- Getting Started
- Maintaining an iPhone’s Software
- Maintaining iPhone Apps
- Backing Up Your iPhone
- Finding and Securing Your iPhone with Find My iPhone
- Maintaining an iPhone’s Power
- Solving iPhone Problems
- Getting Help with iPhone Problems
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Finding and Securing Your iPhone with Find My iPhone
If you lose your iPhone, you can use iCloud’s Find My iPhone feature to locate your iPhone and to secure it by locking it or, in the worst case, erasing its data. Hopefully, you’ll never need to use this capability, but it’s good to know how just in case.
After you configure Find My iPhone and use it to locate your iPhone, you can perform the following actions on it:
Play Sound—This does just what it sounds like. A sound is played on the iPhone and an alert appears on its screen. This provides information to whoever has the device—such as if you’ve loaned the device to someone and want it back. The sound can help you locate the device if it is in the same general vicinity as you.
Lost Mode—This locks the iPhone so it can’t be used without entering the passcode. This can protect your iPhone without changing its data. You can also display contact information on the iPhone’s screen to enable someone to get in touch with you.
Erase Your iPhone—This erases the iPhone’s memory as the “last chance” to protect your data. You should only do this in the worst-case scenario because when you erase the iPhone, you lose the ability to find it again using Find My iPhone.
To use Find My iPhone, it must be enabled on your iPhone using the iCloud Settings as explained in Chapter 3 (it is enabled by default so unless you have disabled it, it should be ready for you to use when needed).
Using Find My iPhone to Locate Your iPhone
To use Find My iPhone, perform the following tasks:
Use a web browser to move to and log in to your iCloud website located at icloud.com.
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Click Find iPhone. All the devices associated with your Apple ID and on which Find My iPhone is active are located.
Click the All Devices menu. All your devices are shown on the My Devices list.
Click the device you want to locate. If the device can be located, you see it on a map. You can use the map’s controls to zoom into the iPhone’s location so you get the best idea of where it currently is. You also see a dialog box that enables you to perform the three actions described earlier. The details for each are provided in the following tasks.
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Using Find My iPhone to Play a Sound on Your iPhone
Here’s how to send a sound or message to an iOS device:
Locate your iPhone as described in the previous task.
Click Play Sound. The alert sound plays on the iPhone and the FIND MY IPHONE ALERT appears on the screen.
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To stop the sound from playing on the iPhone when the phone is locked, press the alert if you are using a model with 3D Touch or swipe to the right on non-3D Touch models.
Tap X on models with 3D Touch or tap Clear on non-3D Touch models to stop the sound and delete the alert.
If the iPhone isn’t locked when the alert plays, tap OK to stop the sound and close the alert.
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Using Find My iPhone to Put Your iPhone in Lost Mode
You can put your iPhone into Lost Mode by doing the following:
Locate the device using the steps in the the task “Using Find My iPhone to Locate Your iPhone” earlier in this chapter.
Click Lost Mode. (If you haven’t entered a passcode, you’re prompted to create one by entering and verifying it.)
Enter the phone number you want someone to call if your phone is found.
Click Next.
Enter the message you want to appear on the iPhone. This can be your request that whoever has the device call you, instructions for returning the device, and so on.
Tap Done. The iPhone is locked and the message you entered displays on the screen. While the iPhone is in Lost Mode, the Lost Mode icon on the Find My iPhone screen rotates and you see the Lost Mode indicator.
When the device enters Lost Mode, it is locked and protected with the existing passcode. The phone number and message you entered appear on the iPhone’s screen. The person finding your phone can tap Call to call the number you entered.
In addition to being locked, the phone is placed in Low Power Mode so the battery’s charge lasts as long as possible. Apple Pay is also disabled.
The iPhone remains in Lost Mode until it is unlocked. You see the current status in the iPhone’s window on the iCloud Find iPhone website. When you get your phone back, you can unlock it. You might need to re-enter your Apple ID password to restart iCloud services and re-enable Apple Pay.
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Using Find My iPhone to Erase Your iPhone
If you decide you’ve lost control of your device and want to protect the information it contains, take the following steps to erase it:
Locate the device using the steps in the task “Using Find My iPhone to Locate Your iPhone.”
Click Erase iPhone.
Click Erase.
Enter your Apple ID password.
Click the right-facing arrow.
If you want to send a phone number to the device so that someone can call you about it, enter it at the prompt.
Click Next.
Enter the message you want to appear on the iPhone. This can be your request that whoever has the device call you, instructions for returning the device, and so on.
Tap Done. The iPhone is erased and the message you entered displays on the screen. The person who finds it can tap Call to call the number you entered in step 6, hopefully to return your iPhone. If it does get returned, you have to restore the iPhone using a backup from iCloud or iTunes on your computer (the steps to do this are later in this chapter).
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