had my iphone returned by the police

[Davidsilence]

so I was in my local post office and my iphone must have slipped out of my pocket and fell onto the floor, the iphone was handed into the police by post office staff. I reported the phone lost/stolen to the police.... nothing for 2 days then out of the blue I was called by the police who had turned on the phone looked at my address book and called home. My point is that if my phone had been password locked I would not have received a call from the police. Shouldn't the police be able to somehow get past the security in order to get my home number? as i would like to turn the security on to stop someone from getting all my data but will not for the reasons above. Anyone got any solutions to this?

btw i bought the staff at the post office a large bouquet of flowers.

 

[SteveMobs]

Wow, that played out about as well as it could have. Good to hear.

 

[siorai]

If the Police have a way to get past the lock security, then so does everyone else. The best solution is to set the lock on your phone just in case and then do your best to not drop it anywhere.

 

[schizoidwoman]

I did download an app that allowed you to add contact details to the wallpaper on the lock screen but I'm afraid I can't find the name of it now (and I deleted it after setting it up). I know similar apps have been discussed around the forums though, as that's how I came by it.

It's heartening to read of someone being reunited with their lost iPhone; nice to know there are still some honest people out there (a fair number of whom seem to frequent these forums!).

Edit : I don't think the app I used was "If Found" (can't remember), but that serves a similar purpose and has a success story:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/633255/

 

[Turmoil]

Tha's an great story. I left my PSP on a bus last year, the lady that found it knew my face, but we had never talked. She kept it in her purse for a week, till the next time she saw me on the bus and gave it back to me. I almost cried. Glad you got your i-phone back.

 

[iFerd]

I did download an app that allowed you to add contact details to the wallpaper on the lock screen ...

Edit : I don't think the app I used was "If Found" (can't remember), but that serves a similar purpose...[/URL]

There are three applications I know of that will put your identifying information on your wallpaper, making it available before the phone is accessed. If Found is one, as you say. It makes wallpaper that does only that - puts your information on black wallpaper.

Two others, Owner Information and If Found, Please... let you superimpose your information on an image of your own choice so you can have a nice image and also have the information. Owner Information gives you some choices about where your information appears. It's what I currently use.

 

[Resist]

Even if the phone was locked couldn't the police just give Apple the serial number to find you if it was registered with them?

 

[theDUB]

...Shouldn't the police be able to somehow get past the security in order to get my home number?...

Yeah, I can see that being a huge priority for both Apple and "the police".

 

[intelplatoon]

South Lake Whaaaaatttt!!!

 

[theDUB]

South Lake Whaaaaatttt!!!

Exactly.

 

[schizoidwoman]

There are three applications I know of that will put your identifying information on your wallpaper, making it available before the phone is accessed. If Found is one, as you say. It makes wallpaper that does only that - puts your information on black wallpaper.

Two others, Owner Information and If Found, Please... let you superimpose your information on an image of your own choice so you can have a nice image and also have the information. Owner Information gives you some choices about where your information appears. It's what I currently use.

That's it - Owner Information! Mine does let me superimpose the information over my own wallpaper so thanks for reminding me of the name, an iPhone-owning friend wanted to get it too!

 

[Davidsilence]

thanks

will look into these apps

 

[SimonTheSoundMa]

Unsure if you are in the UK, but here the police can type your IMEI or phone number into their computers and know who the phone belongs to.

Contracts are easy, some pay as you go phones can be hard as not everyone registers them.

 

[The Californian]

Even if you don't have the app... Just type out the info you want on a Note, screen capture in (Tap both the home and top button at the same time) then set that as your wallpaper.

 

[yorkshire]

Nice, glad you got your phone back. Could have been much worse.

 

[Marky_Mark]

Both this and the PSP story make me feel good again about the world. It's nice to know there's still a shred of human decency left.

 

[RDL]

Even if you don't have the app... Just type out the info you want on a Note, screen capture in (Tap both the home and top button at the same time) then set that as your wallpaper.

The less apps on my phone the better so this is a great alternative!

 

[ppc750fx]

Unsure if you are in the UK, but here the police can type your IMEI or phone number into their computers and know who the phone belongs to.

Uh... kinda. They can ask the telcoms for what account(s) the phone's been used on, but if you only use PAYG it's not nearly as simple as typing a number into some computer. If my phone is ever stolen, for example, I'm SOL -- it's never been used on a contract, I bought it used, and I've only ever used it on PAYG, the topups for which I've always purchased using cash. There is pretty much no way that the police could figure out who actually owns my phone without monitoring my voice/data usage and/or using triangulation.