iOS 8 ups chances of recovering lost or stolen iPhone with 'Send Last Location' feature
A new feature added to iCloud's Find My iPhone in iOS 8 passes along an iPhone or iPad's geolocation data to Apple just before its battery completely dies, boosting the chances of finding the device.
Appropriately called "Send Last Location," the new capability will automatically send an iOS device's last known location to Apple when its battery drains to a predetermined point, giving owners one last chance to find it before it disappears from the grid.
At this stage, the threshold at which location data is sent and stored is unknown, but the current iCloud standard is to log a device's last known location for 24 hours. The extra time could be vital in finding a stolen iPhone or iPad.
Existing protection assets already allow users to track, send messages to, lock and wipe a lost or stolen device via iCloud. These features can be thwarted to some extent by turning the iPhone off and isolating it from a data connection, but a thief must break a user's passcode to gain functional access to the device.
It is unknown how the "Send Last Location" system will work when iOS 8 is released this fall, though it can be speculated that Apple will store a device's last known whereabouts and possibly make that information available to the user through the Find My iPhone tool. While the feature's toggle switch can be activated in the iOS 8 beta, the corresponding service may not yet be up and running.
Appropriately called "Send Last Location," the new capability will automatically send an iOS device's last known location to Apple when its battery drains to a predetermined point, giving owners one last chance to find it before it disappears from the grid.
At this stage, the threshold at which location data is sent and stored is unknown, but the current iCloud standard is to log a device's last known location for 24 hours. The extra time could be vital in finding a stolen iPhone or iPad.
Existing protection assets already allow users to track, send messages to, lock and wipe a lost or stolen device via iCloud. These features can be thwarted to some extent by turning the iPhone off and isolating it from a data connection, but a thief must break a user's passcode to gain functional access to the device.
It is unknown how the "Send Last Location" system will work when iOS 8 is released this fall, though it can be speculated that Apple will store a device's last known whereabouts and possibly make that information available to the user through the Find My iPhone tool. While the feature's toggle switch can be activated in the iOS 8 beta, the corresponding service may not yet be up and running.
Comments
Any word on a "Passcode Required to Power Off" setting?
When I steal someone's iPhone, the first thing I do is power it down. With this feature, my business would be crippled.
Regards,
iPhone Thief*
*I am joking about being an iPhone Thief.
Touch ID would be good for this
Slide to power off or inserting a SIM removal tool could also be used as a trigger to fire off a location .
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
Anyword of having it take a picture of the thief? Tracking its location is nice but when you can just give a photo to the police its makes the process SO much easier.
If only some of the passengers on MH370 had an iOS 8 beta ...
I had no idea one could leave apple feedback
Yes.
Customer feedback methods have existed long before Yelp.
Pretty much any commercial endeavor will allow for some sort of feedback mechanism, whether it be a comment box, a slip of paper handed to an employee, talking to a manager, a letter to the owner, etc.
Apple being a Fortune 500 company has nice forms on their website which helps efficiently route messages to the right person in a large organization, but if you're just dealing with some app developer working by him/herself, you can just send an e-mail. Sites like Yahoo and Google typically have a "Feedback" link somewhere on every single page (on Yahoo it is the lower right hand corner).
You know, you could probably mail a hand-written letter to "Apple Inc., Attn: Tim Cook or iPhone Engineering Manager, 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014" and it would eventually reach the right person.
Good companies welcome feedback, particularly constructive criticism, as it helps them build better products and services.
If you ever decide run a business, you should consider listening to your clientele.
That would be useful how?
Then their last known position would have registered a mile or so from the airport when they left cell tower range?
That would be useful how?
Good old pedantry - always makes a simple off-colour joke better.
What an idiotic idea
-General Motors Management
If only some of the passengers on MH370 had an iOS 8 beta ...
YOU have a waterproof iPhone ? News to me. :-)
In one thread I actually had some
People questioning the need of this feature. SMH
Don't know why they can't implement this as It would make an awesome addition and finally make find my iPhone a force to be reckoned with.
We're gonna stop you one day iPhone thief!
In the last few months, I have had to try locate 2 lost iPhone, one stolen and one actually lost.
Both had find my iPhone on. Going into the app or iCloud account about 6 hours later and it just shows 'Location not available'
Last known location not available at all.
same happens in Find my friends, although that could be designed that way as it shouldn't show you where they wed 24 hours ago.
must leave feedback%u2026.
This is Something I've been submitting to apple for feedback every year since "find my iPhone" was introduced.
In one thread I actually had some
People questioning the need of this feature. SMH
Don't know why they can't implement this as It would make an awesome addition and finally make find my iPhone a force to be reckoned with.
We're gonna stop you one day iPhone thief!
It certainly makes sense to give users the option to require a passcode to power down. Seems like a trivially easy addition to make (with it off by default).
On the other hand, I have no doubt that thieves would get around this with a easy, low-tech solution (like tossing stolen phones in a RF-opaque container until the battery dies).
If only some of the passengers on MH370 had an iOS 8 beta ...
In order to send transmissions on the island of Lost, you have to be far out on a boat. So, it would only work if it ran out of power while they were on a boat.*
* too soon for MH370 jokes?
* too soon to make Lost jokes?
Was the island every named? I seem to recall only hearing The Island to refer to the main island and Hydra to refer to the smaller island. It was inhabited by many older cultures so it could have had many names but I don't recall if any were mentioned.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
This link simply points to:
>> /dev/null