14 DAY TRIAL // Find My iPhone, a new, Apple-developed app, is now available as a free download from the App Store, the company behind the Mac operating system announced today. The software is designed to provide an additional layer of security in case a MobileMe subscriber (and owner of an Apple iPhone) misplaces, loses, or has their device stolen from them.
“If you lose your iPhone or iPad while on the go, simply install the Find My iPhone app on any other iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to find it,” Apple explains. To locate their missing device on a map and have it display a message or play a sound, customers simply sign in with their member name and password on another device.
To protect their privacy, users of the service can remotely lock the missing device, or even remotely wipe it to permanently delete all data, in case there’s no chance the device will be retuned to them. According to Apple, the app automatically signs customers out after 15 minutes of inactivity, but users can also sign out at any time, manually.
“In addition to the new app, the Find My iPhone web application on me.com now displays your device location on a full-screen map,” Apple is proud to announce. “Simply click the device on the map to reveal the full set of Find My iPhone actions.” The Mac maker then instructs customers on how to download and install the new Find My iPhone app (which finds any iOS device, not just iPhones), and reminds them that setting up MobileMe and Find My iPhone on all the devices they want to locate is very important.
The new Find My iPhone application is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. It requires iPhone OS 3.1.3 or later and can be downloaded for free via the link below.