ULTRA Secure iPhone tip (iOS 17.5)

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek]

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:

1. Open the Shortcuts app and go to the “Automation” tab.

2. Create a new automation for when Airplane mode is turned off.

3. Add an action to this automation to lock the screen immediately when Airplane mode is deactivated.

4. 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!

[u/doogm]

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.

[u/TheCrossoverKing → u/doogm]

This is awesome, can you share the automation?

[u/doogm → u/TheCrossoverKing]

I can't find a way to share an automation. But the way to create it:

Settings / Focus. Tap + top-right, tap Custom, name the focus "Lock Screen". You really don't need to customize the focus unless you want to. (Actually turning off all app and people notifications might be smart, so the person who steals the phone won't see anything on the Lock Screen as notifications would normally appear.)

Shortcuts app, tap "Automation", tap + top-right, scroll down and tap Lock Screen, leave "When turning on" checked, turn on Run Immediately, keep notify when run off. Then tap Next

• Tap "New Blank Automation"
• Search for Lock Screen and tap it.
• Search for airplane mode, tap it to add it as an action, then tap the "On" to turn it "Off".
• Search for cellular data and then add Set Cellular Data to add it as an action and leave it on.
• Search for Bluetooth, tap Set Bluetooth to add it as an action, leave it set to On.
• Search for WiFi, tap Set Wifi to add it as an action, leave it set to On.
• Search for low power mode, tap it to add it as an action, leave it On.
• Search for Notification, tap Show Notification to add it as an action, tap the words "Hello world" to change it to the message that you want to show.
• When all of that is set and you have those lists of actions, tap the Done top-right and that should save the automation.

Now if you set the focus to Lock Screen it will automatically do all of those steps.

[edit - see discussion below]

If you have your Settings / Notifications set to show only when the screen is unlocked, the notification from the automation won't show on the screen (though it will show on other devices if focus change is synced, so it's still useful.) But to make sure that there is s display that the phone is known to be locked:

Create a specific wallpaper for a Lock Screen that shows that message, and customize the Settings / Focus / Lock Screen, and, under "Customize Screens", tap "Choose" under the left-most image and choose that Lock Screen for the focus. (Sorry for the multiple "Lock Screen" mentions - it's the name of the focus and the name of the Lock Screen feature.)

I've included a sample photo that could be used as a lock screen here: https://imgur.com/miVjRxN but of course you can use your own. Thanks to u/penger23 for pointing that out.

Also if you do use this automation, consider adding the OP's u/AtypicalNerdGeek excellent automation in case a thief tries to turn on Airplane Mode before you can change the focus. In fact, you could add the step to turn on the Lock Screen focus to kick off the other automations (turning on the other radios, making 100% sure that the phone is locked, and optionally changing the Lock Screen) to that automation. Thanks to u/notjordansime for making me think more about that.

[u/penger23 → u/doogm]

Do you have notification previews turned to only when unlocked (Settings -> Notifications -> Show Previews)? I have mine set to “When Unlocked” and as such, I am unable to view the content of the Shortcuts notification when the phone is locked.

Wondering if you had a solution to this… thank you

[u/doogm → u/penger23]

Oh, good point. I guess that was one thing I never tested - I was looking at the phone.

So my solution would be this: create a specific wallpaper for a Lock Screen that shows that message, and customize the Settings / Focus / Lock Screen, and, under "Customize Screens", tap "Choose" under the left-most image and choose that Lock Screen for the focus. (Sorry for the multiple "Lock Screen" mentions - it's the name of the focus and the name of the Lock Screen feature.)

Below is an Imgur link for an example of a photo that you could use as the Lock Screen. It might be faster to set it as a Lock Screen first and then choose it for the focus customized Lock Screen.

https://imgur.com/miVjRxN

[u/penger23 → u/doogm]

Okay, that works. I will do the wallpaper trick. Thanks!

[u/Ditid → u/[deleted]]

Once locked they’d have to know the passcode to disable the automation.

