I got my stolen iPhone back today and thought sharing the story could help others in the same situation since there’s surprisingly little info on the ins and outs of how exactly Find My with a modern iPhone works. The story’s also pretty good.
Ok so I went out hiking at Buttermilk Falls near a buddy’s place in Jersey and after getting back to his house nearby, what do ya know, my phones gone. We called and suspiciously it went to voicemail, then the Find My app showed it was in the woods at the last location. ****kk. We hustle back, 5 minute drive, 20 minute run through the trail and the pin was right in the only place I would have guessed based on the log I hopped over. I searched like crazy, and later find out in some poison ivy that I shredded, but no phone. (and later no rash, thankfully)
Now it’s a bit more suspicious since my GF and buddy’s iPhones both had cell service and seemed unlikely my phone could break in the spot, let alone without me noticing. The next logical move is Lost Mode, which requires me to log into my iCloud. I try both their phones and receive the same error message prompt from Apple for the first time. My buddy tinkered until we got around the error but logging in required two-factor authentication … which would require the phone I’m trying to track, or my computer which I don’t have on me in the woods. A completely silly catch-22.
We call it a day and head back to the city. It’s 4pm Sunday. First thing when back home was putting the phone in Lost Mode since at that point all we did was text it. Still no location update and the Lost Mode is “Pending.” The bummer part is not only that I’m not trying to buy a new 14 pro but that my backup’s outdated.
8pm, we get a hit!
It’s at Round Valley Recreation Area now, showing in the building. Weird that it’s over 50 miles away from the original spot but we breathe a sigh of relief that a park ranger must have it at some sort of centralized lost & found. It was obviously closed at 8pm but I left a voicemail. But then ohh, what?.., the pin moved to the parking lot. It did that shifting thing it tends to do when you see all your devices on the map over your home. Well 30 minutes later another update and it’s at a Bait & Tackle that we later found out was long out of business. The updates were more frequent now, like every 5 minutes and then it reaches a residential address. Then leaves to the gas station and back. 2-family homes of modest size and the pin floated between 2-3 promising houses.
Next morning, yesterday, we wake up to a call from an unknown number, “hi is this … “ YESSS!! … then NOOO! … it’s the Recreation Center calling to tell me they have no phone.
A little later in the morning I see the pin moved to a big-rig fueling station and updated there 4 times around the same area. Then to a Walgreens for what seemed to be 2 hrs but that’s the problem with the tracking while off, and also what most people are unclear about the workings of. Apparently when off wireless chips continue to run in low power mode and it functions similarly to AirTags .. except it doesn’t have the ability to track it precisely like that awesome AirTag feature. It’s using the network of other iPhones instead of contacting the satellite that gives it service. The bubble denoting the appox area of the phone varies in size for some unknown reason but the fueling station was next to a closed strip joint and another business.
I did internet recon using Google street view and going through all “See More Dates” for both the houses and workplace and took note of all vehicles, then Apple Maps street view, which is incredibly detailed if you haven’t tried it yet. No vehicles cross-matched on street view and it was time to get out there while I could still track it. Hauled it out from Queens around 1pm with my GF and her phone to track mine. Traffic all the way of course but get to North Brunswick around 3pm and now, since I guess my GF’s phone is there to ping it, we’re looking at the location live but the area is still pretty general covering just that business but over a dozen cars and more cars parked in other areas on site. I decide to approach the business and basically frame it like the hero who found my phone was there.
My GF having lost her phone on a beach in Baja in February and getting a text on my phone weeks later into our trip someone had it, made the optimistic framing here more reasonable, and I didn’t think threatening would get someone to fess up face to face. Basically trying to show the guy he was caught but that he had an out since I was assuming he was well-intentioned. I went into the office and spoke to the manager explaining the switch and adding that I didn’t think the guy who had it was a thief, just that he’s probably an android guy who doesn’t know how to turn it on and had no reason to assume he was planning to steal it. I explained also I really didn’t want this person caught up with a felony charge in the off chance he was genuinely busy and was going to eventually get around to trying to contact me like chill Baja Todd did. Since I had several timestamped locations the phone had been , locations with surveillance, and that because of the cost of the phone it’s grand larceny, and reasonable-ish-depending to assume the cops will pursue this. In NY it’s $1000 or more, and found out it only needs to be $200 or more in NJ to be considered grand larceny. I also just wanted to just get the damn phone and be on my way.
