Anyone who has spent a big chunk of money on tech will know how valuable their devices are to them and how devastating it would be if they were lost or stolen. Well, a Malaysian took to social media with a story that not only served as a cautionary tale for those who leave their belongings in their cars, but also demonstrated the sheer effectiveness of the tracking capabilities built into said devices.
In his post in the USJ Community Facebook group, Arvin Tharan said he was in SS14 on January 18. Leaving a restaurant, he found that his car had been broken into, and his bag that contained his MacBook Pros, his iPad and his Apple Watch had been stolen. Initially stunned, he then looked for a CCTV, but none of the cameras were pointed at his car.
With his quick thinking, he opened the Find My app on his iPhone and was able to track the errant thieves in the Sri Petaling area. He then lodged a police report and requested immediate assistance, as he could still track his devices. Arvin drove to the thieves’ location, a coffee shop, where he was then asked by the police to to enter and find the criminals, lest they are able to spot plain-clothed officers.
Arvin then snooped around, using the app to find the thieves’ exact location while pretending to buy food, and once he was sure that a man was wearing his watch, he called in the cops, who then swooped in to arrest the criminals. One of them was later found to have been linked to at least 16 previous vehicle break-ins.
Find My is a service Apple built into iOS, iPadOS, macOS and watchOS back in 2019 (it was previously known as Find My iPhone), allowing users to track their devices if they have been lost or stolen. iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple Watches can all transmit their location when the app is open, as long as they have enough battery. Find My can also be used to track AirTags, but these lack GPS and rely on other Apple devices nearby to triangulate their position, so they aren’t the most foolproof.
Apple is not the only company to include a tracking feature into its devices—Google built Find My Device into Android, letting you track any phone signed into your Google account, while companies like Samsung (SmartThings Find), Xiaomi (Find Device) and Huawei (Find My Phone) all have similar offerings that use their respective cloud services.
