Is it possible to find a lost or stolen iPhone?
The hardest thing to track is an iPhone with a dead battery. The latest generation operating system has a built-in function for tracking the device. Before turning off, the iPhone sends an SMS indicating its location. But you can use the function only after it is activated. This way, you can easily track a lost iPhone that is running iOS 8 with the battery disconnected.
Report your device as missing
Even if you lose your device, keep your information safe. Use the Mark Lost feature to remotely lock your device with a passcode, display a message on the lock screen with your phone number, and track your device's location.
The Mark Lost option is available on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Mac.
Using the Mark as Missing option
- Open Find My and go to the Devices tab.
- Select your lost device.
- Scroll to Mark as Lost and select Activate.
- Click Next, then enter your phone number to display it on your lost device's display.
- Click Next. If you wish, you can leave a message for the person who finds your device asking them to contact you.
- Click "Activate".
How to find an iPhone if it is turned off?
Thanks to geolocation services, finding a lost or stolen iPhone will not be difficult. However, it happens that the thief or the person who finds the phone immediately turns off the device. Then the question remains unresolved: how to find an iPhone if it is turned off.
1. A service from the iCloud manufacturer will help you find your iPhone if it is turned off. To search, you must turn on geolocation tracking on your phone and install Find My iPhone.
2. If you lost your phone, but it was dead or turned off, you can go to icloud.com or Find My iPhone from another Apple device. There you need to enter your ID and password. After you enter the correct data into the system, you will be able to track the current position of your gadget. If the smartphone is turned off, the last location of the device recorded by geolocation services will be displayed on the map. You can try to look for your phone in this place, because it is quite possible that you simply dropped it and the gadget turned off.
3. If you are sure that the iPhone is nearby, you can send a sound signal to it via iCloud. Even a switched off phone should respond to such a request.
4. If the smartphone was stolen, but the thief disabled it, you can try using the Find My iPhone program to send a message to the device asking you to return the phone for a reward. When the iPhone is turned on, even with a different SIM card, it will appear on its screen.
5. If all of the above methods to find a switched off iPhone did not produce results, try to wait a while, it is possible that the device will be online a little later.
6. To speed up the search for your phone, you can contact law enforcement agencies to report the theft. You will need to take your passport, phone documents and payment receipt with you. Tell the police the location of the theft and the conditions in which it occurred.
7. On the day the application is submitted, law enforcement agencies will make a request to the services of cellular operators. Based on the results of this request, it will be possible to find out which SIM card is inserted into the phone.
8. There is an additional option to find a turned off iPhone. You can add it to the database of stolen or lost phones on special websites. The form contains information about the IMEI of the device, the amount of the reward and contact information. If your gadget falls into the hands of an honest person, he will definitely contact you and return the device. An example of such a site could be sndeep.info.
9. Naturally, finding an iPhone if it is turned off is quite difficult, even with all the possibilities provided by the manufacturing company. It may not be found right away, so you should be patient and put maximum effort into the squeaks.
Source:
https://www.kakprosto.ru
Finding the location of your iPhone using specialized software
With the help of special applications for monitoring mobile phones, which are often called “spy”, you can get remote access to a much wider range of iPhone functions. This significantly increases the chances of returning an expensive phone to the owner, as well as preserving important information in the event of the final loss of the device. Therefore, spyware is sometimes installed on your own device to provide effective remote access and the ability to automatically record telephone conversations with other subscribers.
There is a second option for using programs for remote access to an iPhone: searching for a phone, recording conversations and SMS of another subscriber. Strictly speaking, we are talking about wiretapping - the main way to use such applications. Depending on the user’s goals, spyware can be installed on the phone of a child (parental control) or an employee of a company that you own, etc.
Programs for finding an iPhone mobile phone: installation features
Setting up the standard Find iPhone application does not require any special actions with the phone or any specific skills. But with the installation of specialized third-party software, everything is somewhat different. You will need to bypass iOS software restrictions, which requires jailbreaking. This is the name given to the process of flashing or “hacking” an iPhone, which results in access to previously closed features.
