Tech question re spying on iPad/iPhone and car tracker

[Tallulahdoo]

Does anyone know if it possible for someone to remotely access an iPad or iPhone using some sort of spyware? And if so, how do I find out without him knowing? I know my OH has recently been checking my iPad messages as he has access to it and knows the password. This hasn't happened for a couple of weeks though but since then my iPad 'glitches' every now and again and the open pages (when you double click the start button and it shows what has been looked at last) goes back to how it looked a few weeks ago. Things aren't great between us at the moment and I'm wondering if he's spying on me. Ironic as I have no opportunity to do anything as look after DC 24/7 outside of work/school/nursery (not that I would want to anyway). He has also used my car on a couple of occasions recently which was unusual, on this point does anyone know how I could find out if my car has a tracker fitted? He has mentioned this happening to someone he knows so I know it's something he's already aware of as being possible. Little bits of odd behaviour keep cropping up - Am hoping I'm just being paranoid but I'd rather be aware if there's something going on. Thanks for any help.

Do you share a cloud? We do, although we all have separate iTunes accounts, iMessages etc. I can look to see where my dh's phone is using 'find my phone' and I can see what pages he has open on the Internet.

Installing a tracker would only be illegal if he didn't own the car. (But yes if it's solely in OPs name then it would be technically speaking illegal, but more probably a civil matter.)

Yes it's very possible to install spyware on an ipad provided that you have physical access to it at some point. EG if you go out, your DH gets your ipad, installs the app (there are several which do this), then the app will automatically either email him your activity every so often, or he could access it online. Either way, you can't see the app on your ipad (otherwise it would be a bit pointless.)

When you say your ipad "glitches", do you mean it resets itself? If so, this would automatically reset all your recently used apps, so the "taskbar" will go back to default (which depending on which version ipad it is, might be all of the default apps - mail, safari, books, music, app store, etc).

If you want to get rid of it, do a factory reset. If it's glitching this would actually be a good idea anyway! Be aware you'll need to back up your photos and stuff first, and you'll have to redownload any apps.

I might be able to help you on this as I have done much research on this topic for a friend who wanted to find out the extent of her husbands affair.

If you had a android phone I would say from what you have described that yes it is a possibility of your phone having spyware on as they are easily installed on andriod phones.

However as you have a ipad / iPhone unless either of them are jail broken you need not worry. Apple products unless jailbroken are impossible to add spyware too. Is your phone jailbroken?

Spyware doesn't come cheap tho, once it has been installed it is all done remotely via the Internet.

The car issue, i would say it would be more likely he had a VAR (voice activated recorder) in there rather than a tracker as there are inexpensive. Or possibly you are paranoid. Check the inside of the car for something that looks like a memory stick.

If you have gmail on your phone, if he knows your password he can view what web pages you have viewed and what you have been searching for on YouTube and what you have viewed. This would be more likely than spyware.

I would relax, spyware is not that easy to install and it can only be done with access to your phone and it takes a while to instal. It is impossible to install remotely.

pocketsaviour: Is that true? Without jailbreaking I didn't think it was possible to install a background running app without it appearing.

Your ipad and iphone definitely have to be jailbroken before spyware could be installed.
Restore both devices. Settings, General, Reset, Reset All. Then change your passwords.

Car trackers are not cheap, but are definitely available. Look all around the outside of your car including the top of the wheel arches and underneath for a small box attached.

Thank you all. Feel a bit better now, as it seems unlikely that there will be anything on the iPad or iPhone. I will backup and reset them both to be sure, and will check over the car. Don't think we share the iCloud either, have tried to go through the settings on both devices to remove any possible links, unfortunately I am a bit of a techno-numptie. Thanks again.

Does he know the password for your AppleID? that's all he needs to find you via Find My iPhone.

I don't think he knows Apple id password, but I have entered it on iPad recently so I suppose if he did have something installed on there he could know. On the one hand I'm not bothered about him being able to track me as I know I'm not doing anything wrong (or even remotely interesting tbh), but the possibility of spying on my phone was far more concerning. Apart from anything else he would see what I'm doing on MN! It has become something of a sanctuary to me in the last few weeks.

Unless your iPad and iPhone are jailbroken there is absolutely nothing your husband can install that spys on you, he can track you via the Find My iPhone or Find My Friends app but that's only if he has your password or if you have added him on Find My Friends. The tracker is unfortunately another issue but I can't advise on that.

My god!
Stop right there! Sit down with him, discuss your problems. Spying on your partner is sad imo and if it has come to this then I think it would be time to consider going your seperate ways.

Trackers aren't that expensive at all and could just be a little gizmo anywhere in the car, rather than just on it. We had a tracker on my FIL when he was diagnosed with dementia and had it set so we'd get a text when he left his complex. You could set up zones and alerts for alsorts.

Thanks for your insight Drew64 , if you read my post properly you'll see it's not me spying on OH but potentially him spying on me. For the record, yes, I know we have problems, this is a side issue. I'm biding my time until having "the chat" and possibly suggesting counselling, but need to wait a couple of months to get some ducks in a row, so to speak (just in case we do go our separate ways). Sincere thanks to everyone else for sharing your knowledge.

No, it doesn't necessarily need to be jailbroken (although don't most folk jailbreak their apple devices anyway?) Here's an example
www.webwatcher.com/iphone-monitoring
It does mean he'd need your Apple ID and password though. To stop the software mentioned above, just turn off iCloud backup.

Installed car trackers aren't expensive and are extremely easy to conceal... They are designed and installed to be covert, so if the car was stolen, the thieves wouldn't be able to find it easily, so it's very highly unlikely you'd be able to find it.

You can get portable systems, I have two types on my desk at the moment, one designed for magnetic mount external application to the vehicle, one for internal. The external ones tend to go under bumpers or inside wheel arches, so you could spot them. Think a black plastic case, smaller than a pack of cards. The internal version is about the size of a couple of packets of chewing gum, sadly, there's about a million places you could conceal one in a car with no one knowing.

(We supply primarily the installed versions for theft recovery and fleet management, but on rare occasions clients ask for portable ones, so I know quite a bit about these things. No. I don't have one on my wifes car :) )

With regards to the car tracker I'd check my phone/ipad for a 'find my' app. Much simpler to install and very effective