Emily is my cousin, she is a big Apple fan, and currently uses an iPhone, MacBook Pro, and Apple Watch. Her first phone was iPhone X which her mother had gifted her, and recently she bought herself an iPhone 13. In this article, I will be sharing an experience about a recent incident where Emily’s iPhone got stolen that she didn’t realize until she was halfway home. Apple has given useful features that are helpful to trace the iPhone when it is lost or stolen. I will also explain the different features that we used.
Emily works as an accountant for an Insurance company in New York. She visits her parents once every three months, this time even I am going with her because this weekend is the wedding anniversary of Uncle David and Aunt Rose. Emily’s car was due for service, so I suggested she give the car for service on Friday evening, and I will pick and drop her back. Meanwhile, I asked my friend Jimmy to collect it on Saturday. So, as decided, on Friday evening, I picked Emily up from her place, and after roughly 6 hours’ drive, we reached Uncle David’s house. We chatted a little, had dinner, and went to sleep. Uncle David announced that he has organize a dinner on Saturday evening, and invited the neighbors, and also Emily’s best friends.
The next morning, after having a good breakfast with Uncle David and Aunt Rose, Emily went out to meet her school-time friends (Sharon, Lily, Michael, and Albert), they all hung out at Sharon’s cafe for a while, and while on the drive back to home, Emily reached into her bag for her phone and realized that it is missing and she got panicked. Emily tried Using her Apple Watch to ping her iPhone but no response. Michael turned the car and started driving back towards Sharon’s cafe. Meanwhile, Albert called up Sheron to check if Emily’s phone is at her cafe. He also called me and informed me about the incident, I asked him to update me once they reach Sharon’s cafe. Sheron along with a cafe staff check the sitting area thoroughly and went to her computer to check the CCTV footage. By that time, Emily and others reached the cafe, and they all watched the CCTV footage together. It was seen that while leaving the cafe, Emily had put the iPhone in her bag. Michael’s car was parked a little away from the outdoor camera’s sight, so something might have happened while they walked toward the car. Emily remembers she didn’t take the phone out after that.
Emily tried Using her Apple Watch to Ping her iPhone
While Michael was driving back to Sharon’s cafe, and first thing Emily did was that she tried to ping her iPhone using her Apple Watch, but no response, the iPhone is not near her she confirmed. Apple has given a very handy tool in the Watch that enables one to ping their iPhone, but this works only when the iPhone and Watch are either connected via Bluetooth or are connected to the same Wi-Fi. So when your iPhone is anywhere near you but missed your sight while physically searching then this feature of Apple Watch can trace your iPhone for you. Maybe your iPhone is just below some files or might have fallen at the side of a desk, or maybe your friends have just hidden it from you, just try to ping the iPhone.
To ping the iPhone using Apple Watch, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open Control Center on your Apple Watch.
- Step 2: Scroll down a bit, and you will find the Ping iPhone button.
- Step 3: Tap on the Ping iPhone button.
After watching the CCTV footage, Emily says, that now there are only two possibilities, either the iPhone dropped from the bag while taking the scarf out from the bag or else possibly theft. All the friends went to the place where Michael’s car was parked and checked there thoroughly, they also check the walkway. Sharon asked Emily if she remembers her Apple ID and password, and Emily says yes. Sharon says to all “I have an idea, let’s go back to the cafe”. Sharon gives her iPhone to Emily and says “open the Find my iPhone app on this phone, and log in with your Apple ID, we can trace the location of your iPhone now”.
Emily Used the Find My iPhone App with her Apple ID on Sharon’s iPhone
On Sharon’s suggestion, Emily logged into the Find My iPhone App using her Apple ID. With the help of this app, they tried to trace the phone’s current location. They all got shocked when they saw the current location showing around 2 miles away from there. So, it is clear theft, it is now confirmed the iPhone has got stolen. Michael immediately said Emily to turn on the Lost Mode and set the password, this will lock the iPhone. Without any delay, Sharon said we must inform the Police immediately, Michael dialed the number and detailed everything about the incident.
