It’s almost like having your iPhone stolen is worse than having your house robbed. It’s not just losing an expensive device – your iPhone has so much of your private life that criminals don’t even have to do the work of searching your home for money, jewelry, credit cards and electronics.
Recent reports have described how criminals can use your iPhone to break into your iCloud and bank accounts to quickly drain your finances and steal your identity by permanently excluding you from your Apple account. That’s in addition to cutting off contacts, notes, emails, and photos. How? As long as a thief has your unlocked phone (either by snatching it from your hand while you’re using it, or by surreptitiously observing you enter your passcode), they can immediately change your passcode and Apple ID password, and even change the password from there. iPhone recovery key – the only information Apple currently recognizes as proof of your identity.
Forget everything you know about Find My iPhone and iCloud backup. Once thieves change your phone’s basic information, which can only take a few minutes, Find My won’t help you, and neither will Apple. But it turns out there’s a way to prevent all of this from happening. You may not know it, but your iPhone’s Screen Time hiding feature is a fairly bulletproof way to prevent thieves from denying you access to your handset (and all your other Apple devices), even if they manage to steal your phone. to steal.
Screen time for extra protection
If you’re childless and don’t worry about how much you use your phone, chances are you’ve never used iOS’s Screen Time feature. But Screen Time has another feature that can prevent anyone from changing your most important passwords. This is how it works:
- Time to complete: 3 minutes
- Tools Required: iOS 16 or later
Enable the Screen Time Passcode setting
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Go to Settings, start Screen timeand enable the Use the Screen Time passcode. We recommend using a different passcode than the one you use to unlock your iPhone for obvious reasons.
Set content and privacy restrictions
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Then go to Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it on if you haven’t already. Then scroll down to the Allow changes section, tap Account changes and then Not allowed. That prevents anyone else who has your phone from accessing or changing passwords, as they’ll have to enter the unique Screen Time password first, which they won’t have.
This simple screen time setup can prevent thieves from draining your bank account, putting credit cards in your name, and stealing your identity as you struggle to regain your lost property, privacy, and sanity. Of course you can do more, but this is a great place to start.
Today I Learned is a Macworld column that highlights lesser-known but helpful tips and tricks for Apple users. If you have ideas for future columns, please email [email protected].
