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How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: Buzz
Date: December 29, 2024 11:19PM
A somewhat happy ending to my prior tale of personal connectivity woe....

Well, on Thursday evening, I went to T-Mobile and bought a new iPhone 16 Pro, 256GB, in natural titanium, but didn't have them activate it
because there was still 28% battery showing on the "Find My Device" app. So late Friday morning I was getting ready to start knocking on doors
down where the pin was dropped in Google Maps, and Mrs. Buzz's phone rings; it's some lady that says. "Oh, this phone somehow ended up in
my [purse] the other day at Ralph's, and I didn't notice it until just now. The screen says to please call this number or to return it to Ralph's....
I could tell this isn't my phone, so I thought I should call." She agrees to take it back to Ralph's shortly thereafter. So far, so good. I had checked
Find My about half an hour earlier, and it showed 21%, and when I got to Ralph's in the early afternoon, the phone was hanging in there at 19%.

After some discussion w/ friends and family, I'm gonna take the iP16 Pro back, and option up to an iP16 Pro Max; evidently bigger is better!

It was odd that the battery lasted so long, and odder the lady took from Monday to Friday to notice the 'bonus' phone in her possession.

I had hoped for an ending like this, but when I took out my Visa card on Thursday night at T-Mobile, I wasn't exactly betting on it.


cool smiley
==
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: Tiangou
Date: December 29, 2024 11:35PM
Congrats!

That's exceptional luck.

...Didn't answer the big question.

"Find My" showed the phone within spitting distance of Ralph's the whole time.

How far away from Ralph's was this lady's home?

...

(Also, it's very easy to pick up someone else's phone if it looks like yours. We all have the same iPhone 12s at work with the same std issue cases. I picked up a cheap and gaudy case from Amazon to replace mine after I accidentally pocketed someone else's phone and was appropriately embarrassed.)







Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/29/2024 11:36PM by Tiangou.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: RAMd®d
Date: December 30, 2024 12:29AM
RECOVERED PHONE L E A D E R !


I'm so glad to here this.

Based on little information, I'll guess the woman was completing business, and picked up the 'Phone thinking, in the moment, it was her's.

I don't know if that's the case and wouldn't bet more than a fin on it, but since it's a HEA story, that's how I'll roll.

You got it back, you were able to return the purchase, and get something else.

Win-win-win.

Congratulatoins!






I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: GGD
Date: December 30, 2024 12:57AM
Quote
Tiangou
(Also, it's very easy to pick up someone else's phone if it looks like yours. We all have the same iPhone 12s at work with the same std issue cases. I picked up a cheap and gaudy case from Amazon to replace mine after I accidentally pocketed someone else's phone and was appropriately embarrassed.)

I once walked off with my dentist's eye glasses. After getting out of the chair and gathering my stuff there were a pair of glasses on the counter and I had taken mine off while in the chair, so I just put them on and proceeded to check-out.

That's when I realized that they were bi-focals and my glasses were still tucked in my shirt where I had put them.


And it's quite possible this lady was busy with family, etc. during Christmas last week and hadn't really looked in her purse.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: Michael
Date: December 30, 2024 06:41AM
Great outcome!

My wife could have gone for weeks without finding it. She rarely carries a purse and so if a phone had somehow ended up in her purse on a day she was carrying it she could easily have come into the living room 2 weeks later with the phone in her hand wondering who's it was and why it was there.

Many years ago I found a wallet in men's room at a small ski hill in the evening. Everybody was gone so I had no way of turning it in. So I took it with me and planned on contacting the owner when we got home the next day. When we got home I couldn't find the wallet after looking for an hour. Nine months later I found that it had somehow slipped into the spare tire area and under the spare tire that was underneath a pull-up cover. I mailed it to the guy with an explanation. He sent me a remarkably hostile letter because he had to replace all his cards and driver's license because of, "...your stupidity" for losing it! Even though he got all the money back. What do they say about good deeds...
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: pdq
Date: December 30, 2024 06:42AM
Just this past week, we were doing a destination (tho cold-weather) Christmas with the kids and grandkids, and I tossed on my boots and went out ahead to get some tickets for the whole crew at a nearby attraction.

When my son-in-law showed up, he said Ah! [pdq] is the guilty party!

I had no idea what he was talking about, but it turns out he has Keen boots too, and I put his on in the rush to get going. They fit fine, although in retrospect maybe a touch roomier than before. Apparently he was looking all over back at the rental, saying Has anyone seen my boots?

sad smiley
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: Black
Date: December 30, 2024 07:25AM
Quote
GGD
Quote
Tiangou
(Also, it's very easy to pick up someone else's phone if it looks like yours. We all have the same iPhone 12s at work with the same std issue cases. I picked up a cheap and gaudy case from Amazon to replace mine after I accidentally pocketed someone else's phone and was appropriately embarrassed.)

