Stolen Device Protection doesn’t recognize I’m home

[Morac]

I enabled Stolen Device Protection while at my house. I went to see what happened if I tried to disable it and it said I needed to wait an hour because it didn't recognize my location. I have home automations that run when I’m home so I know that works, so this just seems broken.

Anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?

Edit:

21 hours later it started working after I left home and came back. It started working about an hour or 2 after I got back home.

 

[Coltaine]

I just tried it, it does recognize my home.
Seems to be working for me.
I have entered my home address in my own contact card, maybe that makes a difference?
But it still needs to be aware, where it is. Have you activated location services?
I will try it again tomorrow, when I am away from home...

 

[Morac]

Yes I have activated location services, significant locations and have my address in my contact card.

Something odd I noticed was that the significant locations don't match up between my iPhone, iPad and Mac. The iPhone and Mac both show the last location as a train station and the date range is the same, but the number of locations doesn't match up. My iPhone is 55 and my iPad is 53.

My Mac shows only 3 locations and doesn't show the same last location. That actually shows my home which would make sense as I rarely take it anywhere, but my understanding though is that the significant locations are shared through iCloud. All three devices are logged into the same iCloud Apple ID so all 3 devices should show the same number of locations and the same last locations, but they don't

 

[fsfty]

I enabled Stolen Device Protection while at my house. I went to see what happened if I tried to disable it and it said I needed to wait an hour because it didn't recognize my location. I have home automations that run when I’m home so I know that works, so this just seems broken.

Anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it?

I’m having the same issue. I tried to turn it off and got the same message you did.

 

[Morac]

I’m having the same issue. I tried to turn it off and got the same message you did.

Do you have significant locations enabled?

I’m also if photos you took at your home show as “home” for the location. Mine do until I tap the info button and then they change to my town name and stay like that.

 

[citivolus]

I enabled Stolen Device Protection while at my house. I went to see what happened if I tried to disable it and it said I needed to wait an hour because it didn't recognize my location. I have home automations that run when I’m home so I know that works, so this just seems broken.

I am having the same issue as well. I too have significant locations enabled and my automations run correctly when I arrive at “Home”.

 

[Morac]

I don't know if this is related, but I noticed my Photos that show "Home" at the top now change to show the town name when I tap the "i" button.

I also tried deleting my Home address from my address book and then iOS suggested I add it back in as it was a significant location, so my Home is a significant location.

 

[citivolus]

I don't know if this is related, but I noticed my Photos that show "Home" at the top now change to show the town name when I tap the "i" button.

I also tried deleting my Home address from my address book and then iOS suggested I add it back in as it was a significant location, so my Home is a significant location.

I see the same thing with Photos. However I tried deleting my home address and adding it back again but didn’t get shy suggestion about it being a significant location. Photos still shows pictures taken at my home with just the town name. Maybe I need to delete my significant locations?

 

[Morac]

I see the same thing with Photos. However I tried deleting my home address and adding it back again but didn’t get shy suggestion about it being a significant location. Photos still shows pictures taken at my home with just the town name. Maybe I need to delete my significant locations?

I think this is just a bug as secure Device Protection started recognizing I'm home after I left and came back (about an hour or 2 later), but the Photo thing is still an issue.

From what I can tell photos populates the "Home" tag after leaving the phone plugged in for awhile (it's not instantaneous). Before that happens the location title is just blank, so at some point it uses the geotag location in the photo to lookup location. Clicking the "I" seems to bypass checking for Home and just uses the town name like it does for all other locations. The address listed in photos doesn't even exactly match my Home since it lacks a zip code.

 

[citivolus]

I think this is just a bug as secure Device Protection started recognizing I'm home after I left and came back (about an hour or 2 later), but the Photo thing is still an issue.

Thanks—will see if there’s any improvement when I get home tonight. I had the same issue at work where “Significant Locations” in Settings showed that I am at “Work” but I am still getting subject to the one hour delay whenever I try to make any changes.

 

[iStorm]

Something odd I noticed was that the significant locations don't match up between my iPhone, iPad and Mac. The iPhone and Mac both show the last location as a train station and the date range is the same, but the number of locations doesn't match up. My iPhone is 55 and my iPad is 53.

My Mac shows only 3 locations and doesn't show the same last location. That actually shows my home which would make sense as I rarely take it anywhere, but my understanding though is that the significant locations are shared through iCloud. All three devices are logged into the same iCloud Apple ID so all 3 devices should show the same number of locations and the same last locations, but they don't

I'm seeing the same thing. My phone shows 149 records and my iPad shows 150 records. What's really peculiar is that my iPad shows the most recent record as Target even though it stayed home. My phone's most recent record is my home, which is time stamped a few minutes before going to Target. I get that the locations sync through iCloud, but it's really odd that the Target record isn't even on my phone considering that is the device that was there...and that it's still not there three days later.

iPhone (149 records)
Home
Jan 20, 2024 5:30 - 7:39 PM

iPad (150 records)
Target
Jan 20, 2024 7:47 - 7:54 PM

---

Now on another spare/test iPhone that uses a different Apple ID and stays home most of the time. I enabled Stolen Device Protection, and am getting the 1-hour security delay when attempting to turn it off. I did take this phone with me when traveling for the holidays, and strangely its most recent record is when I stopped at a gas station on the 7th. This phone has no cellular service and was not connected to Wi-Fi. It has been back home on Wi-Fi the past two and a half weeks, but still shows the 7th as being the most recent record. Definitely think there are some kinks that need to be worked through.