I gave the manager the residential address to check it across his employees but said that it by no means meant it was their home address. I got his card and he took mine and he said he’d call me as soon as he could. Felt genuine and went smoothly but I was bummed not getting it resolved right then.
My GF and I grabbed a bite nearby then went back since the pin hadn’t updated since leaving, but now her phone didn’t update my phone’s location. We went to the residential address after taking note of the vehicles at the workplace but nothing matched and we weren’t going to do a stakeout for no reason. It was later we found out the tracking when off only runs for 24 hrs, and since Lost Mode was still pending we knew it hadn’t been turned on yet.
Back to the city. 45 minutes just to get through the Goethals Bridge $17 toll. Feel our pain! ha!
Next morning — today, I had work and take an old iPhone so I can email communicate using the LinkNYCs that I linked to for the first time. TDIL they do more than prop up junkies and blast LED-blinding ads. I get an email from my GF on my old iPhone: MIKE HAS YOUR PHONE!!! Holy ****, the manager had my phone and would be there till 6pm. I hauled ass out there and when I got it back from the manager he didn’t say much beyond the guy being a young guy, didn’t state his intentions or anything further, and I didn’t ask. I walked into it with the optimistic framing and initially said the hero-dude with my phone is here and I’m going to make sure he gets $100 for doing the right thing. Well I pulled out the hundo and said “here’s the money for that guy and if he doesn’t deserve it, it’s for you man.” He wouldn’t accept it and I respected that.
When I turned my phone on after and got a welcome message my jaw dropped but it was only because I had my old iPhone as the default, and had to add the new one back with one click. Everything was there and now I’ll probably buy enough iCloud to store my 245GBs of ****** photos since there’s a bug in Finder when backing up that doesn’t save my preference to “backup all data to my computer.”
Anyway in the last 48 hrs I learned a lot about how to Find My tracking works and it’s a solid 2023 since changes came with the Find My network.
- There are 3 options under Settings > Find My > Find My iPhone
1) Find My iPhone is the regular option, lets you locate, wipe, lock iPhone.
2) Find My network - the option says Participating in the Find My network lets you locate this iPhone even when it’s offline, in power reserve mode , and after power off.” This is the option that saved my ****ing ass.
3) Send last location (before battery dies)
CHECK ALL THREE
- Friends that have your location can only see the last location while the phone was on, so it still showed that it was in the woods to them. Logging into my account you can track it while off if you have that option checked.
- This took some digging but found out it only tracks when off for only 24hrs, even if your battery was full. In my case it seemed to be pretty exact and when I got it back it still had 60% battery when I turned it on.
- If you wipe your phone I thought it was gone forever but apparently it remains in Find My for continuous tracking. As sensitive as all the data in our phones are, I had mine locked and there’s no backdoor that I know of so I didn’t wipe it since it wasn’t recently backed up and needed the pics from grandma’s 95th bday bonanza the day before!
- Disturbingly there’s a ton online and on YT about easy ways of restoring locked phones to sell, and some of these articles feel like they’re catering to the thieves. The datas protected but the phone isn’t apparently since they can use software to wipe and sell. I noticed articles around 2015 and earlier makes the phone seem more bulletproof against thieves restoring so I guess somethings changed. Is it not possible for Apple to send a blacklist of IMEI numbers to cell providers? If anyone knows more about this, please share…
- Lost mode can’t activate until the phone it turned on. If I had moved on and got a new iPhone, i.e. transferring service, my stolen phone no longer has the benefit of cell service to activate Lost Mode, making it almost certainly a goner. I was considering getting a burner for the meantime.
- When off, the phone will only be trackable for 24 hrs, in my case pretty close to exactly that long, and the functionality even when on is pretty limited. I wish so badly it was possible to have the precise locating feature that AirTags do with the pointing arrow and exact distance. The closest you can get is similar to devices or AirTags in the Find Me app. If there’s an apartment building involved, consider it gone since the range varies from like 50-200ish ft. But at the same time you need a strong network of other iPhones to ping yours, so another catch-22 here.
- We were able to trigger updates to the turned off iPhone by getting within what seemed to be like 50 ft. .. for us we were able to sleuth from an abandoned parking lot on the other side of a chainlink from the biz.
- Researching I wasn’t able to find an updated consensus as to how much protection Lost Mode gives the phone but it was effective in giving me the Lost Mode message I have pending pop onto the screen as soon as it went on.
