Have you misplaced your iPhone? Or worse? It’s been stolen? Whatever the case might be, don’t worry. It’s not the end of the world. There are still ways of locating your iPhone.
Oh, no! The SIM has been removed. What are we going to do now? We’ll be tracking it. How? There are ways. Just read on, and you’ll know everything there is to know about tracking your iPhone.
Lost iPhone feature
Specifically for cases like that, Apple developed the Find my iPhone feature. Find my iPhone allows iPhone owners to track their lost device. There’s one condition, though.
The phones gotta have some kind of Internet connection.
Basically, the phone is constantly tracking its location through the GPS and then sends the GPS coordinates to the Apple iCloud services.
At any time, you can see where your phone is located by logging into your iCloud account.
The SIM card is removed
What if the SIM card is removed, or another card is put in its place? Would Find my iPhone work in this case?
In case, the SIM card is removed by some perpetrator, your phone is still not lost for good as long as there’s some kind of service. Even without the SIM card and mobile data access, there is still a possibility that the phone might find a Wi-Fi connection.
So don’t worry. Any manipulations with the SIM card delete nothing. Your Apple ID is ingrained in the memory of the phone itself, and it cannot be removed or deleted without hacking the phone.
So, does the Find my iPhone work if the SIM card is removed? It sure does!
Note: keep in mind though that if you store phone numbers or some other data on the SIM card, thieves can access this information rather easily.
Activating Find my iPhone
First, you should ask yourself this: Does Find my iPhone work on my device? I advise you to turn it on immediately after purchasing a new iPhone.
Go to the settings and find the iCloud option. Log in with your Apple ID if you haven’t already. In the next menu, you’re gonna have to tap the Find my iPhone toggle. And voilà! Now, your iPhone is under protection. And don’t worry, no one can turn this feature on without your Apple ID.
Find my iPhone feature in action
How does the Find my iPhone work? Now that’s been settled. It’s now time we discuss how you can locate your iOS device with this feature. It’s quite straightforward. Just follow these steps.
Apple ID
Once you realize that your iPhone is gone, log into your iCloud account via your computer or any other connected device.
You need to do this ASAP because thieves will definitely turn off your iPhone or even try to hack it.
Without power Find my iPhone will be inactive.
Click Find my iPhone
Select the Find my iPhone option in the menu.
Pick the Lost Phone
Select the lost or stolen phone from the list of your iOS devices.
Engage the lost mode
The last step would be activating the lost mode.
Now, all you have to do is wait.
The moment your iPhone is turned on, it will start looking for Internet connectivity through cellular data. If your SIM card is removed, the connection to your iCloud account can always be established via Wi-Fi.
iPhone Activation lock
The lost mode is a pretty neat function. When it’s active, your iPhone cannot be used. Once the thieves attempt to turn your iPhone on, they’ll be greeted with the iCloud activation lock screen. It means that they’ll have to enter your Apple ID to use your phone.
Note: this is why you should never ever reveal your Apple ID password to anyone. With the password, someone might access your Apple services, and make your iPhone maliciously locked.
Bypassing the activation lock screen on the run is pretty much impossible.
Of course, a missing phone doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s been stolen. You might’ve just lost or misplaced it. In this case, the person who finds your phone should have a way of connecting with you.
There’s a very nice option on the Find my iPhone page. It will be perfect for a situation just like that one.
You can write a message for the finder. It will be displayed on the activation lock screen once the phone is turned on.
The message might include your contact information, like an e-mail address or a phone number. Just make sure it’s not the number of the lost phone SIM card. That would be embarrassing! It’s also a good idea to say something about the reward for the good Samaritan. Who says that kindly acts should be free?
Can criminals disable Find my iPhone?
Unfortunately, yes. There are some third-party tools criminals can use to disable Find my iPhone.
The good news is that it takes time. Moreover, petty thieves are not the smartest bunch, and sometimes they just have no clue how to disable the iCloud activation lock and other security features.
Even if your iPhone managed to reach the Apple servers for a very brief period of time, with lost mode activated you will be able to see its last location.
Additional security features
Apart from the activation lock, there are multiple ways of stopping other people from using your lost iPhone. Here are some of them.
For example, you can turn on a SIM card lock. SIM card lock will render the iPhone literally unusable for anyone except you.
Activating it is very simple. All you have to do is to pick the SIM card lock in the settings menu.
Now, your phone will remember its first SIM card and ignore all other SIM cards which might be inserted in it.
Another great way of locking your phone is two-factor authentication. It is activated by default. It means that the activation lock will be active until you enter your Apple ID. You can choose the preferred way to unlock your Phone. For instance, you might select the fingerprint activation or the Face ID.
Conclusion
As you can see, the security features like Find my iPhone work as long as there’s some kind of Internet service. Old SIM card, new SIM card, some public Wi-Fi. Any Internet connection will do. All it wants is to get back to you. Unfortunately, without the SIM card, Wi-Fi, or power your phone can’t be tracked.
FAQ
What happens if you put your SIM card in a stolen iPhone?
How have you come across a stolen iPhone? Anyway, most likely the previous owner has activated the Find my iPhone feature. It means that once you put your private SIM card into the phone, your current location will be immediately known to the previous owner.
How do I make my iPhone untraceable?
The easiest way to make your iPhone untraceable is to disable the Find my iPhone function. Additionally, you might also turn off the GPS.
Can iPhone be tracked when turned off?
No. The iPhone cannot be tracked if it doesn’t have any juice or if it’s not connected to the Internet.
Does Find my iPhone work if the SIM card is removed?
Yup. As I said, features like the Find my iPhone work if there’s the Internet.
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