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Is there a website that has a list of the steps you should take if your phone is stolen? My first instinct would be to use someone else's phone to google "what

Is there a website that has a list of the steps you should take if your phone is stolen? My first instinct would be to use someone else's phone to google "what to do if your iPhone is stolen". But I wouldn't know how to determine if the instructions I was seeing were incomplete, or outdated. Is there a trusted, frequently-updated site that we can easily remember and plug into our friends' phone if and when this terrible thing happens to us?

varenc 3y ago
This Apple support page has a section on "If your iPhone or iPad is lost permanently or was stolen" : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201472 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201472
- gnicholas 3y ago
  Very cool, thanks. I notice it doesn’t mention anything about changing bank passwords or the like. Might that be necessary, depending on how long it’s been out of your control? That is, if someone swipes your phone and was able to peak at your password (as a recent WSJ series focused on), you would probably need to take more dramatic steps if you didn’t realize it was gone immediately. Should I be making a list of the apps on my phone that have sensitive information and can be accessed without FaceID? I wish it were possible to designate an app to require FaceID or both my device password and my Apple ID password (or some other second authentication). Does this new updates fix this issue entirely? I feel like not because until I mark the phone stolen it doesn’t know to lock the holder of the phone out of my apps using just my device password.
  - pc86 3y ago
    If something like a phone is stolen it's probably safe just to change everything. The inconvenience of having to go through and change your important passwords manually (including your manager's master password of course) is relatively minor compared to your financial accounts getting breached.
  - bertil 3y ago
    > I wish it were possible to designate an app to require FaceID Developers can require that. Several apps I use do.
    - gnicholas 3y ago
      Oh yeah, I wish that it were possible as a use preference, on a per-app basis.
  - varenc 3y ago
    The Apple article does tacitly mention: > You might want to change your password for other accounts, too. Personally I would trust iOS security enough to not be too worried. Especially if I can issue a remote wipe in a timely manner. As long as the phone isn't swiped out of my hand while unlocked, I'm doubtful the average thief will be able to get past the lock screen. (Though I'm also assuming the thief doesn't have my passcode)
NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
I have an Android phone, and a few months ago I left it behind in a Waymo autonomous vehicle. Awhile ago, I added the "Find My Device" site to my bookmarks and I'd tested it out a few times. So I started there. And I also used Google Voice to place a voice call, so when it didn't ring in my home, I knew it wasn't here. The Waymo passenger answered and there was much giggling. She kept saying she didn't know what to do. I said just leave it in the car. So, knowing it was out of my control, I sent the remote wipe command, and hoped for the best. It turned out, the passenger also used the "Emergency Call" to send a text to my emergency contact. She offered to leave the phone in a pharmacy across town! I don't know how that would've helped. Anyway, I did recover the phone at the Waymo Depot. It had obeyed the remote-wipe command and it was factory reset, with a full battery. It actually came out better-than-new, as the subsequent updates applied a few nice features.
- pc86 3y ago
  > She offered to leave the phone in a pharmacy across town! I don't know how that would've helped. Well for one, the pharmacy isn't moving.
  - NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
    I would say that moving the phone from the place I left it would promote it from "lost" to "stolen". Can you now envision a conversation between this passenger and the pharmacy clerk: "I found this phone in some car" "What do you want me to do about it?" "Hold on to it until some guy I don't know comes to claim it?" "We don't want this personal property! Go away!" [Waymo car is gone now] [Passenger absconds with phone or throws it away] [Owner is no longer able to track or retrieve phone]
    - kemayo 3y ago
      You're overthinking it; it'd just be "I found this phone". They don't need to give the backstory. Most businesses will hold onto valuable lost property for a while, on the assumption that a customer dropped something. > I would say that moving the phone from the place I left it would promote it from "lost" to "stolen". A really key element here is that they offered to help you out by leaving it there for you, so I don't see how "stolen" would come in to it...

varenc 3y ago

This Apple support page has a section on "If your iPhone or iPad is lost permanently or was stolen" : https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201472 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201472

gnicholas 3y ago
Very cool, thanks. I notice it doesn’t mention anything about changing bank passwords or the like. Might that be necessary, depending on how long it’s been out of your control? That is, if someone swipes your phone and was able to peak at your password (as a recent WSJ series focused on), you would probably need to take more dramatic steps if you didn’t realize it was gone immediately. Should I be making a list of the apps on my phone that have sensitive information and can be accessed without FaceID? I wish it were possible to designate an app to require FaceID or both my device password and my Apple ID password (or some other second authentication). Does this new updates fix this issue entirely? I feel like not because until I mark the phone stolen it doesn’t know to lock the holder of the phone out of my apps using just my device password.
- pc86 3y ago
  If something like a phone is stolen it's probably safe just to change everything. The inconvenience of having to go through and change your important passwords manually (including your manager's master password of course) is relatively minor compared to your financial accounts getting breached.
- bertil 3y ago
  > I wish it were possible to designate an app to require FaceID Developers can require that. Several apps I use do.
  - gnicholas 3y ago
    Oh yeah, I wish that it were possible as a use preference, on a per-app basis.
- varenc 3y ago
  The Apple article does tacitly mention: > You might want to change your password for other accounts, too. Personally I would trust iOS security enough to not be too worried. Especially if I can issue a remote wipe in a timely manner. As long as the phone isn't swiped out of my hand while unlocked, I'm doubtful the average thief will be able to get past the lock screen. (Though I'm also assuming the thief doesn't have my passcode)

NoZebra120vClip 3y ago

I have an Android phone, and a few months ago I left it behind in a Waymo autonomous vehicle. Awhile ago, I added the "Find My Device" site to my bookmarks and I'd tested it out a few times. So I started there. And I also used Google Voice to place a voice call, so when it didn't ring in my home, I knew it wasn't here. The Waymo passenger answered and there was much giggling. She kept saying she didn't know what to do. I said just leave it in the car. So, knowing it was out of my control, I sent the remote wipe command, and hoped for the best. It turned out, the passenger also used the "Emergency Call" to send a text to my emergency contact. She offered to leave the phone in a pharmacy across town! I don't know how that would've helped. Anyway, I did recover the phone at the Waymo Depot. It had obeyed the remote-wipe command and it was factory reset, with a full battery. It actually came out better-than-new, as the subsequent updates applied a few nice features.

pc86 3y ago
> She offered to leave the phone in a pharmacy across town! I don't know how that would've helped. Well for one, the pharmacy isn't moving.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y ago
  I would say that moving the phone from the place I left it would promote it from "lost" to "stolen". Can you now envision a conversation between this passenger and the pharmacy clerk: "I found this phone in some car" "What do you want me to do about it?" "Hold on to it until some guy I don't know comes to claim it?" "We don't want this personal property! Go away!" [Waymo car is gone now] [Passenger absconds with phone or throws it away] [Owner is no longer able to track or retrieve phone]
  - kemayo 3y ago
    You're overthinking it; it'd just be "I found this phone". They don't need to give the backstory. Most businesses will hold onto valuable lost property for a while, on the assumption that a customer dropped something. > I would say that moving the phone from the place I left it would promote it from "lost" to "stolen". A really key element here is that they offered to help you out by leaving it there for you, so I don't see how "stolen" would come in to it...