 

[Morac]

This phone has no cellular service and was not connected to Wi-Fi. It has been back home on Wi-Fi the past two and a half weeks, but still shows the 7th as being the most recent record. Definitely think there are some kinks that need to be worked through.

What’s shown as your most recent location in significant locations only shows places you’ve left. If the phone has never left your house since the 7th that would explain why there’s no recent record there.

I’m not sure why Apple does that, but it might have something to do with it showing the timeframe you were at the location. The phone doesn’t know that until you leave.

 

[iStorm]

What’s shown as your most recent location in significant locations only shows places you’ve left. If the phone has never left your house since the 7th that would explain why there’s no recent record there.

I’m not sure why Apple does that, but it might have something to do with it showing the timeframe you were at the location. The phone doesn’t know that until you leave.

Correct, but the most recent location shown is when I was at a gas station several hours away in another state on the 7th. I also arrived home later that day, so shouldn't it have updated to my home since then (because I left the gas station)?

 

[Morac]

Correct, but the most recent location shown is when I was at a gas station several hours away in another state on the 7th. I also arrived home later that day, so shouldn't it have updated to my home since then (because I left the gas station)?

If you haven’t left home with that phone since then, no.

 

[MisterSavage]

What does maps say your location is? I've noticed that sometimes it thinks I'm at the building next door instead of the one I'm in.

 

[iStorm]

If you haven’t left home with that phone since then, no.

Thanks, it makes sense now. Also explains why Target is my last location on my main devices...I haven't left since I got back home.

 

[Morac]

Forgot to mention that SDP now recognizes I’m in a frequent location after I left home and came back. It then took another hour or two. In total about 21 hours after I enabled it.

 

[P_Watt]

What does maps say your location is? I've noticed that sometimes it thinks I'm at the building next door instead of the one I'm in.

If you are looking indoors, your phone cannot see the gps satellites so it’s guessing.

Forgot to mention that SDP now recognizes I’m in a frequent location after I left home and came back. It then took another hour or two. In total about 21 hours after I enabled it.

After a reset, mine took 3 weeks of traveling around.

 

[citivolus]

Thanks—will see if there’s any improvement when I get home tonight. I had the same issue at work where “Significant Locations” in Settings showed that I am at “Work” but I am still getting subject to the one hour delay whenever I try to make any changes.

Some progress for me—last night SDP recognized my home address when I got home from work. However this morning I’m back at work and SDP still doesn’t see it a recognized location even though it shows up as my location in Settings->Privacy & Security->Location Services->System Services->Significant Locations. Maybe will take another day or so.

 

[Morac]

Mine doesn’t like my work either. I don’t know if it trusts it or not as I only go in at most 3 days a week.

There should be a way to know whether or not iOS trusts a location.

 

[dmt43]

So, how does SDP work if Significant locations is turned off (mine is off)? Or is that required to be on with SDP? Sometimes, Faceid doesn’t work and I have to enter my passcode. I wonder how that would work with SDP. Or I am concerned that some other unforeseen access issue with crop up. I am debating if I want to turn SDP on. I think I will wait a bit and see what the collective experience is for everyone using Stolen Device Protection.

 

[I7guy]

Some progress for me—last night SDP recognized my home address when I got home from work. However this morning I’m back at work and SDP still doesn’t see it a recognized location even though it shows up as my location in Settings->Privacy & Security->Location Services->System Services->Significant Locations. Maybe will take another day or so.

If you have any system services turned off, try turning them all on.

 

[Morac]

So, how does SDP work if Significant locations is turned off (mine is off)? Or is that required to be on with SDP? Sometimes, Faceid doesn’t work and I have to enter my passcode. I wonder how that would work with SDP. Or I am concerned that some other unforeseen access issue with crop up. I am debating if I want to turn SDP on. I think I will wait a bit and see what the collective experience is for everyone using Stolen Device Protection.

According to Apple’s support document SDP won’t even turn on with Significant Locations disabled.

About Stolen Device Protection for iPhone - Apple Support

Stolen Device Protection adds a layer of security when your iPhone is away from familiar locations, such as home or work.

support.apple.com

To turn on Stolen Device Protection you must use two-factor authentication for your Apple ID and set up or enable the following on your iPhone: a device passcode; Face ID or Touch ID; Find My; and Significant Locations* (Location Services).

 

[P_Watt]

So, how does SDP work if Significant locations is turned off (mine is off)? Or is that required to be on with SDP? Sometimes, Faceid doesn’t work and I have to enter my passcode. I wonder how that would work with SDP. Or I am concerned that some other unforeseen access issue with crop up. I am debating if I want to turn SDP on. I think I will wait a bit and see what the collective experience is for everyone using Stolen Device Protection.

If location services is off it will never recognize you are in a familiar place, so biometrics will be mandated everywhere. (this is also a new option in 17.4)
So if biometrics fail it’s a DFU for you.

 

[Morac]

[QUOTE="P_Watt, post: 32889154, member: 1158244"this is also a new option in 17.4)
[/QUOTE]

Just a FYI, that option only states it only applies to the 1 hour delay. It seems like actions that don’t trigger the one hour delay would allow a passcode.