Millions of phones get lost or stolen constantly, and usually there's not much you can do about other than to try and go back and find it. If it's stolen, you're kind of out of luck, unless you can find a way to somehow locate it. However, phone manufacturers are adding ways for owners to track and manage their phones if they ever get lost or stolen. Apple's Find My iPhone is one example of this.
Find My iPhone is a service that comes free with every iOS device and Mac computer, and it allows you to track your iPhone, whether it was lost or stolen. Of course, it only works when the phone is on and it has a signal, so if your phone gets stolen and the thief was smart enough to turn off the phone or put it in Airplane Mode, Find My iPhone won't work, but it'll at least give you a fighting chance. Here's how to use it.
Make Sure It's Set Up
Before you use Find My iPhone, you have to set it all up first. The service works through Apple's iCloud service, which is used to store and sync files through the cloud between all of your Apple devices. Find My iPhone is included in this. If you have an Apple ID, then you already have an iCloud account.
Download the App
The Find My iPhone app isn't a default app on iOS, so you'll have to go into the App Store and download the app yourself. Tap the blue app icon labeled App Store on your home screen. Next, tap on the Search tab at the bottom and type in Find my iPhone; t'll be the first result that pops up. Download the app (it's free) and wait for it to install.
Note: The Find My iPhone app isn't a mandatory download and you don't need it for Find My iPhone to work, but it can be used to track any other Apple products you have right from your iPhone or iPad.
Enable Find My iPhone in Settings
Once the Find My iPhone app finishes installing, you'll have to enable the Find My iPhone service in the settings. Open up the Settings App and then tap on iCloud (You may have to log in using your Apple ID at some point). Then, scroll down until you see Find My iPhone and switch it on if it isn't already. You may get a prompt confirming your action, so just tap Allow if this pops up.
Once you have Find My iPhone enabled, you're all set up to locate and manage a lost or stolen iPhone. Now comes the fun part.
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