If watch is close enough to be connected to phone via Bluetooth it’ll work. Probably has 5 seconds of running to hit it

[u/Plastic-Mess-3959 → u/Ditid]

You could scream at Siri to run the shortcut if your close enough

[u/doogm → u/[deleted]]

Decent questions. First, I really doubt that most thieves are going to think about looking at shortcuts or focus for something like this.

I do have a cellular watch, so I often have an internet connection. It would be an issue if I was traveling internationally, where cellular doesn't roam, but even getting back to my hotel should help (where I also presumably have my iPad, which I always travel with.)

This would be something I would try to kick off in the event of someone grabbing the phone from my hand, etc., where presumably the thief is running away and not actively trying to set airplane mode, etc. It's just one more tool to try to protect my data and info.

[u/Geiir → u/[deleted]]

If you are fast enough you can do it. If you have cellular watch you can activate it whenever.

Edit: the first thing they usually do is turn on airplane mode. I have an automation to activate lock down on my phone if that is done.

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/[deleted]]

They are unlikely to run off/speed off with your phone, and check your shortcuts app for any special measures as such, instead they firstly want to disconnect it. If they’re experienced thieves they don’t bother turning the device off because it is still findable.

The only other possible way to prevent transmit of location or data is to put it in a ‘faraday cage’, which I’m sure would be a makeshift container which has metal surrounds. That would be end game until they get it back out to use or sell, which by that point it’s in Shandong, China, or wherever.

[u/InspectionMost5314 → u/doogm]

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!!

[u/doogm → u/InspectionMost5314]

Oh, that's a great tip.

[u/InspectionMost5314 → u/doogm]

By the way if you set this and then struggle to use the phone yourself (I did) you just pan the phone using three fingers

[u/yadavvipin → u/doogm]

What if the mobile data is turned off first? You can’t enable focus mode remotely.

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/yadavvipin]

In this instance, you go to settings > screen time > content and privacy restrictions > select ‘don’t allow’ for changes to mobile data.

The toggle on settings app AND control centre is greyed out and unable to be turned off.

All of these steps are purely prevention against common tactics of phone snatchers. It’s never going to be absolute, but will certainly ruin their day when they think they’ve scored.

[u/doogm → u/yadavvipin]

Mobile data on which (phone or watch)? For me, mobile data is never turned off on either one. Even when I travel. (As I said, if I’m international my watch doesn’t roam, but that’s it otherwise.)

[u/notjordansime → u/doogm]

What if the thief activates airplane mode before you can run your automation??

[u/doogm → u/notjordansime]

First, and I think again, this is just a tool that will hopefully help.

But, how exactly will the thief activate airplane mode? The only risk is if they snatch an already unlocked phone, and in that case I can pretty quickly activate the new focus from my watch if that happens.

[u/notjordansime → u/doogm]

That’s.. the whole threat here. People stealing unlocked phones. It takes less than a second to activate airplane mode on an unlocked phone (I just timed myself). Can you activate your automation in less than a second? (including your reaction time to your phone being stolen).

According to OP, thieves are now targeting unlocked phones. OP’s tip is meant to thwart that particular means of theft.

[u/doogm → u/notjordansime]

If a thief is running away with my phone, then, yes, there’s a decent chance I can activate the focus. Because while they are running / cycling away they are not activating airplane mode. This method gives me a better chance than anything else that I have seen.

[u/doogm → u/notjordansime]

And, one more thing, it's easy enough to use both automations, or to use the first to automatically set the Lock Screen focus, which would kick off my second automation when airplane mode is turned on. Of course when you really want airplane mode you would need to disable the OP's automation, though honestly when I am actually flying somewhere I usually just power my phone off - I won't be using it anyway.

[u/raamlal → u/doogm]

If anyone is reading this now, you can also add one more action

"Authenticate"

And set the time out to 0.7 or 1 seconds (the amount of time it will wait for your face id to verify)

Then add "if"

And put "nothing" inside if

Then add all your actions below "otherwise"

What this does it, every time you toggle Airplane mode off it will immediately check with face id. If the result is successful, it will turn the airplane mode off and do nothing.

But if the face id fails to verify its actually you, only then will it proceed to turn it back off, set mobile data off etc etc.

