Apple announces "Find My iPhone" phone-locating service

We've already had a pretty good idea about what's in store for iPhone OS 3.0, but Apple naturally still had a few tricks up its sleeve, and one of the most impressive is the new "Find My iPhone" service to help you locate your lost phone. While complete details are still a bit light, the service will apparently let you login into your MobileMe account and instantly show your iPhone on a map, and even send a message to the phone and force it to play a sound whether it's in silent mode or not. As if that wasn't enough, you can also use the Remote Wipe feature to erase all the data on the iPhone from afar and restore it to the factory settings. We guess the electric shock will have to wait for for iPhone 4.0.

[Be Fearless @ Jun 8th 2009 2:13PM]

you need a MobileMe account? ugh...

[Dead_Rebel @ Jun 8th 2009 2:32PM]

Better hope I don't get your password.

[Extinction @ Jun 8th 2009 4:33PM]

"As if that wasn't enough, you can also use the Remote Wipe feature to erase all the data on the iPhone from afar and restore it to the factory settings"

WTF? How about locking the phone so no one can use it at all unless they send it back to Apple to return to us?

[Cash @ Jun 8th 2009 4:52PM]

This is a cool feature, but no way in hell I'm going to pay a hundred bucks a year for just one feature, as I already get everything else MobileMe offers for free from Google or MS's Live service. Apple needs to drop the price to $69 for everyone, not just those who are purchasing a new iPhone.

[Information Central @ Jun 9th 2009 8:35AM]

Yep. If this requires MobileMe then it might as well not exist.

At $100 per year for MobileMe (which serves as an excuse for plenty of missing functionality from various Apple products), in two or three years you've spent as much as the phone cost.

[superrrguy @ Jun 8th 2009 2:15PM]

If u lose ur iPhone u can try to hunt it down and get iKilled.

How about just not letting someone else easily use a stolen iPhone.

[Optimus Rhyme @ Jun 8th 2009 2:20PM]

IMEI blocking stops the phone being used. A pass-code lock and turning on the option to wipe after 10 incorrect password inputs makes your data safe.

That seems pretty secure to me. Personally I love the idea of tracking my iphone. Just give the co-ordinates to the police and let them sort it out. Same as I would if my stolen laptop "phoned home".

[superrrguy @ Jun 8th 2009 2:25PM]

I wish. My friend just lost her iPhone two weeks ago. This is NYC. They said they'll find her phone after that solve all the murders. Obviously she didn't have a password on the thing. She promised me she has one on the new one.

[paul34 @ Jun 8th 2009 2:33PM]

Optimus Rhyme: maybe that works in other countries, but carriers in the US do not use IMEI blocking normally.

[Optimus Rhyme @ Jun 8th 2009 2:47PM]

Really? Why wouldn't they do that? Lame/

I live in England and ll the phone companies do it as par for the course. The police will also always investigate a stolen piece of equipment if there is solid evidence that it is in specific location.

Unfortunately for my boss, a 2nd hand laptop he bought was taken off him when the police turned up at his door demanding it. Turns out the laptop had called home and reported his IP address. the police called the ISP to determine which customer had that IP address and off they went.

[CLShortFuse @ Jun 8th 2009 3:09PM]

IMEI can easily be changed with hacks

[Sisyphus @ Jun 8th 2009 2:15PM]

I just found mine!

Its still boxed in the back of an AT&T store. Where it shall remain.... FOR-EV-ER.

[SimbaDogg @ Jun 8th 2009 7:22PM]

thank you...i've been having a reall bad day. that brought a smile to my face

[darkmax @ Jun 8th 2009 2:15PM]

well... if your angry ex-intimate-girlfriend knows about your account and password.....

[hobbes @ Jun 8th 2009 2:18PM]

Then you change your password and plug it back into iTunes to restore.

[darkmax @ Jun 8th 2009 2:20PM]

if she has your password, she will wipe your iphone and your account before you know what has just happened.

[big_psirex @ Jun 8th 2009 2:16PM]

Wouldn't it be cheaper to allow people to buy insurance on them?

[HalfJoey @ Jun 8th 2009 2:19PM]

Thats a good idea. Maybe just charge people $1 or $5 to locate the phone instead of requiring MobileMe. Or idk, maybe give it to them for free? I guess we'll see with the developing news.

[john @ Jun 8th 2009 2:18PM]

lame.

[Nelson @ Jun 8th 2009 2:18PM]

I'd like to see a remote wipe-and-lock feature... That replaces any screen with a simple - Return this iPhone to any AT+T or Apple location.

[Brian! @ Jun 8th 2009 2:20PM]

Sounds like you can wipe it from afar.

[Nelson @ Jun 8th 2009 2:23PM]

It does look like you can.

I think they should add the option to remotely lock the phone, too... Making it useless unless you bring it back to the store.

