So, this post starts out with a sad story. On Thursday night I had my wallet stolen from me. Luckily, it did not have EVERYTHING in it, but it did have my driver’s license, debit card, my iPhone, and about $50 cash. After realizing it was stolen I immediately went home and saw that gas had already been charged on my card. I got the the gas station and my card was torn up on the ground and the attendant told me that the person came in to pay and she even checked my id and verified it was okay to use! I was pretty upset, but I was most bothered by the fact that they had my cellphone.
The next morning we started calling my phone and it was turned off. A couple of hours later the phone was turned on but no one was answering or blocking the calls. I had been tracking my phone on the app “Find my iPhone” that I had downloaded. The one downside of the app is that it needs to get WiFi service to be tracked. I figured that the person threw my phone somewhere random that there was no service and I probably wouldn’t find it. But, I didn’t give up! I kept refreshing my GPS every couple of minutes. Eventually I received an email that my phone had been found! When I lost my phone I did not have a passcode set on it. But, through the application you can set it into “Lost Mode”. When the phone connects to WiFi it will automatically lock to whatever code you set and will display a message saying that the phone has been lost and to call a number of your choosing. My phone had been connected to the internet and locked!
Now started the mad hunt for my cellphone. When I found that my stuff was stolen I had contacted the police. When my phone started tracking I called them back. The GPS for this app is incredibly accurate! I was on the phone with the police telling them exactly where my phone was tracking too. I could see when the person was crossing the street, where they were walking to, etc. The police officer found my phone in a man’s hands, asked if he could see it, and she verified it was mine because the unlock code worked. It was a huge sense of relief getting my phone back. When your phone is lost it is not only disappointing because you have to spend the money to buy a new one, but it feels like a huge invasion of privacy. They have access to a lot of your personal information and you don’t know what they will do with it.
Features of Find my iPhone:
GPS Locator: When your iPhone connects to the internet it will track with the GPS services where the phone has been found. Let me tell you, it is SUPER accurate. It is honestly almost creepy how accurate it is. When my phone was stolen I could see where this person was walking, when the crossed the road, when they went inside a building. It will track on your iCloud account on your computer. If you are a really clingy boy/girlfriend, this app also might come in handy….
Auto-lock:
When you realize your phone is lost, you can log into your iCloud account and decide to lock it. I didn’t have a lock code on my phone, so it was important to activate this right away. You will choose a 4 digit code (similar to the normal lock feature) that only you know. You also have the option to put any message on the screen when they try to unlock it. Finally, you can choose to play a noise on the phone whenever you want. This will help if your phone is lost somewhere in your house and you can’t find it. The sound will play even if the phone is on silent!!
Auto-erase:
If worst comes to worst and you can’t get your phone back, you have the option to do an auto-erase. This means that when the phone gets into wireless access it would automatically delete everything on it’s memory. I wouldn’t suggest doing this unless you are 100% sure you will NEVER get your phone back. The lock feature will keep the thief out, so there is no real reason to erase it unless you know you will never be seeing your poor iPhone again.
There is a similar app for Android phones. EVERY person should download this app for their Smartphones immediately. You have to make sure that you have it set up correctly (directions here). This app saved me about $300 and someone having access to a lot of personal information. Download it now!!!
-Allie
