I’m going to tell you a story. You can believe it happened or not. It’s your loss if you don’t.
My wife met her sister and mom at the mall to shop. She called a while ago (on her mom’s phone) to tell me she had left her Iphone on a table in the food court, and when she went back for it, of course it was gone.
I immediately pulled up Icloud.com, and signed in to Find My Iphone. There it was, out in the parking lot. Since the security bozos wouldn’t go with her, I had her call 911, since I knew there would be at least 2 Gwinnett County cops there on the property.
The officer met her out in the parking lot, and she gave the phone to him. I explained very clearly what island at the end of a parking row the signal came from. Within seconds - they were already close - he asked what color the phone was. White, I told him. He says “I see a guy with a white phone. I’ll call you back.”
3 minutes later, my wife calls ON HER PHONE. “They got him. Just standing under a tree, talking on the phone.”
The rest I’m not happy about, but we’re not finished. Mommy showed up, and yelled at the kid, and the cop told my wife she’s free to go. I’m afraid Junior may just get to go home with mommy instead of being arrested for a felony.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
If you have an Iphone, please install Find My Iphone on it, and on everyone you know with an Iphone. If you lose yours, anyone with the app can help you find your phone.
The cop told my wife “This never works out this well. This was fun!”
I use an Android variant and have tested it a couple of times with excellent results. I concur that such an app is a must-have if you have a smartphone. Don’t cost nothin’.
We use it all the time. Best use? When my teenage daughter doesn’t respond to texts or calls (let’s say we’re meeting up after a trip to the mall), we send the phone alert and it makes a really loud sound.
Poor Lillith Fair had that installed on her iphone when she left it on the roof of her car as she drove off last month…except she didn’t have the bluetooth turned on, so when she tried to find it (driving back over her route by car and bike didn’t work) she wasn’t able to locate it and had to get a new phone. So…install it, and enable it!
I use it to find my phone when I’ve put it down somewhere in the house. I always keep it on vibrate so just calling it doesn’t work, but I can use it from my iPad and force it to make a sound that way.
Google launched a service recently that needs no app, though installing it as a backup or for extra features probably couldn’t hurt. I don’t know if it’s only for later versions or not, but you can use Android Device Manager with your Google account, all you have to do from your phone ahead of time is make sure your Device Settings have been changed to allow remote lock and/or remote factory reset. Here’s an article: Phones
On Android I use Cerberus and it’s excellent; not that I’ve ever needed it but I’ve played with the features and it’s very powerful. It’s a paid app (one time, not subscription), and I got it on special at minimal cost.
I have it set to take a photo and email it when someone gets my unlock code wrong three times. My kids keep getting busted by that one
For Android phones, you no longer need to install an app at all to locate your, or your wife’s/hubby’s/kid’s phones.
Simply go to Find My Device. If you’re not logged into the mail account for the phone you’re looking for, simply log in. That’s it. If the phone you’re looking for is turned on, it will locate it.
If you suspect the phone is on the move, simply click on the refresh button and see the indicator travel on the map with your phone.
I have used it a few times and it works great! My wife even used to locate me when I wasn’t answering my phone because it was on mute.
Sadly, the non-emergency numbers for the cops don’t respond in a timely fashion (if ever). The cops we have on the board can comment, but if you want the police to act quickly (like, say, for theft of a device worth >$500) - 911 is the best means to contact them.
I love find my iPhone - my son checked it, saw that I had landed, and drove over to the airport to pick me up.
All the location services recommend calling police and NOT to try to handle things yourself. Yes, 911 - especially if you can tell them where to find the phone. I suppose it’s not so bad if it’s just some kid who swiped an abandoned phone off a table, but if it was some thug who pickpocketed you or just grabbed it from you and ran? Of course the location services are going to remind people that trying to take things into their own hands is a bad idea.