Wiping the phone means that it still has value to the person who stole it.

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 8th 2009 2:25PM]

the phone should lock up and just display a picture of a middle finger

[aaron @ Jun 8th 2009 2:33PM]

Isn't a remote wipe helpful to the theif, now they have a ready to use iPhone!

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 8th 2009 2:36PM]

ya but now they dont have all your personal data. its the lesser of two evils.

[Barky @ Jun 8th 2009 2:18PM]

Does it work if the theif puts in a new SIM card?

[FT @ Jun 8th 2009 2:21PM]

What happens if the iPhone is powered off?

[Jay Voorhees @ Jun 8th 2009 2:23PM]

or the phone is dead....i was thinking the same thing.

[Uchiha Sasuke @ Jun 8th 2009 2:43PM]

"What happens if the iPhone is powered off?"

Same thing if it was powered on, a useless piece of crap. Zing!

[Jay Voorhees @ Jun 8th 2009 4:01PM]

damn, that was good.

[Rudy @ Jun 8th 2009 2:22PM]

that is useful for the 5 people who use mobileme. why dont they let this be a feature for the rest of us?

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 8th 2009 2:23PM]

sure would be nice if the phone locater gave you something closer than a one block radius. great idea just not well executed. on the other hand, getting the phone to ring even its on vibrate is a nice feature. hopefully both catch on with other phone companies and be improved even further.

ps sorry for the same post in two threads. i posted the first one then they put an article specifically on this

[Tom @ Jun 8th 2009 5:53PM]

Catch on with other companies? Several companies have offered this exact service for windows mobile phones for YEARS, at a MUCH cheaper price.

[Joel @ Jun 8th 2009 9:33PM]

I've got the same functionality in my Windows Mobile phone. Of course if some one does a factory reset it does me no good. Though some individuals at XDA have made ROMs that include the functionality so that the phone will always check in even if reset or the SIM is changed. only reflashing the phone will remove the software in that case (not something most theifs would think of).

[thatrotierkid @ Jun 8th 2009 9:53PM]

did not know that. i dont have a need for blackberry/winmo phone at this point in my life. thanks for telling me!

[aaron @ Jun 8th 2009 2:31PM]

Can't wait till someone figures out a Mod for that "sound" it will play. I want mine to say "Help Me!!"

[rwalker83 @ Jun 8th 2009 2:38PM]

Wasn't this idea in an episode of American Dad; "Bar Mitzvah Shuffle"

[Tired_ @ Jun 8th 2009 3:15PM]

You could do electric shock in 3.0, you'd just need a custom taser dongle.

[cmherbert @ Jun 8th 2009 3:21PM]

Did anyone notice Me.com icons were different? Still the same stuff on my account, so far.

[FuzzyCat @ Jun 8th 2009 3:26PM]

Pah! I've had this feature on my 2g iPhone for ages with the added bonus of wallpaper that showed its current location.

http://blog.automated.it/2008/09/22/follow-me-wallpaper/

location is pushed to a server from which I can track the phone with Google maps.

Just saying...

I also do the same with my G1 but that's more accurate since that phone has gps.

[J.Am @ Jun 8th 2009 3:28PM]

Leave this in someone's car, use the call-forwarding feature and track them to oblivion.

[Peter @ Jun 8th 2009 3:35PM]

It's exactly like SmrtGuard for BlackBerry. http://www.smrtguard.com

I use it for my Storm and it works great.

[seanfitzroy @ Jun 8th 2009 3:44PM]

"Detonate My iPhone"

[Maikel @ Jun 8th 2009 4:27PM]

Wow, great!!! Now my subscription to MobileMe worths even more.

[Hackettman @ Jun 8th 2009 4:55PM]

This is going to go bad for someone somewhere...... Relationship ending really.....

[Andy @ Jun 8th 2009 5:53PM]

To the person who stole my phone:
while(true) {
RemoteWipe();
}

[deinfinityx @ Jun 8th 2009 6:57PM]

Wow an application that the Android already offers for free.

[nomadd79 @ Jun 8th 2009 8:27PM]

Wont this lead to people snooping on other people's loactions like controling boyfriends or jealous wives... also couldn't i plant my phone on someone or in thier car in order to stalk them efficiently?

Seems like they're privacy and security issues that need to be thought through here?

[Joel @ Jun 8th 2009 9:35PM]

I think that is why the phone companies stay uninvolved in lost phone issues.

[Teddy Lee @ Jun 8th 2009 10:00PM]

how about just not losing your phone all together??? instead of putting it down on the counter when ordering your mocha-choco-latte-crappachinos how bout you buy a belt clip or put it back in your bag??? wouldnt that be a smart thing to do? or keep a dongle on you that will ring when your like 10 feet away from your iphone? solve the problem and this "feature" or the whole mobileme service wont be needed.