What will jailbreak do?
- installation of software for searching an iPhone using GPS, recording conversations, SMS, Internet messages, etc.;
- use of other useful applications, the installation of which was previously not allowed by the iOS system;
- improved screen lock window;
- expanding the capabilities of the phone control center;
- refusal of automatic system updates, which often annoy users.
How to track an iPhone using the Find my iPhone app?
Some people do not see the Find iPhone application and spend a long time searching for where it is located. The fact is that it was recently renamed “Locator”. This is what confuses many users.
- Open the Settings app.
- Click your name at the top of the page to open your Apple ID page.
- Click on the tab labeled "Locator".
- On the next page, enable the “Share Location” toggle so it turns green.
- Open Find My iPhone at the top of the screen. Start sharing your location (tap the switch so it turns green).
- Tap the switches next to "Enable Offline Search" and "Last Location." Turn on all these features if you want to get more information about where your iPhone is.
You can now track your iPhone using the Find My iPhone app on another Apple device.
How to find an iPhone using the iCloud website?
If you don't have an iPhone or iPad at hand, you can easily find your iPhone from your computer. Here's what you need to do to do this:
- In any web browser, go to https://www.icloud.com/#find. You may need to sign in with your Apple ID and password, but you won't have to enter the two-factor authentication code since it assumes you don't have the phone and therefore can't receive the code.
- Click All Devices to see a list of all your devices.
- Click on your lost device to see where it is.
At this point, you can zoom in or out on the map to get a better look at the location and find your lost iPhone. You can also erase the contents of your phone. This should only be done if the iPhone is stolen or is believed to be lost forever.
So, ICloud also helps you find your iPhone. Let's move on to the third way to quickly find out where the iPhone is.
How to track someone else's iPhone with Family Sharing?
Using the Family Sharing feature, you can track the phones of up to five people. To do this, you will need to get their permission. This feature can come in handy when you need to quickly find out where another person is. Setting it up is pretty easy:
- Open the Settings app on your iPhone
- Click on your name at the top of the screen
- Click Set Up Family Sharing
- Click "Invite Family Members." Then choose how you want to invite them to follow up: Invite via iMessage or Invite in person. In the second case, your family member will be prompted to enter their Apple ID and password directly on your iPhone
- After accepting the invitation, your family member will also need to turn on Location (they will be prompted to do so).
Once you turn on Family Sharing, you'll be able to track the phones of anyone you add to your family group.
Using iCloud
It’s worth noting right away that in order to track the movements of a smartphone in real time via iCloud, the device must be:
- included;
- have access to the Internet;
- have the Find My iPhone .
Is it possible to find a turned off iPhone? Unfortunately, even with data transfer and the Find My iPhone , the service will only be able to provide information about the last location of the smartphone before it was turned off. This can be useful if it is known for sure that the device was simply lost. If theft has been committed, then in this case the user must do everything to secure his personal files. And a cloud service can also help him with this.
The first thing an iPhone owner should do after purchasing and activating a new device is to enable the Find My iPhone .
This is done as follows:
- Go to the “ Settings ” of the device. In the menu that appears, go to user settings.
- Next, go to the “ Locator Find iPhone item .
- The function itself and the “ Last geolocation ” option must be active. If they are inactive, we independently move the “sliders” to the desired state.
With the “ Find iPhone ” function activated, finding a turned off iPhone via iCloud on your computer is as easy as shelling pears:
- We go via PC to the official website of the service https://www.icloud.com/.
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- Log in using your Apple ID details.
- Open “ Find iPhone ”.
- At the top of the display, select the lost device.
The last location of the selected smartphone will be displayed on the map. Also, next to the device name, its status will be indicated - the moment when the geodata was last sent to the server. You will be very lucky if the message “ Less than a minute ago ” is displayed - the user will have a better chance of finding the smartphone.
Note! Apple maps are not very informative in Russia. Therefore, it is worth connecting images from Google satellites. This can be done in the lower right corner of the iCloud page by selecting “ Satellite ” or “ Hybrid ” instead of the standard view.
