iPad locator is a joke

[brockmanah]

Think you can rest easier knowing you can locate your ipad if it is stolen? Think again. The app doesn't work unless someone fires up the wifi and tries to make it work. I had my ipad activated on the cloud. When it was stolen I fired up iCloud and tried to locate it but it never showed up. i thought that perhaps it was merely lost and no one had used it... but the next day I had a message from Verizon saying that my minutes were used up for 3G.

Why won't Apple help with thefts?

Why is the Locator tool so pathetic?

 

[col.bris]

It works fine. I found a lost iPad for a client without issue. Apple is not responsible for tracking thefts you are they provide a method of doing it. In using find my phone/iPad you should have instructed it to be wiped this would have resolved your charge issues. Yes it requires Internet connection. In terms of loss take out an all risk policy then you can sleep at night.

 

[K1W1]

The locator tool is awesome. When I've tried on on my ipad it's located it to within a couple of metres of its exact spot every time.
As Colin said its not Apples problem if you loose your iPad. Do you expect Ford to find your car or Sony to trace your TV if you house gets burgled? At least Apple give you some tools that might be useful.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Agreed on this. I don't expect Apple to do more than it already does on this front.

 

[richsadams]

Think you can rest easier knowing you can locate your ipad if it is stolen? Think again. The app doesn't work unless someone fires up the wifi and tries to make it work. I had my ipad activated on the cloud. When it was stolen I fired up iCloud and tried to locate it but it never showed up. i thought that perhaps it was merely lost and no one had used it... but the next day I had a message from Verizon saying that my minutes were used up for 3G.

Why won't Apple help with thefts?


Why is the Locator tool so pathetic?

Sorry to hear about your stolen iPad...very frustrating. Hopefully you have home owners or renters insurance to cover the cost of a replacement.

Find my iPhone/iPad locates my iPad within a few feet of where it's sitting and sometimes it seems even closer which is a little scary sometimes! As mentioned you can use this feature to wipe all of the data simply by logging into your account anywhere in the world. The next time someone turns it on it's cleared. You can also set a security code to prevent anyone from using it as well as configure it to automatically wipe all data if an incorrect code is entered "X" times. There are news stories about owners and police finding lost or stolen iPads all of the time.

Not trying to pile on here, but for those that follow, Find my iPad works extremely well plus there's a lot of other built-in security features too. More here:

Apple - iPad 2 - With Find My iPad, help is a tap away.

iOS: Wrong passcode results in red disabled screen

There's even an additional app you can install on another iDevice like your iPhone that can help you track your lost or stolen iPad even faster:

App Store - Find My iPhone

 

[brockmanah]

If locator works so well and is so wonderful, how come all my Version 3G minutes were used up without locator being activated or locking, or displaying the message I sent? Clearly locator only works with WIFI and not 3G and there must be work arounds.

Yes, Ford & GM do not track your vehicle for you (yet) but with Onstar and the like they might be able to soon. Verizon and Apple clearly have the technology to help now. Why wait? Why be obtuse about it? It would clearly give Apple a competitive edge to offer this feature.

 

[richsadams]

If locator works so well and is so wonderful, how come all my Version 3G minutes were used up without locator being activated or locking, or displaying the message I sent? Clearly locator only works with WIFI and not 3G and there must be work arounds.

Yes, Ford & GM do not track your vehicle for you (yet) but with Onstar and the like they might be able to soon. Verizon and Apple clearly have the technology to help now. Why wait? Why be obtuse about it? It would clearly give Apple a competitive edge to offer this feature.

If as mentioned the Find My iPhone/iPad and other security settings were activated and/or set correctly access to the iPad's 3G would not have been possible. Blaming anyone or everyone else is just being in denial.

There's no charge for the Find My iPhone/iPad feature and not even one hint that Apple will help anyone beyond providing this free service. Sorry, leaving the car keys in the ignition and then complaining about someone stealing it and subsequently blaming the auto maker for not finding it for you is in the same league. Perhaps they'll have a "LoJack" app for the iPad one of these days, but it's a safe bet that it won't be free.

Your expectations are unrealistic IMHO, you're grasping at straws and beyond having some empathy for your loss, I doubt that you're going to get much sympathy for your presumptions here.

Hope you get your iPad back or have insurance otherwise.

 

[wkatsande]

Is there any way it works after the fact? My daughter just got her macbook stolen and it was synced with my ipad. Is there any way I can try to trace the macbook

 

[ronwong]

It works on 3g no problem, i leave 1 on the delivery vehicle and can trace the vehicle like gps. The stupid thing about this as an anti theft tool is that, the guy picks up the phone, just need to go to setting and switch off find my ipad, and in icloud you will see it as disabled.

The idea is that if you lost it the jungle, you can use the app to go and get it back before the monkeys do, or wipe it if you cant be bothered to retrieve it, but if its a human, sorry, your device is stolen, and if you did not wipe it before he disable it, your data is stolen too.

 

[Kaykaykay]

It works on 3g no problem, i leave 1 on the delivery vehicle and can trace the vehicle like gps. The stupid thing about this as an anti theft tool is that, the guy picks up the phone, just need to go to setting and switch off find my ipad, and in icloud you will see it as disabled.

The idea is that if you lost it the jungle, you can use the app to go and get it back before the monkeys do, or wipe it if you cant be bothered to retrieve it, but if its a human, sorry, your device is stolen, and if you did not wipe it before he disable it, your data is stolen too.

Which is good reason to set a password and set so you can remotely wipe your data.

 

[richsadams]

Which is good reason to set a password and set so you can remotely wipe your data.

Exactly. :thumbs: If you're using your iPad in "the wild" and don't have it password protected (and set to turn off after an appropriate period of being idle) it's no more secure than any other $500 to $800+ piece of property you might carelessly leave lying around.

 

[Ncaissie]

Find my iPhone works fine for me.
But like someone said you can simply torn it off.
As for a password, it can be restored and that password is no good. As well the find my iPhone would be no longer enabled.

 

[richsadams]

Find my iPhone works fine for me.
But like someone said you can simply torn it off.
As for a password, it can be restored and that password is no good. As well the find my iPhone would be no longer enabled.

True, however with password protection your secure data remains secure and no one has access to (your) 3G network account...which was the OP's complaint.

 

[Kaykaykay]

Find my iPhone works fine for me.
But like someone said you can simply torn it off.
As for a password, it can be restored and that password is no good. As well the find my iPhone would be no longer enabled.

All Apple does is offer you a way to protect your data, and maybe track your device. There's no guarantee, implied or stated, that your device can't be stolen. There's no such device on the planet.

 

[Ncaissie]

All Apple does is offer you a way to protect your data, and maybe track your device. There's no guarantee, implied or stated, that your device can't be stolen. There's no such device on the planet.

Not true. I recall IBM promising to track your thinkpad if it was stolen with some chip inside. Assuming they go online with it.
I don't know if it was a service you had to pay for or not but it was offered.