screen app that gives someone who finds a locked 5S a way to return it to the owner. Something that can send an email to the owner with the finder's contact info. Or some program by which a found phone can be taken to an Apple store and the owner can pick it up. Something, anything?

Are we all so paranoid now that we'd rather lose our phones entirely than have some hope of getting it back if it's lost?

Someone will eventually call the phone. Answer it, tell them you found it and ask that person to pass along your contact information to the rightful owner. It's not rocket science.

 

[sleeks]

Find My iPhone is great if you left it on a rock in a deserted park. If someone actively finds your phone, and takes it home, you're not going to get much info about getting it back from a blip on a map.

Not necessarily true. My brother tracked his wife's stolen phone and went to the person's house, called the cops, and got his phone back.

 

[scotrinaf]

Enter the wrong passcode 10 times and see if the phone gets erased... Or you can wait for them to call it, then you can answer it with no passcode... Any incoming call to the phone will likely be from someone who knows the owner, they can direct you on how to find them.

 

[mcdj]

You can still attempt to enter a passcode. Passcode unlock is fully available even with Touch ID enabled.

I'm talking about picking up a phone with the pass code not active at that moment...it might be set for 20 min or an hour or whatever....in that window someone who finds a phone could try to find a way to return it. With touch ID that's not possible. That's all I'm saying.

 

[scaredpoet]

Ok, just to salvage the thread, and play devil's advocate, if FMI is turned off, or was never activated, a lock screen app that activates after say 10 attempts at unlocking, could be useful. No?

Probably, but think about it: if someone didn't bother to activate Find My iPhone, what makes you think they'll not be too lazy to activate this app?

 

[Tyler23]

I'm talking about picking up a phone with the pass code not active at that moment...it might be set for 20 min or an hour or whatever....in that window someone who finds a phone could try to find a way to return it. With touch ID that's not possible. That's all I'm saying.

Gotcha. Makes sense, but as others have said someone will call and when they do they can hopefully point you in the right direction to find the owner.

 

[deeddawg]

Someone will eventually call the phone. Answer it, tell them you found it and ask that person to pass along your contact information to the rightful owner. It's not rocket science.

If Siri's enabled, activate it and say "redial last call" or "call home" and see if whomever answers knows who owns the phone.

 

[Iffy22]

I have embedded my email address in the pic I have as background for my lock screen.

 

[DefBref]

Well in NYC if you find a phone in a cab, chances are the person who left it there just left. If they had a pass code only, set for more than 10 minutes, you might be able to get into the phone. With touch ID, you are immediately locked out.

You are really stretching to try and make your point, its no different to somebody who had lock immediately set on their phone (which you can do on any iphone), again not really anything to do with touch id.

 

[Brittany246]

What has Touch ID got to do with anything? How is it different from devices that are locked using a passcode?

People are probably way more likely to lock their phones if they have touch ID... maybe not, but that's what I'm thinking.

 

[mcdj]

You are really stretching to try and make your point, its no different to somebody who had lock immediately set on their phone (which you can do on any iphone), again not really anything to do with touch id.

True, but the novelty of touch ID and the millions of new phones that have it mean that there are lots of new people who previously either didn't use a pass code at all, or went from a longer pass code delay to instantly locked, thanks to touch ID.

All I'm saying is that if you find an iphone 5S, the chances of it being locked are greater than previously, and this makes it harder to try to return to someone.

If I find a phone in a cab and it's unlocked I will try to find the owner. What I won't do is carry it in my pocket for the next 24 hours, hoping it rings.

An app that provides contact info, as a backup to lost phone mode, would be useful. Not sure why people are bent on arguing against something that could A. help them find the owner of a lost phone and B. help them get their own phone back.

The people who have contact info as lock screen wallpaper get what I'm talking about.

 

[cwosigns]

All I'm saying is that if you find an iphone 5S, the chances of it being locked are greater than previously, and this makes it harder to try to return to someone.

If I find a phone in a cab and it's unlocked I will try to find the owner. What I won't do is carry it in my pocket for the next 24 hours, hoping it rings.

An app that provides contact info, as a backup to lost phone mode, would be useful.

This is a weak point. You can keep it until someone calls, or the person will likely activate the lost mode on Find My iPhone, which will post contact information. You went to the trouble to post this (arguably pointless) thread, participate all day talking about how you really want to return the phone to its rightful owner, yet act like carrying less than 4 ounces of extra weight around for a few hours is burdensome. If someone lost their phone, they're going to try to find it and/or contact you immediately. There are studies that show people look at their phone on average every SIX minutes. Your'e not going to be carrying this phone around long if you're seriously intent on returning it to the owner.

 

[Apple fanboy]

You can always just hand it in to the police or local Apple store.

 

[g4manimac]

Thank god I found this thread now I know what to do with all the phones I found in cabs and on those rocks at the state park.....more than likely the owner will be blowing the thing up so there shouldn't be any problem finding them.