Apple’s Find My App Leads Police to 70-Year-Old Thief on Canadian Beach

Apple touts its Find My application as the “one app to find it all.” The company promotes the ability of the app to find and locate your Apple devices, and most people use it to find their iPhone that they misplaced somewhere in the house, but for others, this service can prove indispensable when locating an iOS device that has been stolen. Just ask a recent visitor to Ontario’s Southwest Grand Bend Beach who used the app to find a stolen iPhone.

According to Blackburn News, a beachgoer contacted Lambton Ontario Provincial Police to report that their iPhone and a pair of their shoes were stolen from the beach.

Thankfully, the owner had installed and set up Find My on their iPhone.

The police arrived, logged into iCloud, and used the service to track down the missing shoes.

Armed with the location information, the police arrested a 70-year-old man from London.

He was taken into custody by the authorities and charged with two crimes — theft under $5,000 and the possession of property obtained by a crime under $5,000.

He was released on personal recognizance and must return to court later to face these charges.

Find My is valuable and is only going to get better in iOS 15. Starting this fall, when iOS 15 rolls out publicly, the Find My service will be able to find an iOS device even when it is in power reserve mode or even turned off.

Worried that you won’t find your phone if it has been stolen and wiped? The new features added to iOS 15 will still help you find your iPhone in those circumstances, too.