I once walked off with my dentist's eye glasses. After getting out of the chair and gathering my stuff there were a pair of glasses on the counter and I had taken mine off while in the chair, so I just put them on and proceeded to check-out.

That's when I realized that they were bi-focals and my glasses were still tucked in my shirt where I had put them.
Give them back!
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: special
Date: December 30, 2024 07:53AM
Did you try to call the phone to see if someone picked up?
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: GGD
Date: December 30, 2024 12:00PM
Now that it's in your hands, take it to the various places where you think the tracking info was saying it was and move around until you get it to a spot that reports tracking that matches what you were seeing. Then you'll have an idea where the phone could have been to produce that location data.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: macphanatic
Date: December 30, 2024 12:20PM
My guess is that she tried to unlock it or reset it and couldn't. She only returned it because it wasn't of use to her.

Or the IDF had enough time to rig it. JUST KIDDING.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: RAMd®d
Date: December 30, 2024 01:28PM
He sent me a remarkably hostile letter because he had to replace all his cards and driver's license because of, "...your stupidity" for losing it! Even though he got all the money back. What do they say about good deeds...


I wouldn't say he doesn't have a point.

Bold of you to admit what happened.

I would have sent it anonymously, so he couldn't tell me what I know, lol.






I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: special
Date: December 30, 2024 02:17PM
Quote
Michael
... I mailed it to the guy with an explanation. He sent me a remarkably hostile letter because he had to replace all his cards and driver's license because of, "...your stupidity" for losing it! Even though he got all the money back. What do they say about good deeds...


What an @#$%& that guy was.
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: Buzz
Date: December 30, 2024 06:19PM
Quote
macphanatic
My guess is that she tried to unlock it or reset it and couldn't. She only returned it because it wasn't of use to her.

Or ......

Yeah, Google's "Find My...." was the more accurate locator. The "cone of uncertainty" kept getting smaller each day. My bro's "Location Sharing"
was evidently a bit of a red herring. The cone got down to only about 30' at the end. I did call the phone first, a couple of times, before hitting the
"lock-it-down" button online, and no one answered. When the lady did [finally] call, she clearly didn't want us stopping by, so was adamant about
returning it anonymously to Ralph's. When I mentioned the "Find My" had the phone on the west side of Princeton near Colorado, and that we could
be there quickly, her pregnant pause and ensuing response did kind of wreak of nefarious undertones.... I doubt she was some famous, privacy
conscious celebrity living in that location.

Now to copy everything off of it, and find a strap, or chain, to attach it's soon-to-be iP16 ProMax replacement to my body so that history can never
repeat itself again. Just to not take any unnecessary chances, I'm not gonna go out anywhere on December 23, 2026.....
especially not to Costco, or Ralph's!

Thanks for all the help and encouragement.
Best wishes to all for the New Year.

cool smiley
==
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: NewtonMP2100
Date: December 30, 2024 07:30PM
....great....find......!!!



_____________________________________

I reject your reality and substitute my own!
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: special
Date: December 30, 2024 10:34PM
Yeah, Google's "Find My...." was the more accurate locator.

is this Apple iPhone or Android? asking because the name of the App seems to be iOS/macOS and I don't think Google has anything to do here, Apple has their own maps.

Also, did you try to call the number?
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: GGD
Date: December 31, 2024 01:44AM
Quote
special
Yeah, Google's "Find My...." was the more accurate locator.

is this Apple iPhone or Android? asking because the name of the App seems to be iOS/macOS and I don't think Google has anything to do here, Apple has their own maps.

I'm wondering if this is the Google involvement, showing "locations" of signed in devices.

[support.google.com]

But they go on to say that they just use the IP address to determine the location. Doesn't seem to be based on GPS.

[support.google.com]
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Re: How accurate is 'Find My Device'.... ? ? ? UPDATE :-)
Posted by: Buzz
Date: January 01, 2025 08:11PM
It's a POS Android that I got after my iP14 Pro was stolen at Costco.

I did call it a couple of times before locking it down.
Tried a couple of times afterwards, but not sure if it even rings after lock down.

It shows as "Find My Device" when in list mode of all associated devices,
then shows as "Find My <specific selected device>" upon selection and
going to next screen. Before starting, link says "Find Lost Device"....
IOW, I'm not sure if there's an actual, singular name for the feature/service.


cool smiley
==
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