- If your phone is stolen beware of phishing attempts since the thief may actively be trying to get your apple id password
Ok so I went out hiking at Buttermilk Falls near a buddy’s place in Jersey and after getting back to his house nearby, what do ya know, my phones gone. We called and suspiciously it went to voicemail, then the Find My app showed it was in the woods at the last location. ****kk. We hustle back, 5 minute drive, 20 minute run through the trail and the pin was right in the only place I would have guessed based on the log I hopped over. I searched like crazy, and later find out in some poison ivy that I shredded, but no phone. (and later no rash, thankfully)
Now it’s a bit more suspicious since my GF and buddy’s iPhones both had cell service and seemed unlikely my phone could break in the spot, let alone without me noticing. The next logical move is Lost Mode, which requires me to log into my iCloud. I try both their phones and receive the same error message prompt from Apple for the first time. My buddy tinkered until we got around the error but logging in required two-factor authentication … which would require the phone I’m trying to track, or my computer which I don’t have on me in the woods. A completely silly catch-22.
We call it a day and head back to the city. It’s 4pm Sunday. First thing when back home was putting the phone in Lost Mode since at that point all we did was text it. Still no location update and the Lost Mode is “Pending.” The bummer part is not only that I’m not trying to buy a new 14 pro but that my backup’s outdated.
8pm, we get a hit!
It’s at Round Valley Recreation Area now, showing in the building. Weird that it’s over 50 miles away from the original spot but we breathe a sigh of relief that a park ranger must have it at some sort of centralized lost & found. It was obviously closed at 8pm but I left a voicemail. But then ohh, what?.., the pin moved to the parking lot. It did that shifting thing it tends to do when you see all your devices on the map over your home. Well 30 minutes later another update and it’s at a Bait & Tackle that we later found out was long out of business. The updates were more frequent now, like every 5 minutes and then it reaches a residential address. Then leaves to the gas station and back. 2-family homes of modest size and the pin floated between 2-3 promising houses.
Next morning, yesterday, we wake up to a call from an unknown number, “hi is this … “ YESSS!! … then NOOO! … it’s the Recreation Center calling to tell me they have no phone.
A little later in the morning I see the pin moved to a big-rig fueling station and updated there 4 times around the same area. Then to a Walgreens for what seemed to be 2 hrs but that’s the problem with the tracking while off, and also what most people are unclear about the workings of. Apparently when off wireless chips continue to run in low power mode and it functions similarly to AirTags .. except it doesn’t have the ability to track it precisely like that awesome AirTag feature. It’s using the network of other iPhones instead of contacting the satellite that gives it service. The bubble denoting the appox area of the phone varies in size for some unknown reason but the fueling station was next to a closed strip joint and another business.
I did internet recon using Google street view and going through all “See More Dates” for both the houses and workplace and took note of all vehicles, then Apple Maps street view, which is incredibly detailed if you haven’t tried it yet. No vehicles cross-matched on street view and it was time to get out there while I could still track it. Hauled it out from Queens around 1pm with my GF and her phone to track mine. Traffic all the way of course but get to North Brunswick around 3pm and now, since I guess my GF’s phone is there to ping it, we’re looking at the location live but the area is still pretty general covering just that business but over a dozen cars and more cars parked in other areas on site. I decide to approach the business and basically frame it like the hero who found my phone was there.
My GF having lost her phone on a beach in Baja in February and getting a text on my phone weeks later into our trip someone had it, made the optimistic framing here more reasonable, and I didn’t think threatening would get someone to fess up face to face. Basically trying to show the guy he was caught but that he had an out since I was assuming he was well-intentioned. I went into the office and spoke to the manager explaining the switch and adding that I didn’t think the guy who had it was a thief, just that he’s probably an android guy who doesn’t know how to turn it on and had no reason to assume he was planning to steal it. I explained also I really didn’t want this person caught up with a felony charge in the off chance he was genuinely busy and was going to eventually get around to trying to contact me like chill Baja Todd did. Since I had several timestamped locations the phone had been , locations with surveillance, and that because of the cost of the phone it’s grand larceny, and reasonable-ish-depending to assume the cops will pursue this. In NY it’s $1000 or more, and found out it only needs to be $200 or more in NJ to be considered grand larceny. I also just wanted to just get the damn phone and be on my way.
