Dry Run "Find My iPhone"

Recently we had our iPad stolen. I know... ouch! We left it at an outdoor cafe on a black table camouflaged by its black cover. It was about 30 minutes before we realized we didn't have it. We immediately called the cafe and had them look for it to no avail.

Time to use Find My iPhone. This valuable little app created by Apple locates any of your computing devices from Apple (iPhone, iPad, iPod or Mac). But don't let what happened to us, happen to you.

My husband had not setup his devices on iCloud. If all your devices are automatically syncing up, you know you've set up iCloud. But there are additional steps you need to take to assure you are prepared to find your device once it's missing.

Find iPhone

First, you need to turn on Find My iPhone (iPad, iPod or Mac) for each of your devices.

Second, if you want to locate a missing device from your iPhone, iPad or iPod, you need to install the Find My iPhone Free app from the App Store on each of those devices.

Once you've done those two steps, you're ready to find you device if it's lost or stolen.

Practice Finding Your iPhone

Okay! Now let's practice. Do a dry run of the process so you know what to expect and what to do.

Step 1
Pick a device to use to find your "missing" i-device. Locate the Find My iPhone app on your home screen and tap to open. Note: if you use your Mac to find your device, go to iCloud.com, log in and select Find My iPhone.

Step 2
Enter you Apple ID and password. The Devices screen will display all your devices. Tap one to see your device on a detailed map.

Step 3

On the map, tap the blue circle to display the Info screen. From there you can:

• Play a sound on the "missing" device
• Send a message
• Remote lock
• Remote wipe (reset to factory settings)

Step 4

If you don't already have a passcode on your device, Remote Lock allows you to set one. If your device goes missing, you'll want to do this first. It will keep the "finder" from getting to your personal data.

Note: don't test the Remote Wipe function unless you want to reset your device to factory settings.

Step 5

Next, try out the Play Sound or Send Message feature.

Send an alert and a message. You'll hear the Sonar sound, which plays continually until you stop it or the device is powered off. If your device is missing and locked, the "finder" must power off the device to silence it. Note: if your device is powered off, the alert will not sound until the device is restarted.

Congratulations you are now Find My iPhone certified!

How did our story end? By the time we got to use Find My iPhone, more than 90 minutes had passed. Our iPad had come to rest in a four-plex in mid-town Sacramento, twenty miles from the cafe where we left it. We filed a police report and met the police at the location. They hassled the only tenant that came to the door, but got no where.

We sent the alert and a message, however the police were unable to hear it or spot the device from the front door. Without any audio or visual on the device, they had no probable cause to enter and could go no further.

We were at a disadvantage not knowing what the alert sounded like or how loud it was—that's why you need to practice.

In the end, we wiped the iPad and moved on. We included the serial number in the police report in case it shows up. Also we reported the device as stolen to AT&T who now keeps a black list of stolen mobile devices. If someone shows up intending to activate the cellular service for the iPad—they'll get nabbed.

Although our story had a bad ending, we learned a valuable lesson. Be prepared! Time is critical when your device is stolen. Had we been able to locate the iPad in transit from the cafe, we would likely have recovered it.

 

How To Find The Best Rated Apps For Kids

In preparation for marketing The Prisoner of Carrot Castle, I did some research to find app reviewers and discovered some great sites I want to pass on to busy mom's. If you're an iPad, iPhone or iPad Touch user looking for great apps to make your busy mom's life a bit easier, read on.

First up, Apps for Children With Special Needs:

a4cwsn is committed to helping the families of children with special needs and the community of educators and therapists who support them. By producing videos that demonstrate how products educate children, a4cwsn provides a way for users to see how an app works before they buy—great concept. Choose apps to review by various categories (e.g., colors, creative play, etc.), iTunes category or developer. There are apps for motor skill development, autistic kids and if you're a special needs family, they currently have a campaign to give away iPads. Check it out.

Digital Story Time creates Top 10 reviews of kid's apps in various categories (e.g., most educational, most original, best extras, etc.). You can also find ideas, such as how to have a successful digital bedtime experience with your kids.

Digital Story Time (blog titled The Digital Media Diet) is one mom's take on kids, technology and the world of apps. This site also provides a rich resource of links to other sites for parents.

Appcheese is a straight forward review site for kids' apps. Each app reviewed receives a cheese wedge rating and lists Platform, Price, Age Group and Publisher.

Pictured with each review is the app's icon for the iTunes store along with screen shots and the book trailer (if available). An iTunes button below the icon allows you to order the app. Scan the sidebar to see a list of recently reviewed apps. Lots to love about this clean review site.

Apps for Kids~kids learning (disguised as fun) is a review site by a mom in Silicon Valley. Primarily doing reviews, she dispenses some wisdom on how to balance your kid's time on technology. Providing parents a short cut to finding some real gems, is her intent, plus giving an honest opinion on a few of the popular apps that may be stinkers. Apps for Kids is focussed on making it easy for parents to find an app for a particular purpose. By the way, contributors to the site include Dad and 5-year-old son Sal.

The Greasy Screen (don't you love the title?) discusses ebooks for kids, reading habits and stuff. Crystal, from the Chicago suburbs, blogs here and covers all things picture books—right up my alley.

Besides ebooks, you'll find library books reviewed. Each app review shows a screen shot with app title, publisher, format (iPad, iPhone), number system rating, synopsis, current price, features (e.g., interactivity, sound effects) and a brief written review.

Last, but not least The iPhone Mom reviews all things for kids and parenting for the iPhone and iPad. She will hunt down little known apps hidden in the deep recesses of the iTunes store (and they are deep).

Reviews are categorized for moms, toddlers, pre-schoolers, elementary school and beyond, plus a category just for iPad. Every week a special is posted that might be an interview with a developer, navigating in the App Store/iTunes or a step by step "how to," for example, submit an app review.

I hope this gives you lots of places to find great apps for your family fun and learning.