How to make iPhone discoverable when switched off

iPhone comes with a number of tips and tricks hidden within Apple’s iOS software. While some of them are more obvious than others, and perhaps more useful than others, there are some that are very practical and could come in handy in unfortunate circumstances, if you’ve taken the time to set them up.

The tip I will share with you is how to ensure that your iPhone remains discoverable even when it’s switched off. When your iPhone get misplaced or stolen you can still find it.

make iphone useless when stolen

There are certain settings you must turn off and on. The first thing is to turn off what someone is able to access when your iPhone is still locked. You can do this by following the steps below.

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone
  2. Tap on ‘Face ID & Passcode‘ or ‘Touch ID & Passcode
  3. Enter your passcode
  4. Scroll down to the Allow Access When Locked section and toggle off Control Centre and USB Accessories

When these options are turned off, your phone becomes completely useless to intruders as they will not be able to use Control Centre and USB Accessories. Your iPhone’s Control Center has a handy collection of shortcuts you can always access with a single swipe. You can use it to skip songs, toggle Airplane mode, or record what’s happening on the screen in just a few taps.

 

The next settings will ensure that you’ll still be able to find your iPhone if it is turned off. You can do this by turning on your location services.

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone
  2. Head to Privacy
  3. Tap on Location Services at the top
  4. Toggle Location Services on

 

The last step is to make sure the Find My network is turned on and Find My iPhone is turned on.

  1. Open Settings on your iPhone
  2. Tap on your name at the top to open Apple ID settings
  3. Tap on Find My
  4. Click on Find My iPhone at the top
  5. Toggle on Find My iPhone, Find My Network and Send Last Location

Now, If you try to turn your phone off, you will see a greyed out message under the ‘Slide to Power off’ option that says ‘iPhone Findable after Power Off’.

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