iPhone is the world’s best smart phone available today without any doubt. People carry their phones everywhere they go, and hence there is always a chance of them forgetting their iPhone somewhere or the iPhone getting stolen. Learn how to track, message, erase and recover your lost or stolen iPhone.
Also read: 4 Ways to Track and Recover your Stolen Laptop
Track or Locate your iPhone
1. Track your iPhone via MobileMe
Apple has announced a new service called Find My iPhone that will allow iPhone owners to remotely locate their lost or stolen iPhones using the iPhone’s GPS. The service will be available as part of Apple’s MobileMe online subscription service.
Find My iPhone will pinpoint the iPhone’s current location using Google Maps and let owners send and display a message on the iPhone even if it’s locked, presumably to provide information on how to return the phone to the owner of the phone. The Find My iPhone feature can also force the iPhone to play a sound for 2 minutes, which is useful for not only getting the attention of the finder of iPhone but also locating it between couch cushions.
The Find My iPhone feature will require a subscription to Apple’s MobileMe service, which costs $99 a year (currently $65.99 on Amazon.com) after a free 2-month trial.
Update: Find my iPhone Goes Free with iOS 4.2
Update 2: Find my iPhone is now part of iOS 5 via the iCloud.
2. iPhone anti-theft solution – iLocalis
iLocalis lets you track your iPhone device location and also remote control it! It is considered as the best theft-tracking and remote control utility for Apple iPhone.
iLocalis has the following uses-
- Never lose your iPhone: If it is missing, just log onto the iLocalis site and you’ll know where it was located last.
- Retrieve a stolen iPhone: If your iPhone is stolen you can log into the site and check out where it’s at. Extra features built into iLocalis allow you to send text messages or make calls on your iPhone when you don’t even have it with you. If your iPhone is stolen, log in and send yourself a text message. If the thief changed the sim card you’ll have their phone number!
- Allow your family and friends to know where you are: iLocalis will send a message to your friends when you are near by. You can also set it up to allow your friends to locate you. If your friend also has iLocalis you can send messages to each other for free. No text messaging charges.
- iLocalis can also be used for a business that needs location services for their employees. Employees carrying iPhones with iLocalis can be tracked via the web site easily.
Note: iLocalis needs a jailbroken iPhone with Cydia installed and supports all firmware versions on iPhone 3G and 3GS.
3. GPS tracking for iPhone with Mobile Spy 3.0
Mobile Spy version 3.0 spy software for Apple iPhone from Retina-X studios allows users to track GPS locations, SMS messages and calls of employees, teen or family mobile phones by logging into SSL secured online control panel from any computer or phone’s web browser.
Mobile Spy allows users to monitor their handsets in real time and runs in the background behind all other applications. After the spy software is setup on the cellphone, it will silently record SMS messages, GPS locations and call activities, and then upload the data to your private Mobile Spy secure online account.
The Mobile Spy version 3.0 software is compatible with all iPhone models, Windows Mobile or Symbian OS based smartphone and is priced at $99.97 (1-year subscription).
4. Find and Recover your Stolen iPhone with iHound
This free security program alerts you when your iphone is connected to another individual’s computer. It will also track down the location of where your device is being used.
When your missing iPhone is being plugged in to a computer, you will:
1. Get an email saying that your tracked device is being located.
2. Get a detailed report on where it is being used by logging in to iHound’s website.
The second method can be very useful when the stolen iPhone is switched off and later gets connected to a computer for changing software or formatting the memory card.
Download iHound for iPhone or iPod Touch
5. Recover your Lost/Stolen iPhone with Navizon app
Navizon is a hybrid positioning system combining GPS, Wi-Fi and Cellular triangulation techniques. It calculates the geographic location of a wireless device by analyzing the signals from nearby Wi-Fi access points and cellular towers and comparing it against a database of known data points. A new option called Locate-by-SMS allows you to locate your lost iPhone by just sending an SMS text message to it.
