It’s a gut-wrenching scenario: your phone is stolen, and all your data is gone with it.
If it hasn’t already happened to you, it might never, thanks to Apple’s latest iOS update.
The company makes it much harder for thieves to access your most private information. A new feature called Stolen Device Protection is available in iOS 17.3 and you should turn it on right away.
How to use Stolen Device Protection
First, make sure your iPhone is running on iOS 17.3. Then open the Settings app, tap Face ID and codeand turn on Protection against stolen devices. (If you have an older iPhone with Touch ID, your settings will look different.)
After you enable Stolen Device Protection, your iPhone will require additional authentication for the user to access some information, and will also prevent certain changes if it detects that it is not in a trusted location such as your home or workplace.
For example, if you try to change your Apple Account password or your phone password when your iPhone isn’t in a trusted location, Stolen Device Protection requires you to wait an hour and then verify your identity a second time using Face ID or Touch ID. Even if the thief knows the passcode to unlock your iPhone, this delay gives you time to use Apple’s Find My tool to remotely lock or wipe the stolen device. Without delay, a thief could disable anti-burglary and security features using only your iPhone’s passcode.
After you install iOS 17.4, you can request a one-hour security delay for changes to your Apple Account, even if you’re in a known location. To activate it, go to Protection against stolen devices page in settings and check Always in the section labeled Require security delay. This can prevent accidental changes, such as giving your phone to a child to play with, but also protect against malicious activity in known locations.
Stolen Device Protection also limits what information a thief can access on your iPhone by requiring biometric authentication (Face ID or Touch ID, depending on which iPhone you have) to do things like view saved passwords or make changes to your Apple Savings account. This prevents thieves from using your unlocked iPhone to steal your money or open an Apple credit card in your name.
The changes could be in part a response to reports of thieves snapping up devices after watching iPhone owners log in with their PIN. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, iPhone thieves can often steal money, open credit card accounts and more once they gain access to the devices. And thieves can completely lock out victims’ Apple accounts, making it very difficult for victims to disable or track stolen iPhones using Apple’s Find My feature. Victims are also sometimes unable to access their photos and files stored on iCloud.
This new feature makes it harder for thieves to use a stolen iPhone to ruin your life. It may be an inconvenience at times, but it’s still worth getting involved.
But it won’t always work at home
When it launched with iOS 17.3, Stolen Device Protection applied these enhanced security features only when the iPhone was turned on and away from a “known location,” which Apple defines as “your home, work, and certain other places where you regularly use your iPhone.” You must enable the Notable Locations setting under Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services > System Services > Notable Locations so your iPhone recognizes known locations, but you can’t see or change known locations to prevent thieves from bypassing Stolen Device Protection.
But iOS 17.4 now gives you the option to always request a security snooze, even when you’re at home. It may be more convenient not to encounter these security features while at home. If you go this route, please note that these security measures will not apply if someone in your home knows your password.
Other tips for protecting your iPhone
There are a few other steps you can take to make your iPhone more secure:
Make your code longer. If you only have a four-digit PIN to unlock your device, change it to a six-digit or even alphanumeric password.
Protect sensitive photos that contain personal information. Delete photos from snapshots that show important documents, which can help thieves find more personal information about you. If for some reason you need quick access, you can instead move them to a hidden album in the Photos app by long-pressing the photo and then selecting Hide this photo. In the Photos section of Settings, you can change whether the hidden album is visible at all, and you can require the use of Face ID to open the hidden album. You can also store photos of documents in a secure online cloud storage service or password manager. Wherever you put images, make sure that some kind of authentication is required – password, Face ID, or similar – to view them.
Protect individual apps with a PIN or Face ID. Most apps on the iPhone don’t often (or ever) require you to sign in again; as a result, a thief with an unlocked iPhone can easily access all your apps. Some apps, especially those related to credit cards and banking, allow you to set an individual PIN or use your face or fingerprint to unlock them. Be sure to turn these settings on.
Require Face ID or Touch ID to view saved passwords. Stolen device protection requires biometric authentication to use or view your saved passwords, or for iPhone to automatically fill in those logins when you go to a website. But you can request it even without protection from a stolen device: go to Settings, tap Face ID and code, and turn on Automatic password filling option. You can also use a standalone password manager like our top pick, 1Password, which has many features that built-in password managers can’t match.
Enable Find My on your iPhone. If your iPhone is stolen, you can use the Find My app to locate it and disable it remotely. Take some time to try out this tool before you need it in an emergency.
This article has been updated to clarify how Apple’s landmark setting works.
This article was edited by Caitlin McGarry.