3 Ways How to Find Lost iPhone

If you are using an iPhone, you might be comforted that Apple has included a function in which you can find your iPhone if you misplaced it or got your iPhone stolen. As your iPhone is one of the most critical and expensive gadgets that you own, this function will come handy to you in the future.

Your iPhone might also have relevant files or photos that you would not be able to replace. By knowing these three ways how to find your iPhone in case you got it stolen or lost, this tips can increase the chance of you retrieving back your iPhone.

Here are the three ways how you can find your iPhone. 

HOW TO USE “FIND MY IPHONE” TO TRACK LOST IPHONE

Use Find My iPhone to track lost iPhone Step 1 and Step 2

Step 1

Open a web browser using your laptop or your friend’s smartphone.

Go to https://www.icloud.com

Step 2

In the website, sign in to iCloud by inserting your Apple ID and password

Use Find My iPhone to track lost iPhone Step 3

Step 3

Tap the “Find My iPhone” section below

Use Find My iPhone to track lost iPhone Step 4 and Step 5

Step 4

Once you are logged in in the “Find My iPhone” menu, click at “All Devices.”

Step 5

Choose the Apple device or iPhone that you have lost here

The location of your lost iPhone will be shown in the map

Use Find My iPhone to track lost iPhone Step 6

Step 6

Click at “Lost Mode” here to set your lost iPhone on a “Lost Mode” settings remotely

Alternatively, you can also erase your iPhone remotely if you afraid that the person who stole it might access to your private data in your iPhone

HOW TO USE GOOGLE MAPS TO FIND LOST IPHONE

How to Use Google Maps to Find Lost iPhone

Step 1

Go to https://www.google.com/maps

Step 2

Go to “Location Sharing” or “Your Timeline” to see your iPhone’s location

However, you should have activated the Google Maps location sharing first before you lost your iPhone as pre-requisite step or this method would not work.

Here are the steps.

How to Activate Google Maps Location Sharing Step 1 and Step 2

Step 1

First, you need to install the Google Maps app on your iPhone. Once installed, in your iPhone, go to Settings.

Step 2

In the Settings, tap “Google Maps.”

How to Activate Google Maps Location Sharing Step 3 and Step 4

Step 3

In the Google Maps settings, tap “Location.”

Step 4

Enable the Location Sharing to “Always”.

By enabling this to “Always”, your iPhone continuously transmit your location sharing data to Google as long as your iPhone is turned on and connected to the internet.

HOW TO USE IMEI NUMBER TO FIND YOUR LOST IPHONE

If all the above tips did not work for you, the last resort is to use your iPhone IMEI number as a way to find your iPhone. You can ask for your service network provider the assistance on this as they can use their vast network of a cell tower to track your iPhone based on your IMEI number. However, not all countries allow this. It is very much dependent on your country as well as the services that are being offered by your service network provider.

Use IMEI number to track lost iPhone

So, if you have tried all the methods above but still could not track down your iPhone, the first step you need to do is to:-

  1. Report your lost iPhone to the police
  2. Use your iPhone’s IMEI number as a reference to your lost iPhone
  3. Use the police report to get assistance from the network service provider to track your lost iPhone

However, it is also essential that you know your iPhone’s IMEI number beforehand. Here are the steps on how to find your IMEI number.

HOW TO FIND YOUR PHONE’S IMEI NUMBER

How to Find IMEI number on your iPhone Step 1 and Step 2

Step 1

In your iPhone, go to “Settings.”

Step 2

In the Settings, go to “General.”

How to Find IMEI number on your iPhone Step 3 and Step 4

Step 3

In the General Settings, go to “About.”

Step 4

You will see your iPhone’s IMEI number here. Keep a record of your iPhone’s IMEI number somewhere safe.

So, there you have it — three ways how you can find your lost iPhone. Please leave us a comment below on what other methods that you have used to try and find your lost or misplaced iPhone.

Please also read our previous article on the ultimate guide on how to find your lost smartphone.

How to Know Who is Tracking Your iPhone

If you owned a smartphone for a while, you probably are aware of the phone tracking location embedded in your phone. This function serves as an essential feature in tracking your iPhone if you lost it or got it stolen.

You can easily track the location of your iPhone by using this embedded location tracking feature. Read in our previous article on how to track your lost iPhone step by step.

However, the downside of having a location sharing capability in your iPhone is that someone may misuse the function and use it as a way to track you down without your consent. There are several ways you can know if your iPhone is being tracked or it is giving away your location. 

Some of the signs could be:-

  1. Internet usage is increasing even when your iPhone is idle
  2. iPhone’s battery drains faster than normal
  3. iPhone not able to connect with Wireless Network due to consistent disruption

HOW TO KNOW WHO IS TRACKING YOUR IPHONE USING “FIND FRIENDS” APP

The “Find Friends” app comes pre-installed in your iPhone. It functions as a way you can track your family and friends. It also allows you to share your location with your friends or families. However, there might be somebody who can hack your iPhone and set it so that they can track your phone’s location.