6. MyFoundCast
MyFoundCast, a patent pending technology is the internet’s first lost and found service that allows you to create custom wallpaper and embed information into that wallpaper so when somebody finds your iPhone or iPod Touch they will know how to return it. All members are given a unique tracking ID and automatically registered in our lost and found database. You may register the serial number of any iPod or iPhone.
I am not sure if this really works. If someone is honest enough to return your iPhone he/she will do some basic research on the owner of the iPhone and return it back. Isn’t it?
Raju PP is the founder-editor of Technically Personal, which is one of the most widely read technology blogs on the web. He holds an Engineering degree in Electronics & Communication, and has previously worked as a Technical Specialist in Banking Software domain.
i lost iphone .all my work is on it.if anyone can track it pleez email me jdubb_kyrapper@yahoo.com
its worth a lot to me
I lost my iphone a week ago, is there any chances to track the phone if it was switch off.
Any freinds could help me?
Bill45 sounds like an iPhone thief to me… be careful iPhone owners, guard them with your life… trust NO ONE!
I lost my iPhone 2
iI hate aneyone who ever took leal an iPhone, or my iPhone
please note I love Apple, but movile me may be free!!!
i dont want to loose my iPhone again!!
if aney one knows a way to recover it using it´s serial number, please!!! HELP!!!
javvy_pingue@yahoo.com
i have the problem but in my case my sisterin laws brother stole it and well im pretty sure his not givin it back so i beat the living crap out of him and well he still he says he didnt get it after i saw him get it
Hi I have lost my phone that i sent to Rogers via UPs. i had sent two phones in one bag and they said only one was found and now i’m being charged full price for the Iphone that I dont have. And I’m not willing to pay for something that i know that I have sent…..is there anyway to track down the phone although the phone is off?
Greetings,
I left my phone in a comfort taxi (in Singapore) which dropped me and my wife and kid off at a hotel. Letting it slip away it totally my mistake as I know that an Iphone lost in Singapore is lost for good (other than Germany or Japan where it MIGHT actually pop up).
Anyways, in the absolute impossible case that the finder (which also might be the cab driver who claimed that he didn’t find anything) reads this blog… The iphone is German-Telekom branded and locked. Since it was updated to the latest iphone os it cannot be jailfreed that sonn I guess and other than my german sim card will not be accepted!!!
So the finder might just as well return it to the Park Royal Hotel Kitchener Road in Singapore for a reward. It useless even if reprogrammed outside of germany.
Cheers
Takeyoshi
Cylay is the best app i have ever used for tracking my iphone .. guys check it out
A note to Takeyoshi – a iphone lost in Singapore may not be lost forever.
I lost mine 3 wks ago in a cab too (must have slipped out of my pocket), and the kind cabbie returned it to me after i left a message with my contact details with the help of web sms.
There are kind souls around, no harm trying to text ur own iphone to get it recovered. Hope no one loses their beloved iphone.
cheers
hello all.
my apple i phone was stolen. can someone please tell me how to trace it. i have lodged a police complaint and have given the imei no. i had not installed any softwares to track the phone. will be greatful to those who will give me their valuable information. i am in India. thanks
so my iphone was stolen today and the person was smart enough to atleast turn it off.. for the time being.
does this mean that they’ve already taken out the sim card?
and am i still able to track it without it being turned on?
i wasnt prepared and had none of the above apps installed and im in desperate need of help or an honest enough person to return it.
My I phone was stolen 2 weeks ago. I had none of the apps they say to have. I’m sad as all he’ll. Atnt told me to f my self pretty much. Is their a way I can get my phone back and put these people in jail. The phone has the f in gps if cops wanted to find you they could lost or stolen. Pls some one help me get this back.
i guys my iphone stolen last night and the mobile was switched off already ,and i rang it many times and goes to voicemail but now it says mobile is switched off ,,does this mean that they’ve already taken out the sim card?
and am i still able to track it without it being turned on?
i wasnt prepared and had none of the above apps installed and im in desperate need of help or an honest enough person to return it.
i just lost or had my i phone stolen form me today and that’s bull S#$^ 600 phone gone no kind of help from att or apple of recovring this expensive A#@ phone
Foosty666, i had my iphone cracked and has findmyi installed via cydia.
but the feature u were talking about, can u explain yourself further?
