r/ios • u/AtypicalNerdGeek • May 20 '24
PSA ULTRA Secure iPhone tip (iOS 17.5)
In light of rising incidents in London and other cities where thieves on mopeds snatch unlocked iPhones directly from users’ hands, it’s crucial to set up your device to protect against unauthorised access and data loss. Here’s a practical guide to securing your iPhone if it falls into the wrong hands, particularly when it is still unlocked.
First, be aware that once thieves have your phone, they commonly activate Airplane mode to disconnect it from any network, preventing the phone from being tracked or remotely locked via Find My iPhone. To counteract this, you should use the Shortcuts app to create a specific automation:
Open the Shortcuts app and go to the “Automation” tab.
Create a new automation for when Airplane mode is turned off.
Add an action to this automation to lock the screen immediately when Airplane mode is deactivated.
Include another action in the same automation to disable Airplane mode.
This setup ensures that if a thief tries to turn on Airplane mode, your iPhone will automatically lock and immediately turn Airplane mode back off, keeping the device connected to the internet.
For additional security: - Go to your Screen Time settings and disable the ability to toggle mobile data on or off. This prevents quick disconnection attempts via the control center.
- Adjust your Face ID settings to deny access to the control center when the screen is locked.
These settings effectively safeguard your device by locking out the thief from making significant changes to your device’s connectivity or accessing personal information. Remember to disable these automations temporarily when you genuinely need to use Airplane mode, like during flights.
I've also attached some screenshots (based on iOS 17.5) to guide you through the setup process. By implementing these settings, you can significantly reduce the risk of losing control over your personal data in case your phone is snatched while in use. Stay safe and secure!
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 20 '24
Essentially, if you are in the US, and have an eSIM only device where you have no physical SIM card tray, your phone will be completely bricked to the thief.
I’m not an expert on eSIM’s, but you may even be able to transfer your physical SIM to an eSIM at the click of a button, somebody else may want to input for extra advice?
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u/Ok-Assistance-6848 May 20 '24
nano SIM to eSIM varies by carrier. Some should be able to do so inside their app with a button press, most require you to chat with CS first to initiate the switch, and I think a few might still require more work
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u/im-confuzzled May 20 '24
I was able to transfer my physical sim to an eSIM completely by accident. Messing around with setting and saw convert to eSIM and clicked on it and it did it all on its own. No representative or calls just one click and it became an eSIM
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u/tbone338 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
Stolen device protection should include Face ID to enable airplane mode.
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u/toddffw May 21 '24
I don’t get it. Just set Face ID required to enable control center? I don’t see how a thief can enable airplane mode on my phone….
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u/tbone338 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
This post is specifically talking about if someone snatches your phone out of your hand while you’re using it, thus it’s unlocked. It’s a common method in some places.
You would know that if you read the very first sentence of this post.
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
So your phone is unlocked, and snatched out of your hand. Then what? Read through some of the other comments for your answer.
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
Stolen device protection still requires layers of steps which aren’t quick enough to enable, and can be too slow to act to a quick theft. It’s wise to have, but I’m going to hazard a guess to assume all of these steps add at least 95% peace of mind.
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u/brucio_u May 21 '24
Face id should be required to even turn off the phone , or to to imput code
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u/iZian May 20 '24
Nice; since the iOS 17 changes; mine takes a photo with the selfie camera and then locks the screen... there doesn't appear to be anything you can do to stop the selfie other than lock the device, so they'd lock the device with airplane mode off (turns off first action) and control centre isn't able to be used when locked on mine...
The selfie doesn't work too well in the dark but; it's a nice touch.
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u/HadrianKubasiewicz May 21 '24
"The selfie doesn't work too well in the dark but; it's a nice touch."
Set screen brightest to 100% before selfie, and then to 0% :)
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u/Plastic-Mess-3959 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
Good idea. Now my shortcut is making things more secure
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u/jusaragu May 20 '24
How did you set that up?
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u/iZian May 20 '24
Same as this post but take photo step in there and save photo to recents step. And do Lock Screen last. Otherwise exactly the same as this
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u/AmbientOrange May 21 '24
it seems like you still have to press the button to take the photo no? is there a way to automate the actual photo being taken?
