Find My iPad - I'm confused!

[iBozz]

I've read several threads about the Find My iPad facility and am still confused - don't mock, it's an age thing and will come to all you youngsters one day!

The iPad has a built in Find My iPad facility, but it seems to me that, provided the iPad is on and in use, it is possible merely to turn the facility off in Settings without the need for entering a password. So, if some Scrote steals my iPad whilst it is "unlocked" then the first thing they do is turn of the facility.

Is this correct? If it is, it seems to be a pretty useless facility - or am I missing something or doing something wrong (or stupid)?

There is also an Apple app called "Find My iPhone" for which the description on the App Store states that it works for iPads as well. However the iPad is my only mobile device, although I do have three Macs, two running under Tiger and one under Snow Leopard, and it is one of those which I would probably use to locate my iPad should it ever go AWOL. As I don't have Lion, I cannot really use The Cloud so generally sync via iTunes if that is relevant.

With my old yet serviceable mobile (non smart) Motorola L6 phone, for example, although I have no method of locating it should it go AWOL I can report it's IMEI number to my service provider and it will then be blocked across all networks in the UK and render it pretty much useless to your average thief.

Is there a properly secure way of implementing a "foolproof" method where the chances of Find My iPad working are significantly increased?

It seems to me that the two methods I have explored so far (as above) are pretty well useless if a thief knows even the basics about how iPads work. Yes I know that there is little that can be done to protect against the determined and knowledgeable thief, but surely there is something better than what I have found so far?

 

[scifan57]

You can set your iPad to auto lock itself if there has been no activity on it for a specified time.The locking time can be set for times of 2,5,10,15 minutes or never.If you set it to one of the shorter intervals,a thief would practically have to take it from your hands while you were using it.Once your iPad is password locked,neither find my iPhone nor any other app can be turned off or deleted.
To adjust the auto lock settings try this.Settings>General>Auto-Lock,then choose the interval that best suits your usage patterns.

 

[MattIM]

...Is there a properly secure way of implementing a "foolproof" method where the chances of Find My iPad working are significantly increased?

It seems to me that the two methods I have explored so far (as above) are pretty well useless if a thief knows even the basics about how iPads work. Yes I know that there is little that can be done to protect against the determined and knowledgeable thief, but surely there is something better than what I have found so far?

Hello iBozz, based on what you indicate here, I think you are doing better than some of us who do not have a MAC. The Find My iPhone app is usable for all mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod, and the iPad--> I think you understand that. That is element one.

Critical to how this app works is what Scifan57 indicated, and that is to have set up your iPad to be password protected. That is the component of this app. As you have stated in your OP, any thief could get in and cancel your Find My iPhone easily if your iPad is not password protected. If you use your iPad in a secure place, such as your home, maybe a five minute duration would work? However, if you are in a public setting, two minutes would be good. Password enabled is necessary. That is element two.

And finally, you need to have an iCloud account or a me.com account. This is the technology that enables you to execute the Find My iPhone app. This enables you, through the internet, to find your iPad. That is element three.

 

[iBozz]

Thanks, scifan57 and MattiM.

I now understand the Find My iPad facility better, but an additional password/passcode at that level would make much more sense to me.

Were I to be a thief (and I'm admitting nothing, M'Lud, it's clearly a case of mistaken identity!) I might snatch an iPad from the hands of someone but the first thing I'd do is disable that option. But, presented with yet another password layer, I might well decide it wasn't worth it and abandon my newly acquired iPad!

I have an Apple id (being a longterm Mac user) and I can use that account on icloud.com to locate my iPad - I've tried that. Mind you, the service would be much improved if, rather than merely show a map and my house thereon, it also said "Down the back of the sofa" or "Under the bed, you idiot - no, not your bed, the one in the spare room!".

 

[Kaykaykay]

With Find My iPhone/iPad, you can send an audio message to the missing device. It sounds like a radar signal. So if it's got a connection and is on, you can hear it.

You can also wipe a stolen iPad so that everything is gone, including Find My iPhone/iPad, which many thieves probably know about. Every so often, you hear about one who doesn't, though, so our best hope is for an ignorant thief.

 

[petermillard]

In addition to password protecting your iPad you can also use restrictions (settings > general > restrictions) to make it difficult to do anything useful with the iPad e.g. deletion or installation of apps, messing with find my iPxxx etc...

Not sure if you know, but you can opt for a full alphanumeric pass code by deselecting the 'simple pass code' option in settings.

HTH Pete.

 

[Kaykaykay]

I use an alphanumeric password with punctuation, restrictions and the feature that lets you remotely wipe your data in case of loss or theft. For me, protecting the data is more important than the iPad, if lost or stolen. But I also have a sticker on my iDevices, with contact info.

 

[MikesTooLz]

a tech savvey thief will know what to do in order to not be tracked.

adding a password is good if you have any private information on the device that you don't want to be accessible to any thieves. However if a non tech savvey thief steals your iPad and it has no password locks, chances are they will keep it on and use it longer for you to track them. Make sure to restrict them from turning off the find my iPhone feature by going into your settings, restrictions and disable account changes. By allowing the them to access the iPad without a pass code, they will most likely just use it for a while as is and you can track them during this time. If the iPad has a pass code the first thing the thief is likely to do is want to use it, so what do they do? They plug it into a computer and restore it with iTunes in order to use it. When they restore the iPad you are then no longer able to track it.

A thief that knows what they are doing will just immediately power off the iPad to prevent tracking, Remove any Sim card to disable cellular communications, they would not power on the iPad but instead boot it into DFU mode and perform a restore from a computer, this would completely eliminate you from being able to track them even if you had find my iPad turned on.

The good news is that most thieves are dumb. LOL

 

[Patrizia_NC]

My nephews iPhone was stolen tonight and like most teens he had no password protection. He has the app but I had to disable the phone in fear I could end up with a huge bill very fast. It can't find it disabled or off.

 

[scifan57]

My nephews iPhone was stolen tonight and like most teens he had no password protection. He has the app but I had to disable the phone in fear I could end up with a huge bill very fast. It can't find it disabled or off.

You mean you didn't use find my iPhone before disabling the iPhone? It would have taken less than a minute.

 

[iBozz]

Thanks, one and all.

I take the point about a thief that knows what they are doing but there are degrees of theft and I want to make it as difficult as possible.

A [very poor] analogy would be with a car ...

1) I leave the keys in when going to the kiosk to pay for my petrol;

2) I leave the car unlocked whilst away from it;

3) I leave the car locked but unattended; or

4) I add a Denver Boot and a Krooklok.

An opportunist scrote will easily go for Car 1, but it needs an increasingly keen one to up each extra layer of security - and, let's face it, if someone really wants my car (or iPad) they are going to get it no matter what I do to protect it.

What I'm after, or would like to see, is a security option which makes it very difficult to benefit from any iPad theft, thus deterring all but the most determined thief.

With the iPad, having no security codes whatsoever is, in my humble opinion, just plain dumb.

To have an iPad with codes, but a long "kick-in" interval is better than nothing, but still risky as any thief can go to the "Find My iPad" switch and turn it off.

Having a code, with an appropriate "kick-in" interval, is better but, as said above, still open to abuse.

But how much better to have the additional protection of the "Find My iPad" and associated options being protected by yet a further layer of code security thus requiring a determined and knowledgeable barsteward to go and initialise everything via iTunes?

I've never seriously programmed in anything other than COBOL and ICL VME (and played with BASIC), but I would guess that adding that extra - and possibly optional - layer of security would be relatively simple.

The more obstacles that are put in the way of any scrote the better!