If the owner of the device aims not only to find the iPhone, but also to limit its operation, thereby blocking access to confidential files, then he can use the “ Lost Mode ” function. After activating it, all that remains is to write a message to the person who found the gadget: this could be a phone number for feedback or a convincing request to return the smartphone to the owner. This message will appear on the display of a locked iPhone as soon as it is turned on.
As a last resort, you can use the “ Erase iPhone ” function. Activating it will lead to the deletion of all data on the device and blocking it.
Find iPhone by IMEI or phone number
IMEI
is a unique phone code. it is assigned to the device by the manufacturer. It is almost impossible to change this code yourself. To find it out, just type the key combination
*#06#
.
There are special services online for searching for an iPhone via IMEI. The principle of their operation is similar to that described earlier. The user specifies a unique iPhone code and activates a search using geolocation data. In practice, finding an iPhone this way is almost impossible because:
- It is extremely rare, but attackers still manage to change IMEI.
- To search for an iPhone, you need access to special equipment and operator databases. Only law enforcement agencies have such information.
The only way to find an iPhone using a code is to place an ad on the LoSToleN service
. This is the IMEI database of stolen devices. Their owners publish information about the lost phone and indicate the reward amount. Participants in the secondary market often check devices for the presence of information in the database.
Search iPhone from computer by IMEI
Each phone has a unique identifier, which consists of 15 characters. This code is called IMEI, it is unique (data cannot be repeated), and with its help you can search for a phone through a computer. To do this, the GPS tracker must be activated on the equipment. To find an iPhone from a computer, you only need to get the coordinates through a special application. If your device is stolen, using IMEI you can perform the following search options:
- Install special programs on your computer, for example, TrackerPlus, Find My iPhone, IMEI-Poisk 2.0. When the Internet is turned on, they will determine the location of the phone.
- If your phone is stolen, enter your IMEI into the database of stolen mobile phones. This will significantly reduce the likelihood of your gadget being resold.
- Contact law enforcement. When filling out the application, you must indicate the IMEI of your iPhone and your Apple ID account information. They can also make a request to the mobile operator to provide geolocation data on the SIM card. The owner cannot carry out such a request on his own.
Independent navigation programs
To use the geolocation function from a computer to search for an iPhone, you can use third-party programs. Most of them work only when the Internet and GPS tracker are turned on, so they will not save you from the actions of an attacker. They are well suited for tracking the movement of a user, for example, a child. There are several popular options that iPhone owners can use for geolocation.
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Owners of Apple products can install IMEI-Poisk 2.0. A unique 15-digit identifier is used for tracking, access to mobile operator data is available, and an online search is carried out. This will help you find a person's location or find a stolen mobile. To work with these programs, you must provide the following information:
- phone's last known location;
- when was the last time you used a gadget;
- Device IMEI and number.
IMEI-Poisk 2.0 will send a request to all mobile operator databases that are provided for public use. This will help you establish information about the latest iPhone activity and search for a location using geolocation. The subscriber will receive the following data:
- location of the mobile phone (if it was not turned off);
- is the device turned on now?
- where was the last time you called from your mobile phone;
- read the last text message sent from the gadget.
TrackerPlus - the program helps you find your iPhone by geolocation through your computer. Used to determine the location of the GLONASS and GPS satellite navigation systems. An installed and activated utility on a mobile device helps:
- track the movement of the device;
- determine the location of the device.
If you are going to buy an iPhone, then the SNDeepInfo program will help you check it according to many parameters. One of the most important is IMEI, which is assigned to each device. Database checking will prevent the purchase of a stolen smartphone. SNDeepInfo can give you the following phone parameters:
- actual amount of built-in memory;
- the color specified by the manufacturer;
- date of manufacture;
- unlocking methods;
- firmware version.
How to activate Find My iPhone
Apple employees strongly recommend that you take care of the safety of your device in advance by activating the protection function when setting up your smartphone for the first time. Therefore, it is important for users to know how to enable the Find My iPhone feature.
- On the main screen of your device, find the gear-shaped icon - this is the Settings application. Click on the icon.