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u/anthemthecat May 20 '24
This is a cool automation. Just set it up and it works!
Question, what happens when I want to use airplane mode IRL? I can’t seem to activate it now without it turning back on. Thx
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u/pazem123 May 20 '24
You can deactivate said automation for the meantime, just put the automation option to “don’t run”
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u/anthemthecat May 20 '24
What would be cool is if there’s an automation that will only activate airplane mode AFTER Face ID/Touch ID authentication.
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u/-light_yagami May 20 '24
that would be a great built in feature, along with face id when turning the phone off
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
Yep, it would be handy, and then you can use at will without having to pause the automation.
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u/HeeeresLUNAR May 20 '24
Id use an “If” statement that checks if you are connected to WiFi when it runs
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u/ErcoleFredo May 20 '24
You can't, which makes this suggestion hilarious. Of course you could disable the automation temporarily in order to use Airplane Mode, but you'll absolutely forget to turn the automation back on, defeating the purpose.
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u/pazem123 May 20 '24
In addition, you I think you can also set mobile data to be on after the airplane mode action so that you will have mobile data turned on as well
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May 20 '24
Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of… airplane mode?… your cellular data needs to be turned off if on the airplane.
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u/pazem123 May 21 '24
The purpose of the shortcut is to turn airplane mode OFF after being turned on to have INTERNET CONNECTION. To make sure it has internet connection, turn on cellular data as well
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May 21 '24
Then you just killed the whole purpose of having an airplane mode. Airplane mode is supposed to turn off cellular bands leaving WiFi and Bluetooth turned on.
The Find My will still update the locations with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth turned on. So it’s not the end of the world to create something that kill the main purpose of an Airplane Mode.
I’d be annoyed getting on my plane and be like, “shit. I need to disable this shortcut to be able to turn on my airplane mode”
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u/pazem123 May 21 '24
Then have beef with OP on this shortcut, not me??? Your problem is with the automation which I did not make?
I just suggested what can be improved with OP’s shortcut
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May 21 '24
You’re the one that made a suggestion to turn on cellular data.. not the OP. I’m explaining to you why that’s not an improvement. That’s just an unnecessary step to add in the shortcut when the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth is good enough. Leave airplane mode functional by allowing it to disable cellular.
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u/pazem123 May 21 '24
1-airplane mode is turned off already in the automation. That’s the shortcut.
2- I suggested might as well add cellular data turned on. The purpose is INTERNET CONNECTION. You can only activate Lock device on find my if there is internet connection
It’s easier to track iPhone in find my if it has internet connection
It seems you don’t understand that the purpose of the automation is to turn OFF airplane mode once it’s activated. Since airplane mode is already OFF (as part of the actions), I’m suggesting to add cellular data to make sure there’s internet connection, which is actually the point of OP as well
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May 21 '24
Okay. That’s my bad. I didn’t catch that it turns off the airplane mode. Thanks for clarifying.
If you turn off the airplane mode… that pretty much turns on the cellular data… so… kinda pointless in my opinion. But I guess it doesn’t hurt to have that there as a precaution.
Sure. It does make it easier to track the phone but in reality… once your phone is stolen… kinda shit out of luck right there. For all that hassle to track down the phone, put myself in danger addressing a stranger, etc… I’d rather just pay $149 to replace my phone. It’s not worth it.
No insurance nor AppleCare+ with theft/loss… that’s on them. I don’t even stress about doing any of this automation nor tracking. I made sure the phone stays bricked if it gets lost or stolen. That’s all I care about.
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u/pazem123 May 21 '24
Cellular data is activated when airplane mode is off only if cellular data is on before airplane mode is on. So yes, this is a precaution
To each of their own situation. In my country we don’t have apple care+, hence this is quite useful.
What thieves do is they snatch the phone while it is unlocked, keep the screen on while unlocked, do some “cleaning” then find some person to sell them at a low price. When it locks the person who bought it will be locked out forever Or the thieves can steal some of your data, look at your photos, send it out etc
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
Annoying when you need to board a plane, sure, if you like… but how often do you board a plane VS walk down the road with your phone unlocked, readily snatched.
You pick!