Using Find My App on Another Apple Device
If you have another Apple device using the same Apple ID then you can use the Find My app to trace the lost iPhone. The other device can be iPhone, iPad, or Mac doesn’t matter. There are four useful things you can do with the Find My iPhone app:
- Get the Current Location: You can get the current location and directions to your lost iPhone. If the iPhone is turned off, the last location when it was On can be known.
- Ping the iPhone: Just like you can do with an Apple watch, you can Ping your iPhone, so that with the ringing you can find the phone.
- Lost Mode: This is very useful when the phone is stolen, when you turn on the Lost Mode, the iPhone will be locked. It will only open with your set password. While in Lock Mode, contact details and a custom message will be flashed on the screen, which you can set while activating Lock Mode.
- Erase iPhone: This will erase all data from the iPhone, this can be useful when you have sensitive data on your iPhone and you don’t want anyone to access them.
To get the location of an iPhone using the Find My iPhone app, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the Find My iPhone app on an Apple device that is using the same Apple ID. It can be any device, iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- Step 2: Click on the Devices tab. On the Mac, it is at the top, and on iPhone and iPad, it is at the bottom of the window.
- Step 3: Here click on the iPhone that you have just lost.
- Step 4: Click on Directions.
This will show you the location in the Maps app. Follow the direction and find your iPhone. If your phone is stolen and shows up in a different or odd location, then consider enabling the Lost Mode and going to the police.
To ping a lost iPhone using the Find My iPhone app, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the Find My iPhone app on an Apple device that is using the same Apple ID. It can be any device, iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- Step 2: Click on the Devices tab. On the Mac, it is at the top, and on iPhone and iPad, it is at the bottom of the window.
- Step 3: Here click on the iPhone that you have just lost.
- Step 4: Click on Pay Sound.
To Enable the Lost Mode using the Find My iPhone app, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open the Find My iPhone app on an Apple device that is using the same Apple ID. It can be any device, iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
- Step 2: Click on the Devices tab. On the Mac, it is at the top, and on iPhone and iPad, it is at the bottom of the window.
- Step 3: Here click on the iPhone that you have just lost.
- Step 4: Click on the Lost Mode.
- Step 5: You will be prompted to set a password, set a good password here.
- Step 6: On the next screen, enter a contact number or email address on which you can be contacted. This will be displayed on the lost iPhone’s screen.
- Step 7: On the next screen you can set a custom message for anyone who sees the screen during lock mode, it can be offering a reward, or instruction to contact the owner.
- Step 8: Click on Done.
We Used iCloud on Windows Laptop with Emily’s Apple ID
Meanwhile, Albert updated me about the theft and that they have traced the iPhone’s location about 2 miles away from the cafe. Emily shared her Apple ID and password with me over the phone. As I was using a Windows Laptop, I opened iCloud on a web browser and logged in using Emily’s Apple ID. I informed Uncle David about this incident and showed him the current location of the phone. His first reaction was ‘Go to the Police, right now!’. I told Uncle David that Michael has done it already and the Police are on their way to the cafe.
Using iCloud on any Computer or Smartphone
If you don’t have another Apple device with the same Apple ID, you can still locate your iPhone using iCloud. You can access iCloud using a web browser from any computer or smartphone. To find your lost iPhone using iCloud, follow these steps:
- Step 1: Open a web browser and visit icloud.com from any smartphone or computer.
- Step 2: Log in with your Apple ID (the same ID as your lost iPhone).
- Step 3: Click on the Find iPhone button.
Here, you will see your iPhone’s last location. Unlike the Find My app, iCloud doesn’t give your location using a Map. Apart from getting location details, all the features discussed above are also available on iCloud i.e. Ping the iPhone, Lost Mode, and Erase iPhone.
Finally, Police Caught the Thiefs and the iPhone is Recovered
Police arrived at Sharon’s cafe, we gave them all the details, and also showed them the location that we traced. They noted the tracking and we all started following that location. When we reached there, the Police caught and arrested the thieves. And after the required formalities, Emily got her iPhone back from the Police. We are grateful to the Police for finding Emily’s iPhone. We are also grateful to Apple for giving us such great security features in iPhone, which became very helpful in finding the lost iPhone.