I know the IMEI and s/n of the iphone doesnt help in retrieving my phone. How many phones are lodged as lost but are never retrieve. So im not pinning my hopes along that line.
I was thinking iTUNEs. when the person register and rename the phone as his, he will have to setup a new itune a/cs. assuming he purchase something of fm itune store, shouldnt APple will have the s/n and credit card details of the person who did the purchase?
I called apple and they told me they dont track the s/n. Again is all bullshit to me, its a matter of whether do they want to do it.
I m also considering IP address that might lead to the person who stole in from me.
Maximum effort to push apple and my telco and the local police.
did you find the itouch???
hey guys, if somebody could track my iPhone plz send me a mail. I’ll give you the infos of the back of my iPhone-case. Thx
I sold my iPhone on ebay and didn’t double check to see if erase had completed. I have eBay, email, facebook and contacts on it. I may have left the sim in too. What can happen? What should I do?
I lost my iphone, but can u find the phnoe to the address? So i can just go to his house and say hallo??? Need answer!
Hello guys,
Someone has stolen my iphone on last Thursday. I didn’t have any apps on it. What shall I do? Thanks..
The best app I’ve found so far to track my iPhone is FoneHome. It runs in the background and keeps track of where my phone has been, and where it is now, so I can find it if I lose it or it gets stolen. Super cheap too, everyone should have it. (works on iPods and iPads too!)
Hi,
I lost my Iphone don’t know how to find it.
Please Help Me
Muhammad Asif
syedasif01@hotmail.com
i went over all the posts here,,, almost everybody is asking questions, but nobody seems to have any answers!
i have all my personal info on my iPhone.. and i didnt back it up!
neither apple, rogers, or even police could do anything about it!
like most people here, i only have the serial # and IMEI.
and no tracking app on the iphone!
this totally sucks!!!
So i came on here to get helpful advice on finding my iphone, i realize im basically screwed, att screwed us all from the beginning when they didnt offer theft or loss protection so its our own fault. im also realizing theres a bunch of idiots crying and complaining on how they lost they iphone, who the hell cares how u lost it!! lost dog , humane society story lol?? giving ur phone to a random person to charge? lol idiot!! Bottom line is none of these programs work unless you pay and then theres probobly some other catch. Im going to buy another iphone and attach to my body permanently somehow because losing it sucks real bad.
dear sir/madam
my lost mobile stolen could u please track my lost mobile
that’s IMEI:358808033646906
:358808033646914
could u please track my mobile
i lost my iphone please help me! LOOOOOL idiots! for jesus christ read all you can before posting, u expect a miracle?
I don’t understand why AT&T would put a stolen phone back on their network under a different account, or why Apple would standby and watch. You can not register a stolen car at the registy of motor vehicles.
There is a lot of money to be made for the people that steal/find the phones, AT&T for selling another phone (at twice the price) or service, and Apple for selling another phone. The consumer looses again.
AT&T had no problem tracking down illegal cable boxes on their networks, why can’t they do the same with the phones. Customers pay hundreds every month to AT&T for each iphone, get they help the customer by black listing the lost or stolen phone.
if you can help me track my iphone pls email me at renegade_v@yahoo.com
what if i lost my iPhone abroad? what can i do then?
If someone knows how to track the iphone 4 without the apps that we could apparently download to avoid it being stolen from your purse please message me at
kristen007_@hotmail.com
Is there a way to track my stolen i-phone 4? I didn’t have any of the listed apps and I called AT&T to have the phone turned off, so I can’t just call it. Please someone help, if you can. I am more upset about the recent photos of my daughter that I lost. I am sure those are gone, but I can always hope!