- The phone settings menu will open. Scroll down to "iCloud" and open this link.
- If the owner is not authorized in the application, the smartphone will prompt you to log in to your account. In the form that opens, enter the username and password of your iCloud account.
- In the list, find the “Find iPhone” item.
- To activate and operate the protection mechanism, it is important that the slider next to the name is turned on. If the icon is moved to the right and lights up green, the function is enabled.
Find iPhone via icloud from computer
Apple has a proprietary service for finding a phone using geolocation. The service is called “Find iPhone”, you can use it only if you carry out preliminary setup. The function will work only when the Internet is turned on on the gadget; if it is not present, the last point where the iPhone was detected will be shown. You can find your icloud iPhone from your computer using the following instructions:
- Using another phone, log in to Find My iPhone using your Apple ID. The program is available in the App store.
- If you don’t have a phone, you can log in from your computer through a browser from the ICloud website. You need to use your account again.
- You can link several devices to your account at once. Select the one for which you want to search through your computer.
- After this, the location of the phone or the last coordinate where it was recorded will appear on the map. You can transfer a call signal to the device even when the sound is turned off, and display a notification on the screen.
- You can view the device’s last location only if the “Last geolocation” function is activated on it.
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How to install and enable Find My iPhone app
The function must be activated in advance to be able to find the iPhone through a computer. When you turn on the device for the first time, the operating system immediately prompts you to activate the ability to track the device. The benefit of the function will be noticeable in different situations - not only if the device is lost, or if a tablet or mobile phone is stolen by attackers. This option will be useful for parents who will be able to search for a device from a computer and understand where their children are.
The iPhone search option will help you find a device that fell out of your pocket somewhere and you simply cannot find it, forgot it in a public institution, or it fell behind the sofa. If you missed activating the functionality when you first started it, you can configure it using the following instructions:
- Open the device settings on your iPhone.
- Click on the “iCloud” item, find the line called “Find iPhone” and activate the function.
- Next, go to the “Privacy” settings section, click on “Location Services” and make sure that they are also activated.
- Scroll through the page with the geolocation function, find the “System Services” option, select it.
- Here you need to enable the “Find iPhone” option.
What is Activation Lock
As soon as the smartphone is discovered missing, the owner is recommended to activate the “lost mode”. After this, many users of Apple products become confused: they do not know how to find an iPhone through the “Find iPhone” function. Activation lock will prevent unauthorized persons from using the phone, since it will require a lock password to renew it. The person who finds it will be able to see a message in which they should indicate a phone number to contact the rightful owner. The problem is that for the function to work correctly you will need an Internet connection. As soon as the smartphone catches the network, messages with the phone and other features of the Find iPhone function are activated automatically.
How the “Find my iPhone” or “Find iPhone” function works
The program was first introduced in iOS 5.0, introduced in 2011. Since the appearance of the function, it has been greatly improved - it has received a separate application with an icon, interface and an expanded set of capabilities.
On the official website, in the section about the Find iPhone application, it is said that it will help detect and protect the user’s phone, iPad, iPod, Mac in case the device is lost or stolen.
At the moment, the utility is available not only as part of the OS shell, but has also become an element of the company’s proprietary cloud service – iCloud. You can launch and work with the application through a browser on a computer, smartphone or tablet - the platform is not important. It is also available for free in the AppStore.
Find My iPhone features:
- Determining the geographic location of the phone on a city map;
- Remote start of audible alarm for easy searching;
- Activating a special lost mode that allows you to block and track your smartphone;
- Remotely erase all personal information from memory.
To conveniently use all the features of the application, you will have to activate this function in the iPhone settings. However, nothing will work without first synchronizing your smartphone with the iCloud cloud service - most system utilities do not work without it.
Wiretapping and searching for iPhone using GPS: capabilities of special programs
Determining the location of a specific phone using GPS coordinates is only a small part of the functionality of spyware. We invite you to consider the full range of capabilities of specialized wiretapping programs for iPhone.