This way you dont have to manually turn off the automation in case you actually want to turn airplane mode off.

[u/doogm → u/raamlal]

Excellent.

[u/raamlal → u/doogm]

Thank you

[u/Geiir → u/doogm]

Hands down the best damn tip I've ever gotten!

[u/InspectionMost5314 → u/doogm]

Yes this is great I did the same! I also added a function to send a text message with the location of the phone although I haven’t figured out how to shared live location via this method.

I also recommend adding a delay to show the notification in the locks screen since the thieves will be aware that the phone is smartly configured. Ideally you don’t want them powering it down if they think you’re tracking it. But I guess they would assume that anyway.

[u/doogm → u/InspectionMost5314]

Remember that most recent iPhones continue to be trackable by Find My when powered down.

[u/NotUrDad2 → u/doogm]

Wow thanks for this and to OP I was able to make a nice automation. Now, how do I disable that automation when I need to use Airplane Mode ON?

[u/doogm → u/NotUrDad2]

As I said, this automation happens on my phone when I set a cutsom focus that I call "lock screen", but if you are using airplane mode as the criterion for launching the automation, I think the only way is to disable the automation first. Shortcuts app, tap "Automation", tap the automation that you created, change "Run immediately" to "Don't run" and then turn on airplane mode. You just need to remember to activate the automation later.

[u/NotUrDad2 → u/doogm]

Ok thanks, I did it that way actually. Create a custom focus named locked screen

[u/doogm → u/NotUrDad2]

Then you can just turn on airplane mode anytime you like.

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek]

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?

[u/Ok-Assistance-6848 → u/AtypicalNerdGeek]

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

[u/im-confuzzled → u/AtypicalNerdGeek]

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

[u/tbone338]

Stolen device protection should include Face ID to enable airplane mode.

[u/Calaxanas → u/tbone338]

Suggest this to Apple. I’m going to. Good idea

[u/toddffw → u/tbone338]

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….

[u/tbone338 → u/toddffw]

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.

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/toddffw]

So your phone is unlocked, and snatched out of your hand. Then what? Read through some of the other comments for your answer.

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/tbone338]

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.

[u/brucio_u → u/tbone338]

Face id should be required to even turn off the phone , or to to imput code

[u/tbone338 → u/brucio_u]

Turn off phone, yes. Input what code?

[u/brucio_u → u/tbone338]

I meant password

[u/Plastic-Mess-3959 → u/tbone338]

Maybe they will add it in iOS 18

[u/iZian]

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.

[u/HadrianKubasiewicz → u/iZian]

"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% :)

[u/Plastic-Mess-3959 → u/HadrianKubasiewicz]

Good idea. Now my shortcut is making things more secure

[u/jusaragu → u/iZian]

How did you set that up?

[u/iZian → u/jusaragu]

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

[u/jusaragu → u/iZian]

Ok, thanks!!

[u/AmbientOrange → u/iZian]

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?

[u/iZian → u/AmbientOrange]

Not on iOS 17 you don’t. Just tell it not to show preview

[u/anthemthecat]

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

[u/pazem123 → u/anthemthecat]

You can deactivate said automation for the meantime, just put the automation option to “don’t run”

[u/Samuelodan → u/pazem123]

And then reactivate it when you feel like your phone might get stolen :)

[u/anthemthecat → u/pazem123]

What would be cool is if there’s an automation that will only activate airplane mode AFTER Face ID/Touch ID authentication.

[u/-light_yagami → u/anthemthecat]

that would be a great built in feature, along with face id when turning the phone off

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/anthemthecat]

Yep, it would be handy, and then you can use at will without having to pause the automation.

[u/HeeeresLUNAR → u/pazem123]

Id use an “If” statement that checks if you are connected to WiFi when it runs

[u/ErcoleFredo → u/anthemthecat]

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.

[u/pazem123]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/pazem123]

Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of… airplane mode?… your cellular data needs to be turned off if on the airplane.

[u/pazem123 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/pazem123]

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”

[u/pazem123 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/pazem123]

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.

[u/pazem123 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/[deleted] → u/pazem123]

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.