I gave the manager the residential address to check it across his employees but said that it by no means meant it was their home address. I got his card and he took mine and he said he’d call me as soon as he could. Felt genuine and went smoothly but I was bummed not getting it resolved right then.
My GF and I grabbed a bite nearby then went back since the pin hadn’t updated since leaving, but now her phone didn’t update my phone’s location. We went to the residential address after taking note of the vehicles at the workplace but nothing matched and we weren’t going to do a stakeout for no reason. It was later we found out the tracking when off only runs for 24 hrs, and since Lost Mode was still pending we knew it hadn’t been turned on yet.
Back to the city. 45 minutes just to get through the Goethals Bridge $17 toll. Feel our pain! ha!
Next morning — today, I had work and take an old iPhone so I can email communicate using the LinkNYCs that I linked to for the first time. TDIL they do more than prop up junkies and blast LED-blinding ads. I get an email from my GF on my old iPhone: MIKE HAS YOUR PHONE!!! Holy ****, the manager had my phone and would be there till 6pm. I hauled ass out there and when I got it back from the manager he didn’t say much beyond the guy being a young guy, didn’t state his intentions or anything further, and I didn’t ask. I walked into it with the optimistic framing and initially said the hero-dude with my phone is here and I’m going to make sure he gets $100 for doing the right thing. Well I pulled out the hundo and said “here’s the money for that guy and if he doesn’t deserve it, it’s for you man.” He wouldn’t accept it and I respected that.
When I turned my phone on after and got a welcome message my jaw dropped but it was only because I had my old iPhone as the default, and had to add the new one back with one click. Everything was there and now I’ll probably buy enough iCloud to store my 245GBs of ****** photos since there’s a bug in Finder when backing up that doesn’t save my preference to “backup all data to my computer.”
Anyway in the last 48 hrs I learned a lot about how to Find My tracking works and it’s a solid 2023 since changes came with the Find My network.
- There are 3 options under Settings > Find My > Find My iPhone
1) Find My iPhone is the regular option, lets you locate, wipe, lock iPhone.
2) Find My network - the option says Participating in the Find My network lets you locate this iPhone even when it’s offline, in power reserve mode , and after power off.” This is the option that saved my ****ing ass.
3) Send last location (before battery dies)
CHECK ALL THREE
- Friends that have your location can only see the last location while the phone was on, so it still showed that it was in the woods to them. Logging into my account you can track it while off if you have that option checked.
- This took some digging but found out it only tracks when off for only 24hrs, even if your battery was full. In my case it seemed to be pretty exact and when I got it back it still had 60% battery when I turned it on.
- If you wipe your phone I thought it was gone forever but apparently it remains in Find My for continuous tracking. As sensitive as all the data in our phones are, I had mine locked and there’s no backdoor that I know of so I didn’t wipe it since it wasn’t recently backed up and needed the pics from grandma’s 95th bday bonanza the day before!
- Disturbingly there’s a ton online and on YT about easy ways of restoring locked phones to sell, and some of these articles feel like they’re catering to the thieves. The datas protected but the phone isn’t apparently since they can use software to wipe and sell. I noticed articles around 2015 and earlier makes the phone seem more bulletproof against thieves restoring so I guess somethings changed. Is it not possible for Apple to send a blacklist of IMEI numbers to cell providers? If anyone knows more about this, please share…
- Lost mode can’t activate until the phone it turned on. If I had moved on and got a new iPhone, i.e. transferring service, my stolen phone no longer has the benefit of cell service to activate Lost Mode, making it almost certainly a goner. I was considering getting a burner for the meantime.
- When off, the phone will only be trackable for 24 hrs, in my case pretty close to exactly that long, and the functionality even when on is pretty limited. I wish so badly it was possible to have the precise locating feature that AirTags do with the pointing arrow and exact distance. The closest you can get is similar to devices or AirTags in the Find Me app. If there’s an apartment building involved, consider it gone since the range varies from like 50-200ish ft. But at the same time you need a strong network of other iPhones to ping yours, so another catch-22 here.
- We were able to trigger updates to the turned off iPhone by getting within what seemed to be like 50 ft. .. for us we were able to sleuth from an abandoned parking lot on the other side of a chainlink from the biz.
- Researching I wasn’t able to find an updated consensus as to how much protection Lost Mode gives the phone but it was effective in giving me the Lost Mode message I have pending pop onto the screen as soon as it went on.
- If your phone is stolen beware of phishing attempts since the thief may actively be trying to get your apple id password
