Need an idiots guide - what to do to make sure if you lost your phone you can still function 🫣

[Whatsonmyfeet]

DH has lost his iPhone - no find my iPhone set up, doesn’t know his passwords for anything & doesn’t use any other devices.

Got me thinking - I don’t even know my own phone number without looking it up in my contacts! Or my iCloud etc.

So, I need an idiots guide, what do you all do to make sure if you lost your phone you can actually function!!/ Recover everything?

Not having Find My Device set up is the biggest mistake, it takes seconds and means you can just track the phones location, lock it, reset it…etc.

You can also use shortcuts to immediately activate an anti theft program which will lock the device, send its location, send a picture of whoever has the device and extend the battery.

If you have everything backed up, just log into your iCloud account or whatever you use and all your information will be there.

If nothing was backed up, that’s it. You can’t recover anything, it’s gone.

Should have added, most people have a back up of all important information. We have a folder in a safe place in our home with all contact details for friend’s & family, all account passwords and banking information, not only for situations like a lost device but if anything happens to myself or my partner, they don’t have to stress about being not being able to pay the electric bill or cancel a shop from Sainsbury’s.

Thanks, we used to have a password book. I’m compiling a folder right now, plus getting the teens to do as well.

Going out for a walk though to get away from DH’s moaning ha ha.

Find My iPhone or the equivalent for Android is vital.

Otherwise, I can think of: Information backed up on iCloud, files and photos saved on OneDrive, email set up so you can log in using a browser on a laptop or computer rather than just on your phone, plus physical copies of information such as bank account details, utility accounts, council tax etc. It’s easy to just sign up for doing everything online, but I’m old-fashioned enough to want information on paper as well.

I have an iPad as well as an iPhone, which are linked so I still have access to all my accounts on one if I lose the other. However, I still have information on paper ‘just in case’.

I keep my bank card in my phone case, so when I go out I have a mini purse that lives in my bag that contains the bank card for my other account, and some cash. So if I lose the phone with my bank card, I have a spare card and cash to get home.

This whole debacle has given me a massive wake up call to the fact I & many others have ended up with everything on our phones/ online.

Genuinely thought, what’s your plan? You haven’t confirmed if anything is backed up, if not, you’ve lost everything.

What changes will you make to your device?

I’ve worked in cybersecurity and one thing that infuriates me is how lax people are with device security, I’m not just talking about your phone but your individual apps and your home broadband. I’m assuming if your phone is insecure, everything else is.

The only thing that would bother me is having lost all my photos. Wouldn't care about the phone and anything else on it.

Can I get find my phone on samsung

Banking apps would be the biggest issue for me. All my banking and investments are online. After DH had his wallet stolen we had a rethink. He only had a couple of cards in there which we could quickly cancel. Phone would be a whole different problem.
What we've done is put banking apps onto an old phone which stays locked away at home. Just one is left on my phone for day to day banking and there's not much in there.

Are your photos linked to Google pictures or whatever the apple equivalent is? If so you can access on a different device. It's always worth having a copy on a hard drive of anything important.

As long as your device is backed up, you’d never loose anything.

Yes. It’ll be registered under your devices on your Google account.

DH phone was backed up but he can’t remember his iCloud password or email. So yes he has lost everything.

Im making a physical folder of my passwords & I think also purchasing an iPad may be a good idea to keep at home.

Reading everyone’s advice.

I’m infuriated with myself at how dependent I have become on one device holding so much information. However I am able to access my email from my work laptop so would be able to recover iCloud ….. so some level of insight into if this happened to me. DH on the other hand - completely clueless.

I lost my phone a few years ago for a couple of hours, (DD texting me and worried) felt so helpless as my iPad was broken. Bought a new iPad the next day! No regrets!

That’s recoverable, if you pop into an Apple Store with ID type can get you back online .

Got me thinking too - how would I get into my email on a friend’s laptop as I have 2 factor authorisation to my phone?!

I have a back up email for that situation. DH and DC the same, we used either an alternative email or each others. If I forgot password it sends an email to one of my other email addresses.

I've read somewhere not to have any banking apps on your phone. Do you really need to check your balance or transfer funds when out and about or can it wait until you get home and use the laptop/tablet/older phone? It's just another layer of safety not to have them so available.

@Cantwaitforwinter “ I’m assuming if your phone is insecure, everything else is”

please could you clarify what you mean by that?

I don’t have banking apps on my phone by the way.

1. Ideally register your own domain for your email address.
2. Assuming you're using Apple, use the account in step one for your apple ID
3. Add additional trusted phone numbers to the account (e.g. Spouse)
4. Add Legacy Contact if you wish someone to be able to access your account after your death
5. Create a Recovery Contact
6. Create a Recovery Key
7. Set up Find My
8. Check you can access iCloud on a web browser on a different device.
9. Use the password manager (Keychain)
10. Never share email, user or Apple IDs

If you loose your phone, you will be able to access contacts, photos and files via any browser, and then buy a new phone, Mac or iPad and you will be able to recover everything else including passwords etc.

Thankyou
That is great step by step guide to get me & my family started - will share with them.