A spy app from serious developers may include the following features:
- recording incoming and outgoing connections, listening to conversations in real time. You can also always listen to the recorded conversation in your personal account on the program website;
- access to the list of contacts on the phone, the ability to blacklist numbers;
- recording and reading SMS messages, as well as email messages;
- interception of online correspondence in popular instant messengers (iMessage, WhatsApp, Viber, etc.);
- control of Internet activity (logs, bookmarks in the browser);
- access to multimedia files (photos, audio, video);
- find iPhone location using GPS;
- hidden control of program settings using SMS messages or through your personal account on the Internet.
Thus, by installing a special application on the desired phone, you can not only easily find the subscriber’s location, but also get the widest access to his information.
Turn off Find My iPhone
It is possible that the “Find iPhone” application was activated by you by accident, or, another option, not only you have access to your Apple ID account; of course, no one wants someone to be able to track your location, but everything can be fixed - disable the Find My iPhone function. There are 3 ways to do this.
Disabling the feature by disabling all iCloud features
- On the “Home” screen, find the “Settings” shortcut and go there.
- Click on your name and go directly to iCloud.
- We find the inscription “Find iPhone” and move the slider to the inactive state (it will turn gray, not green).
- Next, a window will open on the screen in which there will be a message asking you to enter the password for your Apple ID account. After entering the data, click the erase button.
- A notification will be sent to the email associated with your account indicating that the Find My iPhone feature has been disabled.
Disabling the function via the application
- On the “Home” screen, find the “Find iPhone” shortcut and log into your account by entering your username and password.
- Under the map with the location of the smartphone, a list of all devices on which the “Find iPhone” function is enabled through your account will open.
- In order to remove a device from the list, you just need to select the desired device and slide your finger over it from right to left, after this action a red “Delete” button will appear, click on it.
You should know that the device you want to erase from the list must not be connected to the Internet (Offline), otherwise the treasured “Delete” button will not appear.
This is exactly the disadvantage of this method, because as soon as the remote device connects to the Internet, the function is activated again. Therefore, you can permanently disable the “Find iPhone” function only in iCloud settings.
Disable on Windows and Mac OS X computer
- Open iCloud.com in a browser on your personal computer and sign in using your Apple ID information.
- In the panel at the very top, expand the “All devices” tab.
- From the list that opens, you need to select the device on which you will disable the function.
- The next step will open full information about the device and you will need to click on the “Delete” button and confirm your action again in the window that appears.
- In the additional window that opens, enter your account password.
After these simple steps, a confirmation will be sent to your smartphone about disabling the “Find iPhone” function, and it will be deactivated immediately when you connect your smartphone to the Internet.
Instructions for searching iPhone via Android
If your gadget is lost or stolen, you can track it remotely and block access to personal data. Apple provides alternative options to find an iPhone through an Android phone if you do not have an iOS device.
Find My search function
The Find My iPhone app has several useful features, but the main one is Find My. The service establishes a remote connection with the gadget and provides access to all capabilities: determining location, blocking the device, sounding a sound signal. Basic search methods will become available if the user activated Find My iPhone before losing the device. Let's look at the steps that will help you find an iPhone from an Android or computer.
A detailed description for finding an iPhone is presented in the article “How to find an iPhone.”
How to put the device into lost mode
- Follow this link;
- enter your Apple ID details;
- Click “All devices” and select the device that you want to put into lost mode;
- Confirm that this mode is enabled.
How to enable sound notification
The sound signal for the search is turned on in the same order as when the gadget is put into lost mode. In the “All devices” directory, you need to find the lost one and click “Play sound”.
Third-party iPhone search programs on Android
In addition to the described method, third-party services will help you find the device. The unification of protocols for determining coordinates and data exchange allows different smartphone manufacturers to develop universal applications for searching for lost gadgets. Such programs are useful if you have both iOS and Android devices - for example, Samsung's remote search application.
In addition to registering an Android smartphone, the program allows you to add an iPhone to the list of monitored devices. For an Apple smartphone, you need to go through standard authorization, as when connecting to iCloud. Additional features will help you find your iPhone using Android:
- Remote backup creation.
