Theives Can Disable Find My iPhone Unless You Lock Them Out

Updated

iPhones may have built-in tracking, but did you know thieves have a few tricks up their sleeves to stop you from locating a stolen phone?

An experienced thief will immediately try to turn on Airplane Mode and disable Location Services & wireless connectivity, to block the device from reporting its location. If your settings aren’t locked down, they may be able to do this without your passcode!

Blocking access to the Control Center and wired accessories from the Lock Screen is one of the most effective settings you should change to increase your chances of recovering a lost or stolen iPhone. The article will explain how to secure those settings and give your phone as many chances as possible to ping its location until it goes dark.

Prerequisites: Bluetooth & Location Services

Bluetooth and Location Services must be enabled before most iPhone tracking features will work. That’s because the iPhone locates itself by checking its GPS position, and scanning what other devices, signals, and networks are nearby.

Turn on Bluetooth

  1. Open “Settings”.
  2. Tap “Bluetooth”.
  3. Toggle the switch next to “Bluetooth” into the “on” position.

Turn on Location Services

  1. Open “Settings” again.
  2. Scroll down and tap on “Privacy & Security”.
  3. Tap “Location Services”.
  4. Toggle the switch next to “Location Services” into the “on” position.

Enable “Find My” to track your phone’s location

Find My is a helpful feature on your iPhone that comes to your aid if your device goes missing due to loss or theft. A combination of GPS, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi is used to accurately determine where your iPhone is. If the phone is lost or stolen, you can use another computer to see your iPhone’s location on a map.

Turn On “Find My iPhone”

  1. Open “Settings”.
  2. Tap your name at the top.
  3. choose “Find My,” then “Find My iPhone”.
  4. Toggle it on.

Turn On “Find My Network” and “Send Last Location”

After you turn on “Find My iPhone,” scroll down (on the same screen) and activate two more features:

  1. Toggle on “Find My Network”.
  2. Toggle on “Send Last Location”.

Find My Network is a collaborative feature that helps locate your missing iPhone even when it’s offline or out of range. All devices with “Find My network” emit a silent beacon, allowing them to detect each other when nearby, even if they all belong to different owners (Bluetooth and Location Services must be on for this to work).

Send Last Location makes your iPhone ping Apple with one last update when the battery is critically low. If the power goes to zero before you find your device, the Find My network will hopefully have this final clue to the iPhone’s location.

Test that the Find My app is working

To verify that Find My iPhone is functioning properly, try this: Ask a trusted person to hide your iPhone, then follow these steps:

  1. Open the “Find My” app on another Apple device or visit iCloud.com/find.
  2. Sign in with your Apple ID.
  3. Locate your device, and check if it’s accurately displayed on the map.

If it is, you can be confident that Find My iPhone is set up correctly and operational.

Lock Screen Security

Clever thieves try to stop you from locating your iPhone by activating Airplane Mode and disabling Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Location Services. They can do this from the Lock Screen without needing your passcode, and it cuts off all the connectivity the Find My app needs to track your phone.

Turn off Lock Screen Control Center access, so they can’t block you from tracking your phone:

  1. Go to “Settings.”
  2. Choose “Face ID & Passcode” (or “Touch ID & Passcode”).
  3. Turn off Control Center under “Allow Access When Locked.”

Test that Control Center Access When Locked is off

  1. Lock Your iPhone: First, ensure your iPhone is locked. You can do this by pressing the sleep/wake button on the right side (or the top, depending on your model) or by letting it lock automatically.

  2. Cover the Front Camera: If your iPhone uses Face ID, use a finger on your other hand to block the front-facing camera. This simulates the presence of a thief by preventing Face ID from recognizing you and auto unlocking the phone.

  3. Swipe Up from the Bottom (or Down from the Top-Right on newer models): On the lock screen, attempt to access the Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (or down from the top-right corner if you’re using an iPhone with Face ID).

  4. Check for Accessibility: If the Control Center is inaccessible from the lock screen, it means your device is secure. No matter how many times you swipe, the Control Center shouldn’t slide into view until you unlock your phone.

This test ensures that your iPhone’s lock screen is properly configured to prevent unauthorized access to the Control Center, enhancing your device’s security against potential theft or tampering.

Disable Accessories When Locked

Thieves might try to steal your data by connecting your iPhone to unauthorized USB or Lightning cable accessories. Set your iPhone to refuse accessory access when it is locked.

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Navigate to “Face ID & Passcode” (or “Touch ID & Passcode”).
  3. Scroll down to “USB Accessories.”
  4. Disable the toggle for “Allow Access When Locked.”

Set a Short Automatic Lock Time

Prevent unauthorized access and conserve battery life by setting your iPhone to auto-lock itself after a short period of inactivity.

  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Scroll down and tap on “Display & Brightness.”
  3. Under the “Auto-Lock” section, tap on it to access the auto-lock settings.
  4. You will see a list of time options, ranging from “30 Seconds” to “Never.” To set a short auto-lock time, select “30 Seconds” or any other desired time interval.

Now if you leave your iPhone alone (or misplace it) it will automatically lock itself after that time interval. This ensures that someone who finds your phone unattended won’t be able to access it, and that battery power is preserved for the phone to track its location for as long as possible.