If you ever misplaced your iPhone for more than a few minutes, you know exactly what panic feels like. Wild thoughts start running through your head since you’ve had everything stored on your precious phone and now it’s all gone. Or maybe it’s even worse: someone stole and hacked your phone to gain access to all of your information!
To avoid ever feeling this way here are 5 ways that can help you protect your phone and all of your data.
Use a Passcode
Always use a passcode to prevent people from looking through your information. Yes, it does take some time to enter a passcode when you need to use your iPhone but with FaceID and fingerprint scanner, it won’t be a problem. Don’t use your birthday or your name as the passcode since it will be very easy to guess.
To set up your passcode simply go to Settings and tap on Touch ID & Passcode. Alternatively, you will have to option of tapping on Face ID & Passcode.
Disable Lock Screen Options
Even if you have an impenetrable passcode, a person who found or stole your phone can use Siri to access a lot of your personal information. While Siri is definitely a helpful assistant, it is better to turn her off when your phone is locked.
Additionally, thieves who stole your phone can prevent you from finding it with the help of special apps like Find my iPhone, by turning on Airplane mode through the Control Center which can be accessed from your phone’s lock screen.
To disable Siri and restrict access to Control Center, go to Settings, then tap on Touch/Face ID & Passcode and toggle off Siri and Control Center.
Ensure That Lock Screen Activates Quickly
If you happen to leave your iPhone behind, you want for it to quickly lock itself. The reason why this is important is that a person who noticed that you left your iPhone unattended can quickly snatch it up before it has time to lock the screen and gain full access to all of its contents.
To prevent this from happening you can go to settings and set the timer for the lock screen activation to be around 30 seconds. This is more than enough time not to be bothersome, but if you accidentally leave your phone behind, no one will be quick enough to snatch it before the timer runs out and the phone is locked.
Enable Data Protection
If someone gets their hands on your iPhone and has enough time to break through your passcode, there is a good chance that they will succeed. The likelihood of that happening is even greater if you use a simple 4-digit passcode. If you want to prevent that from happening, all you have to do is to activate a security feature that will factory reset your phone after the passcode is entered incorrectly 10 times in a row.
Don’t be afraid of using this feature, since it is pretty hard to be so clumsy as to accidentally enter the wrong combination 10 times in a row. You kids will not be a problem, since after entering an incorrect passcode 4 times in a row, iOS will add a delay that will get longer and longer the more times you fail.
Use Find My iPhone
Even if you don’t want to go through the hassle of dealing with the methods mentioned above, please consider installing Find My iPhone on your device. This app doesn’t inconvenience you in any way. It simply allows you to find your phone by using another iOS device or your PC. It also allows you to remotely lock and erase your data if you wish.
Your iPhone is Too Important Not to Protect
Protecting your iPhone is extremely important. Nowadays, your iPhone not only has a ton of personal information on it but it can also be used to make purchases and may have other very sensitive information on it. Thus, it is very important to take your time and activate at least a couple of security measures listed in this article.
What about you? What methods do you use to protect your iPhone? Do you use the Find My iPhone app? Tell us in the comments below.
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