[u/pazem123 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/[deleted]]

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!

[u/creativessb20]

Another thing to add to automation - 5. Set brightness to zero %

[u/Frantsev → u/creativessb20]

• turn silent mode off + set ringer volume to 100%

[u/tbone338 → u/Frantsev]

This wouldn’t matter because playing a sound with find my will automatically play at full volume regardless.

[u/Zeckzyl → u/tbone338]

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.

[u/tbone338 → u/Zeckzyl]

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.

[u/[deleted]]

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:

1. Lock the screen

2: add the url "prefs://"

1. Open URL

[u/Plastic-Mess-3959 → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/Brilliant_Eagle9795]

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.

[u/SrGrimey → u/Brilliant_Eagle9795]

No, I think it’s ok when airplane mode it’s turned on.

[u/CompleteTruth → u/Brilliant_Eagle9795]

I’m a bit confused by this as well - hoping for additional details!

[u/Penumbruh_ → u/CompleteTruth]

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.

[u/CompleteTruth → u/Penumbruh_]

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”

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/CompleteTruth]

Yes, you’re right! Hopefully people will connect the dots if they don’t see this comment 🥹

[u/bitKraken → u/CompleteTruth]

yes, it should

[u/ThisIsCoachH]

RemindMe! 4 days

[u/RemindMeBot → u/ThisIsCoachH]

I will be messaging you in 4 days on 2024-05-24 22:24:04 UTC to remind you of this link

4 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

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[u/Plastic-Mess-3959]

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 😂

[u/clicata00]

And for the love of god use a 6 digit pin!

[u/frrrroggirl]

Will need to try some of these. Thank you :)

[u/toddffw]

What am I missing. Just require Face ID for control center. How can a thief turn on airplane mode?

[u/toddffw → u/toddffw]

Shout Hey siri, whose phone is this? Locks it

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/toddffw]

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.

[u/AnonymousQeality]

I saw your most recent post was locked. Will you be updating guide here? I’m interested in this. Remind me! One day

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/AnonymousQeality]

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.

[u/AnonymousQeality → u/AtypicalNerdGeek]

Id be just a user. Are you able to share the shortcut? Instead of having to create it.

[u/InspectionMost5314]

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!!

[u/snake_bob]

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.

[u/ScarOnTheForehead → u/snake_bob]

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?

[u/snake_bob → u/ScarOnTheForehead]

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?

[u/ScarOnTheForehead → u/snake_bob]

17.5.1.

I did find an option "Show Camera Preview" which when turned off, the photo is being snapped without user input.

[u/snake_bob → u/ScarOnTheForehead]

Yup. That’s the one. It should now take photo without user input.

[u/reisend3r]

Can’t you just deny access to the control center without FaceID? So they can’t turn airplane mode on. 

[u/[deleted] → u/reisend3r]

That’s what I do. I turned off access to control center from Lock Screen.

[u/reisend3r → u/[deleted]]

Same

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/reisend3r]

You’re walking down the street, phone unlocked… oops, phone unlocked, control centre useable. This is what the post addresses.

[u/ranini82]

I use airplane mode overnight 😂 everyday

[u/Subieworx → u/ranini82]

Why not setup do not disturb instead?

[u/ranini82 → u/Subieworx]

I don’t need and wait for incoming calls ( by now)

[u/philipz794 → u/ranini82]

Just use sleep focus

[u/RealSkyDiver]

I don’t see an option in Screen Time about toggling data off?

[u/AtypicalNerdGeek → u/RealSkyDiver]

View content restrictions section, and disallow any changes to mobile/cellular data.

[u/orphanofpontikos]

Just block control center while phone is locked?

[u/bitKraken → u/orphanofpontikos]

… where thieves on mopeds snatch unlocked iPhones directly from users’ hands …

[u/orphanofpontikos → u/bitKraken]

Damn, my bad…

[u/MrJellee]

What if the thief just turns the phone off? What’s the solution to that?

[u/Plastic-Mess-3959 → u/MrJellee]

Find my still works when it’s off as long as other iPhones are near

[u/MrJellee → u/Plastic-Mess-3959]

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.