If you want to know who is tracking your iPhone using the “Find Friends” app, here are the steps

Step 1

Open your iPhone and tap the “Find Friends” app

Step 2

In the Find Friends app, tap the section below

Step 3

You will see a list of Apple devices here that can see your iPhone’s current location

You can disable the location sharing by disabling the “Share My Location” button here

HOW TO KNOW WHO IS TRACKING YOUR IPHONE BY CHECKING YOUR APPLE ID ACCOUNT

Some other ways iPhone can share location is through Apple iCloud. The iCloud allows you and any other of your Apple devices to be connected. Therefore, the location of the devices also is shared. However, if you have older Apple devices that might change hand, you might not be aware that these old Apple devices can track your location if you are not careful.

Here are the steps to know if any of your old Apple devices are tracking your iPhone

Step 1

Open your iPhone and tap “Settings.”

Step 2

In Settings, go to your Apple ID account

Step 3

In your Apple ID account, go to “Share My Location.”

Step 4

Any family members or friends that know your iPhone’s location will be shown here

HOW TO KNOW WHO IS TRACKING YOUR IPHONE BY CHECKING BATTERY USAGE

Another strong sign that your iPhone is sharing your location is battery usage. This is because sharing real-time location requires a lot of battery power. So, if your iPhone suddenly ran out of battery juices in a short time, it might be that your iPhone is sharing your real-time location to a third party device.

Here are the steps to know your battery usage

Step 1

Open your iPhone and tap “Settings.”

Step 2

In the Settings, scroll down and tap “Battery.”

Step 3

In the Battery settings, look at any spikes in the battery usages

See also if any apps that use GPS exhibits a high percentage of activity even though you are not actively using it. This sign shows that the app is actively transmitting your location to other devices. Open the app and see the location sharing settings. Some apps that can transmit your location in real time are WhatsApp and Facebook.

So, there you have it — three simple ways how you can quickly check who is tracking your iPhone. Please leave us a comment below on how do you think these tips are helpful.

Please also read our previous article on how to track your phone without using the internet.

How to Track Mobile Phone using WhatsApp

If you are an avid user of the instant messaging application on your mobile phone, you will have used or heard about WhatsApp. WhatsApp is a popular instant messaging application in which you can use not just to text your friend but also send images and videos. Another cool feature of WhatsApp is that it also enables you to share your mobile phone location with your friends.

WhatsApp recently has introduced a capability in which you can track your friend’s location real time. This means that if your friend was at location A in the morning and later in the day move to location B, you would able to know their current location by just using WhatsApp. This cool feature can also be utilized as a phone tracker.

However, the only limitation to this is that it only allows you to share the real-time location up to 8 hours only. However, it is good enough for you to track a phone and another good thing is that it is free.

So, if you are interested to learn how to track a friend or even your phone using WhatsApp, here are the steps. However, first, you need to enable the live location sharing feature in WhatsApp first.

Here are the steps.

HOW TO ENABLE WHATSAPP FOR LIVE LOCATION SHARING

How to enable Whatsapp for live location sharing

Step 1

Open your iPhone and tap “Settings.”

Step 2

In Settings, scroll down and tap “WhatsApp.”

How to enable Whatsapp live location sharing

Step 3

In the WhatsApp settings, tap “Location.”

Step 4

In the Location settings, change to “Always”.

By changing to “Always” settings, you can track the mobile phone regardless of the WhatsApp application is in use or not. As long as the phone is on and connected to the internet, you are good to go.

So, once you enable the live location feature in WhatsApp, you can then start tracking phone by just using WhatsApp. 

Here are the steps.

HOW TO SHARE WHATSAPP LIVE LOCATION FOR PHONE TRACKING

How to share whatsapp live location 1

Step 1

Open WhatsApp and open the contact chat screen that you want to share the live location. Tap the “+” button below

Step 2

A menu will be shown. Tap “Location”

How to share whatsapp live location sharing 2

Step 3

In the “Send Location” settings, tap “Share Live Location.”

Step 4

You can then set the duration of the live location sharing to either 15 minutes, 1 hour or 8 hours

How to share whatsapp live location sharing 3

Your phone will now be able to transmit your location live to another phone via WhatsApp. That another phone will act as the tracker in case your phone got lost, or you misplaced it. The location transmitted will be a real-time location.

As long as that mobile phone is on and connected to the internet, you will be able to track it even when the WhatsApp application is closed.

You can end the live location sharing immediately by tapping the “Stop Sharing.”

 So, there you have it — simple ways of how you can track a mobile phone real time by using WhatsApp. Please leave us a comment on whether this tip works for you or not.

Please also read our previous article on how to track friends using a mobile phone.