Losing the items you need, especially gadgets like an iPhone or iPad, feels really annoying. You might be on this page since you happened to lose your iPhone or iPad, right? And you may think it has been stolen.
Stop! Before you feel worse, take a breath for a while, calm down, and start thinking about how to get it back. Apart from actually being lost, your gadgets could fall somewhere, or even if you forget to put them away, anything can happen.
Thanks to the Find My app, you can find it easier to track down your lost iPhone or iPad, wherever it may be, even if it is no longer connecting to the internet or if the battery has died. Okay, don’t wait any longer. Let’s find your iPhone or iPad right now with Find My!
Apple’s Find My App: What It is and How It Works
Find My is a location tracking app that was developed by Apple Inc. This app allows you to locate your devices (iPhone or iPad), MacOS, watchOS, AirPods, AirTag, and any network accessories that are connected via an iCloud account.
The Find My app works by using a combination of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, and GPS signals to tell you the approximate location of your Apple devices and any Find My-enabled items.
Additionally, Find My also uses the Find My network, a crowdsourced network of millions of Apple devices, so it can also track down the devices even if they are offline or in sleep mode.
The network on your devices sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by your lost iPhone, iPad, and any Apple’s or third-party accessories and forwards its location back to you.
Don’t worry about your personal data leakage; the Find My App really protects your privacy and security. And the whole process is end-to-end encrypted, so no one else, not even Apple, can see the location of your device or information related to it—only you can access it using your Apple ID and password.
With Find My, you can also share your locations with family members, and you can know where they are if they’re willing to share their location with you. To detect when they arrive or leave a certain place, you can set up notifications first.
Using Find My to Find Your Lost iPhone or iPad: Here’s How!
Finding a lost iPhone or iPad with Find My can only work if you have set up the app on your device first. To track it down, you can use another Apple phone, either a family member’s or your friend’s iPhone.
Assuming you’ve turned on Find My on your iPhone before it lost, of course, your device can broadcast its location to you, and you can track it with Find My. You can do the following steps:
First, open the “Find My” app on another iPhone.
Then, you need to log into the app with the same Apple ID and password.
Once you’re in the app, you can tap “Devices” to look for missing iPhones or iPads.
It will bring up a list of devices with Find My enabled and a map with their last known locations.
If you find your device in the list, click on it.
Then, swipe up on the handle to see some options.
And you can find your iPhone or iPad by choosing one of the following options:
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- Play Sound: You can tap on “Play Sound” to play a chime on your device. This option can work if your device is missing.
- Directions: You can use this option to see your lost device on a map with directions. It allows you to easily track it down according to directions.
- Notify When Left Behind: You can turn on this option if you accidentally left one of your devices behind.
- Mark As Lost: If you see that your iPhone or iPad is far away or in an unfamiliar location, you can click “Activate” under “Mark As Lost.” By activating it, it can remotely lock your device with its passcode and show a message on its screen in case someone finds it, in the hope that the person can return it to you. However, your device should have an internet connection to activate the Last Mode.
Well, that’s how to use the Find My app to locate your lost iPhone or iPad.
It’s important to note that doing this may not necessarily work, especially if your device is already in the hands of someone else. If that happens and you have found the person, don’t immediately judge him for stealing, because it will have bad consequences for both of them. He might find it when your device was lying on the road or on public transportation; it’s possible, right?
What’s next? If you managed to find your lost iPhone or iPad with the Find My app, it’s highly recommended that you delete your tracking history, particularly if you use a friend’s phone.
However, deleting your personal data and resetting your device on someone else’s device is a must. It is to prevent others from knowing about your privacy and your personal data. If you want to recover it, you can definitely restore it from your iCloud backup.
How to Turn on Find My App on iPhone?
If you haven’t lost your iPhone, now is the time to turn on the Find My app on your phone before it’s too late. Here’s what you can do:
On your iPhone, go to “Settings.”
Then, tap your Apple profile.
After that, select “Find My.”
On the next page, you can click “Find My iPhone.”
To turn it on, you can switch the circle to turn it on.
By turning it on, you can locate, lock, or erase your iPhone.
Other Options:
1. You can also turn “Find My Network” on to let you locate your iPhone even when it is offline.
2. You can also turn “Send Last Location” on to allow your iPhone to send its location to Apple when the battery is critically low.
What If You Don’t Turn on Find My on Your iPhone or iPad?
If you lost your iPhone or iPad but haven’t yet turned on the Find My App on your device, everything isn’t over. Instead, there are alternatives you can take to recover it. Here they are:
Alternative 1: Using Family Sharing
You can easily locate your lost iPhone if you’re part of a Family Sharing group. To do so, you’ve set up Family Sharing first by inviting or joining family members to share their locations. If they accept the invitation, they can select whether to share their location or not.
After you share your locations with your family members, they can see where your device is located in the Find My App under Devices. Of course, you can easily find your lost iPhone through Find My via your family member’s device linked via Family Sharing.
To set up location sharing in the Family Sharing group, you can do the following steps:
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- On your iPhone, open “Settings” and click your Apple ID.
- Then, tap “Family Sharing” → “Set Up Your Family.”
- Select one family member you want to share your location with. Repeat this step for each family you want.
- After sharing your location, each family member will receive a message.
- They can choose whether or not to join family or decline.
If they accept your invitation, they will share their location with you too. And they’ll be part of the Family Sharing group in the Find My App.
Alternative 2: Access iCloud.com
If there’s no option to use another Apple phone, you can access iCloud.com/find and then log into your account with Apple’s credentials. When you sign into iCloud, Find My on your iPhone or iPad will automatically turn on.
After logging in, you will be required to enter a verification code that has been sent to a trusted device. If you have lost it and couldn’t receive the code, you can choose the “Find Devices” button.
To note: You’ll not be able to locate your iPhone with iCloud if it is turned off, the battery has died, or more than 24 hours have passed since your device’s last location was sent to Apple.
Alternative 3: Use an Apple Watch
This can be performed if you lost your iPhone nearby and have also paired your lost iPhone to an Apple Watch or a HomePod. You can use this other device to ping the iPhone for you.
Here’s how!
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- On your Apple Watch, you need to open the Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.
- On the left side, you can see an iPhone icon with curved lines emanating from it. This is the “Ping” button. Then, tap on it.
- Wait for a while; at this point, the Apple Watch is paired with the iPhone.
- If your iPhone is reachable, it will “ding,” so you can hear where it is.
Well, keep pinging your iPhone with the Apple Watch until you find it.
AUTHOR BIO
On my daily job, I am a software engineer, programmer & computer technician. My passion is assembling PC hardware, studying Operating System and all things related to computers technology. I also love to make short films for YouTube as a producer. More at about me…