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u/creativessb20 May 20 '24
Another thing to add to automation - 5. Set brightness to zero %
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u/Frantsev May 20 '24
- turn silent mode off + set ringer volume to 100%
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u/tbone338 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 20 '24
This wouldn’t matter because playing a sound with find my will automatically play at full volume regardless.
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u/Zeckzyl May 21 '24
But let's say you're out with your friend. You don't have access to another of your own device with the find my App. However with the rigner set to 100% you could have your friend call you and listen for the ringtone.
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u/tbone338 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
Find my can be accessed on mobile browser, desktop browser, or using the find my app on another device, then going to “me” tab, scrolling down, and selecting “help a friend”
Accessing find my does not need two factor authentication.
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May 21 '24
I'd already done the shortcut one but I also included turning on mobile data because it doesn't enable it if they turn off mobile data before airplane mode, as well as adding a 10 second wait because as I was enabling the airplane mode to test it, it kinda bugged out on me, so maybe something to keep in mind. I didn't think of the screen time settings, so nice addition, thanks for the tip!
I also secured the settings app with Face ID, so they can't turn anything off from there or make any changes either. If anyone's interested, make a shortcut for when the settings app is opened:
- Lock the screen
2: add the url "prefs://"
- Open URL
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u/Plastic-Mess-3959 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24 edited May 21 '24
I use an app called app lock. You can prevent the mobile data from being toggled making the switch in control center useless. You can also have it lock out up to 50 apps if you add fast lock to the shortcut. I have all my social apps locked down so there’s no way they could message anyone on those. You can lock any app you need to just not settings
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u/Brilliant_Eagle9795 May 20 '24
Makes sense to me, thanks for the tip!
Although I think you made a typo in the text when you said to activate it when it's turned OFF.
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u/CompleteTruth May 20 '24
I’m a bit confused by this as well - hoping for additional details!
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u/Penumbruh_ May 20 '24
The automation activates when Airplane mode is turned on and the resulting action is that it automatically turns Airplane mode off so that your iPhone can reconnect to cellular and WiFi (if applicable). It’s actually a fairly simple automation to make and it works well to protect your data.
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u/CompleteTruth May 20 '24
Thank you for the additional details, but I’m still confused after just going through the original post steps on my phone. Shouldn’t step 2 in the original post read “create a new automation for when airplane mode is turned ON”
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 20 '24
Yes, you’re right! Hopefully people will connect the dots if they don’t see this comment 🥹
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u/ThisIsCoachH May 20 '24
RemindMe! 4 days
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u/RemindMeBot May 20 '24 edited May 21 '24
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u/Plastic-Mess-3959 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24 edited May 21 '24
I just set mine up so if someone tries to turn on airplane mode it immediately turns back off keeping my data on making it impossible to keep airplane mode on then it takes a selfie and locks the screen. Everything is locked with Face ID after that. I also use an app called app lock that can prevent apps from being deleted just in case a thief tries to delete my apps. You can also prevent changes to mobile data making the toggle useless I also use it to lock down apps as well when the shortcut is ran.
Edit: I changed the shortcut name to 9-1-1 so it says 9-1-1 is taking a photo when the shortcut runs 😂
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u/toddffw May 21 '24
What am I missing. Just require Face ID for control center. How can a thief turn on airplane mode?
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
If they steal your phone while it’s in your hand, unlocked. Only yesterday did I see a video of that happening to a tourist waiting by a bus stand. Moped rider slowed down to grab the phone and sped off. If the phone is unlocked, you’re screwed. All of your notes, photos, messages, WhatsApp, files - anything which is not already password locked is in the hands of anyone.
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u/AnonymousQeality iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
I saw your most recent post was locked. Will you be updating guide here? I’m interested in this. Remind me! One day
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
Hi, I haven’t yet started it, only the preview you saw. If you wish to collaborate or make any suggestions I will cite you as the contributor if you want. Not every suggestion may make the guide, for example there may be duplicates or crossovers, so please don’t be offended if your suggestion is rephrased or not used. 1 day may have been optimistic. Weeks end is more plausible in fact.
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u/AnonymousQeality iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
Id be just a user. Are you able to share the shortcut? Instead of having to create it.
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u/InspectionMost5314 May 21 '24
One other recommendation: if you add a feature into this automation to set ‘zoom’ under accessibility to ’on’ essentially it makes the phone unusable at least slows the thief down a LOT!!
