HT203384: iCloud: Troubleshooting the Find My iPhone app

Learn about iCloud: Troubleshooting the Find My iPhone app
Jim Mccall

Q: Why does my iPad last known location get erased and my status goes to offline after 24 hours

I don't understand the mechanics of find my iPad. I understand that I can do a find my iPad as long as the iPad has been used in the last 24 hours. I can make it emit a sound and I can get its last known location. After 24 hours of dormancy, its last known location is erased and I no longer have the ability to make it go "ping."  Why is this? My phone doesn't have this restriction. If my kids have forgotten where they put it last and we are trying to find it 3 days after its last sighting, we are up a creek. This is a wifi iPad - would the restriction be the same for a always-connected iPad? I wish there were a way for it to always be online enough to find it. If it gets stolen, I imagine I can't use find my iPad to find out where the thieves are storing it.

iPad 2, iOS 6.0.2

Posted on Jun 10, 2016 5:20 PM

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Q: Why does my iPad last known location get erased and my status goes to offline after 24 hours

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  • by Michael Black,

    Michael Black Michael Black Jun 10, 2016 5:40 PM in response to Jim Mccall
    Level 7 (24,457 points)
    Jun 10, 2016 5:40 PM in response to Jim Mccall

    Every iDevice, whether iPhone or iPad, will only display the last known location for 24hrs. Unless the device connects to the Internet (wifi or cellular) and updates its location within 24hrs, its location will not be shown and it will appear offline. So if the location disappears after 24hrs and it shows offline, that means it has not connected to the Internet and upadated its location in the past 24hrs, and that applies to all devices.

     

    The last known location is shown for 24hrs, after which it is displayed as offline. It will remain offline until or unless the device reconnects to the Internet and sends an updated location fix to Apple's servers.

     

    Note that any thief can simply turn off the device, or toss it in a foil bag, blocking all transmissions and connections.  Find my iPhone was never intended as an anti-theft device.  It is a convenience feature to find a lost device. Activation lock, which is tied to find my iphone, IS an anti-theft device.

  • by Jim Mccall,

    Jim Mccall Jim Mccall Jun 12, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Michael Black
    Level 1 (29 points)
    iPad
    Jun 12, 2016 12:56 PM in response to Michael Black

    You basically expanded on my issue. Yes I know it does this and yes, you did clarify that it does this. The issue is that I think it is a terrible decision that it does this. I really want to know why they made this decision and if there were some way to circumvent the requirement that the last known location be erased after 24 hours.

     

    So if find my iPhone was made as a convenience feature to find a lost device, what is it about deleting the last known location that makes this feature helpful?