Edward Swift - What to do if you've lost your phone

It’s happened to the best of us. In fact it happened to me last weekend. I felt alone, disconnected from the outside world – I had lost my phone. I thought I had it with me, but when I checked my pocket it wasn’t there. I looked everywhere in the house. I even rang it to see if I would be able to hear it, but I had it on silent.

Whether it’s under a couch cushion (which was where I eventualy found my phone) or left at a concert, there are a number of things you can do to keep track of your phone or tablet. Most of the time it’s built in to the device.

iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, etc.)

Apple has a feature called ‘Find My iPhone’. It has a number of features that allow you to track your phone or tablet including GPS tracking, playing a sound, and displaying a message and contact number someone can ring if they find the phone. If your phone has been stolen, you can even erase your private data on the phone.

Turning it on

First thing you need is an Apple ID. You will have signed up for this when you first got your Apple device. Without this, you can’t log in from a computer or another device to track your phone. If you need to sign up for an Apple ID or have forgotten your password, visit appleid.apple.com.

To turn Find My iPhone (or iPad or iPod) on, open settings then tap iCloud. From there you’ll see Find My iPhone – if it’s green then it’s already on. If not, tap the switch on the right hand side to turn it on. Even if you think it’s on, it pays to double check. I thought it was on for my iPhone but somewhere down the line I had either turned it off, or it had turned itself off when updating my phone.

To track your device

There are two ways to do this. You can either log in to icloud.com on a computer to track it, or find a friend that has the free Find My iPhone app that you can log in to yourself.

Android device

With any Android device, you can keep tabs on your tablet or phone using Android Device Manager. Again, it’s already built in and uses your Google log in which you will have entered when you first got your phone. Just like Apple’s Find My iPhone service you can track your phone or tablet including GPS tracking, playing a sound, locking the device and erasing the device.

Turning it on

To turn it on, open Google Settings from your menu then tap Android Device Manager. In here you can choose which features you want to enable, from GPS tracking to being able to erase your data. If you want to use GPS tracking, you’ll need to also Google Settings > Location and turn on ‘access location’. Once again, pays to double check this even if you think it's already on.

To track your device

Again, there are two ways to this this. Firstly you can either log in to www.android.com/devicemanager to track it either on a computer or a friend’s mobile device. If you have multiple devices, you can download the Android Device Manager app from Google Play and track your missing device there.

Stolen phones

Finally, if your phone has been stolen, you should call the police immediately and not go after the alleged thief yourself. Also give your mobile service provider a call so they can disconnect the phone, preventing any calls being billed to you.