Losing your phone can be a devastating experience for anyone. I remember when my dad misplaced his phone at Korle Bu and we went everywhere just trying to retrace his steps. These days its even more common to leave your phone in a taxi or public transport but the good news is, it can easily be tracked nowadays. Apple devices are generally more expensive than the competition and the pain of losing one is almost unbearable. Here’s how to find anything should it get missing.
The cloud storage of the iPhone actually has a Find My Device feature in it. To activate it, simply launch the settings app, tap on your Apple ID at the top, tap iCloud, scroll down and tap Find My iPhone, tap the switch to enable it. It is important to enable this as soon as you get your phone to prevent any issues when your phone gets missing.
Due to Apple’s tight ecosystem, there is also a Find My Mac function. To enable Find My Mac feature you first need to have your location services turned on. To do this select the Apple menu button on the top left of your screen and click System Preferences. Look for Security & Privacy and then click the lock in the bottom left corner and type in the administrator’s password to make changes. Finally, make sure the checkbox next to Enable Location Services is checked and click the checkbox next to Find My Mac to enable it. A drawback to the Find My Mac feature is that it needs an internet connection which a computer might not always have unlike a phone which always has a mobile sim inside but the feature can help in knowing your last location.
To find your iPhone, launch the Find My iPhone app from any iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Log in with your iCloud ID and tap on the name of the device you’d like to track If you suspect your iPhone or mac has been stolen or left somewhere you can remotely erase it, set it to lost mode or asks it to play a sound. The play a sound feature is mostly handy if you are very close to where it was misplaced or you can’t find your phone at home or in a small environment. The lost mode basically locks the phone with the lock screen showing your phone number in the scenario someone finds it. The erase option should only be used as the last option or when you know your phone is stolen for sure and you have sensitive information on it. All these modes can be found listed in the upper right of the app. The same mods can also be used for your lost mac.
Apple’s new Airpods can fit any pocket size but than advantage can also be a disadvantage. Luckily for everyone, you can use the find my iPhone app to locate them. This feature is primarily to locate individual missing AirPods earbuds. Open your Find My iPhone app and tap on the entry for your AirPods.
Select Actions and press Play Sound. Both earbuds will start making a triplicate chirp — quietly at first, then increasing in volume. If you’re trying to find just one of the buds, you can mute the left or right earbud to focus in on finding the other earbud. If it can’t be found, Apple sells one earbud for $69 (GHS 354).
The Apple watch is another accessory of the Apple family and whiles its wild to think of how a wrist watch can get missing, anything can happen. To find your Apple watch, just open the Find My iPhone app, tap on the entry for your Apple Watch. Select Actions and if your Apple Watch is powered on, you can track it on a map as well as mark it lost, erase it, or play a sound.
The best way to find your phone is not to lose it, but if the worst should happen these steps should guide you in finding your device.