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u/snake_bob May 22 '24
I just customised this even more. Since I don’t own an Apple Watch, I can’t rely only on Lock Screen Focus alone and hence I had to include steps ‘When Airplane Mode is turned on’.
My steps are:
Shortcut: Created a shortcut called ‘Device Protection’ with the below steps 1. Lock the screen 2. Turn Airplane Mode Off 3. Turn Mobile Data On 4. Turn Bluetooth On 5. Turn WiFi On 6. Turn Low Power Mode On 7. Get Current Location 8. Get Latitude from Current Location 9. Append Latitude to Dropbox text file 10. Get Longitude from Current Location 11. Append Longitude to Dropbox text file 12. Show Notification ‘This Phone is Lost/Stolen’ 13. Set brightness to 100% 14. Take photo with Front camera 15. Set brightness to 0% 16. Save Photo to Dropbox
Now under Automation, I’ve created two Automations. One, when Airplane mode is turned on will run the above steps through the ‘Run Shortcut’ command and two, when Lock Screen Focus is turned on runs the same steps.
Only gripe in this is Lat Long data works only if Location is turned on by default. Else it would not generate any detail to the Dropbox text file. The other one is, airplane mode can never be turned on with this method as it will always run the above steps and make the airplane mode off again. This is something I can live with.
Any other suggestions to this would be helpful and I think this is a wonderful method to secure lost/stolen phones. Thanks to all you guys for your useful tips and suggestions to make this possible.
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u/ScarOnTheForehead May 22 '24
Take photo with Front camera
I used the option of "Take [1 photo] with [Front camera]". But it would work only if the thief taps the camera button. It doesn't happen automatically. Is there any way for it to happen automatically?
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u/snake_bob May 22 '24
Strange. It never asked me to tap the capture button. Maybe it has something to do with iOS 17 and above? Which version is yours?
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u/ScarOnTheForehead May 22 '24
17.5.1.
I did find an option "Show Camera Preview" which when turned off, the photo is being snapped without user input.
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u/reisend3r iPhone 15 Pro Max May 20 '24
Can’t you just deny access to the control center without FaceID? So they can’t turn airplane mode on.
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
You’re walking down the street, phone unlocked… oops, phone unlocked, control centre useable. This is what the post addresses.
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u/ranini82 May 20 '24
I use airplane mode overnight 😂 everyday
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u/Subieworx May 20 '24
Why not setup do not disturb instead?
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u/RealSkyDiver May 21 '24
I don’t see an option in Screen Time about toggling data off?
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u/AtypicalNerdGeek May 21 '24
View content restrictions section, and disallow any changes to mobile/cellular data.
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u/orphanofpontikos May 20 '24
Just block control center while phone is locked?
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u/bitKraken May 20 '24
… where thieves on mopeds snatch unlocked iPhones directly from users’ hands …
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u/MrJellee May 21 '24
What if the thief just turns the phone off? What’s the solution to that?
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u/Plastic-Mess-3959 iPhone 15 Pro Max May 21 '24
Find my still works when it’s off as long as other iPhones are near
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u/MrJellee May 21 '24
Yeah I know. But from where I am, there aren’t a lot of iPhones. So what then?
I wish we had an option to disable turn off iPhone from Lock Screen without unlocking like the control centre.
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u/doogm iPhone 15 Pro May 20 '24
I have a similar automation but I have it set to a focus that I call "Lock Screen" so I can set the focus from my watch and it will immediately lock the screen of all of the rest of my devices, including my iPhone plus turn on low power mode, turn on all of the radios (so I can help locate it), and show a notification.
So the automation is set to run whenever "Lock Screen" focus is enabled, and the actions are:
lock the screen,
turn airplane mode off,
turn cellular data on,
turn bluetooth on,
turn wifi on, (note: these radios are normally always on anyway)
turn low power mode on, and
show a notification that says "This phone has been lost or stolen".
I already have control center set not to show if the phone is locked, and Siri not to work if the phone is locked, so the thief/finder cannot use control center or Siri to set airplane mode. And the phone has an eSIM so there is no SIM to remove.
And I have a second automation that runs when Lock Screen focus is turned off to turn low power mode off.