- "Add Trustees" - registers other users and devices from which you can track your iPhone.
- Maps to display the device.
Applications for searching for iPhone in Google Play Market
If you don’t want to register with third-party services, pay attention to programs similar to the Find iPhone application for Android. Apple has not released an official application for other systems, so you cannot download and find an iPhone on Android from Google Play. However, the store offers Find iPhone or Find My Phone programs. Web applications provide functions for displaying coordinates and turning on sound on the device. Google maps with voice guidance of the route help you find your iPhone through the Android application. Connecting an iPhone and using the tracking function is possible after authenticating with an Apple ID in iCloud. Both applications can be downloaded for free.
iPhone search programs
If official methods of searching for a device do not bring the desired result, you can try using third-party programs to search for an iPhone.
- iHound. This software not only periodically records information about the movements of the smartphone, but also has the function of sending the exact location of the device when it is connected to a computer. Thus, you can easily track the house of the unscrupulous person who found the phone, or the address of the point where stolen phones are taken.
- iLocalis. The program has richer functionality, but requires JailBreak to install it. If you have it, then you can, for example, find out the number of the new SIM card installed in the phone, and much more.
To summarize, the most effective way to search is the basic Find My Phone function. It is mandatory to activate it in a new gadget, since neither contacting the police nor trying to find out the necessary information from the operator, unfortunately, usually does not yield results in our realities.
Option 2. The phone is lost and there is no access to it
It is a very annoying situation when access to the phone is lost and no measures were previously taken to possibly protect it from such a situation. Or maybe it’s not your phone, but you absolutely need to know its location? And in these cases, something can be done.
Contacting specialists
Detective agencies have existed at any time, and in the age of high technology their resources are almost limitless. While researching this problem, I turned to an Internet search and found something on this subject. The site rozshuk.com.ua, which will be discussed, is not an advertisement, but is given only as an example, its services are relevant for residents of Ukraine, but I am sure that there are similar organizations in Russia.
So, being specialists, representatives of this site claim that it is more than possible to find a person by phone number and are ready to confirm this upon receipt of the corresponding application through the form on their website.
Contacting law enforcement agencies
This method is a last resort in the event of your iPhone being stolen, we will not digress too much on this topic, since there is already a very useful article on this subject.
How to block an iPhone if it's stolen
If you can’t find your iPhone, it’s better to block it to prevent an attacker from gaining access to the user’s personal data. To do this, you need to enable Lost Mode in the My iPhone app.
Next, follow the instructions on the screen to create a password code. If you are trying to lock the iPhone of a family member who does not have a code installed, you need to log in to the Apple ID on behalf of the owner of the lost phone.
Search through another Apple device
How to find a turned off iPhone if the user does not have the opportunity to use a computer to find a lost smartphone? Find My Phone application comes to the rescue , available for download on iPhone and iPad in the official App Store.
- We go into the application through an available Apple device.
- Log in to your account by entering the Apple ID and password of the lost smartphone.
- A map with the device's last location will appear on the screen.
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Through the application, the user can also enable “ Lost Mode ” or erase all iPhone data. To do this, just go to the “ Actions ” tab and click on the appropriate button.
Conclusion
Owners of a new iPhone are so excited about their purchase that they completely forget that the gadget can easily be lost or stolen. Take care of registering an Apple ID account, install additional search applications, write down all passwords, save packaging, receipts and, most importantly, the IMEI number immediately after purchasing the device.
Sources
- https://AlfaMan.org/hi-tech/telefony/138-kak-nayti-poteryannyy-ayfon.html
- https://support.apple.com/ru-ru/HT210515
- https://www.opengsm.com/blog/mestonahojdenie-iphone/
- https://bigiphone.ru/kak-naiti/
- https://zen.yandex.ru/media/id/5d54328ea06eafb7bab346a4/kak-naiti-aifon-cherez-icloud-i-find-my-iphone-5df4e1c3d4f07a00ad78706b
- https://iphone-gps.ru/iphone/kak-nayti-funktsiyu-nayti-iphone
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