Tuesday, May 7, 2013

10 Useful Apps To Recover A Lost Or Stolen IPhone

Find My IPhone

Find My iPhone app allows you to use another iOS device to locate your missing iPhone on a map, protect your private data, display a message, play a sound at full volume (for few minutes) even if your missing iPhone was set to silent, and remotely lock your device. [Free]
To Use Find My iPhone Before iPhone is Lost or Stolen
  1. Upgrade your iPhone to iOS 5 or above.
  2. Register an iCloud account (Apple ID).
  3. Install Find My iPhone app.
  4. Turn on Find My iPhone by tapping Settings > iCloud > Find My iPhone. Tap Allow to confirm this option.
Find My iPhone
Locate Missing iPhone with Find My iPhone:
As long as your Find My iPhone is turned on on the lost/stolen iPhone AND it’s connected to the Internet, you will be able to find your iPhone’s current location.
  1. Visit http://iCloud.com/find.
  2. Sign in your iCloud account using Apple ID.
  3. Click on the Find My iPhone button.
  4. Choose Locate an iPhone device if you have set up more than one iOS device.
  5. Your lost/stolen iPhone’s location will show on the map if your device is online.
  6. If your iPhone is offline, you can set an option to receive an email whenever your iPhone is connected to the Internet.
Find My iPhone

GadgetTrak

GadgetTrak app increases your chances of recovering your lost or stolen iPhone by generating location reports, sending a discreet message to your device, and snapping a photo of the thief with the built-in camera. With its restriction on "Deleting Apps", the thief will not be able to delete GadgetTrak from your iPhone. [$3.99]
Install GadgetTrak Before the iPhone is Lost or Stolen
  1. Purchase and install GadgetTrak.
  2. Tap the GadgetTrak application icon on your iPhone to launch the app.
  3. Create an account and sign in.
  4. Set a passcode for GadgetTrak to prevent others from changing your settings or seeing the tracking status.
GadgetTrak
Recovering Lost/Stolen iPhone with GadgetTrak
  1. Visit http://trak.me to enable tracking.
  2. Select your device to log in.
  3. Once logged in, you’ll see your iPhone plotted on the map.
  4. Click the "View" button then select "Tracking Reports" on the top.
  5. The Camera allows you to snap a photo with a one-time fee of $0.99.
GadgetTrak

Device Locator

Device Locator allows you to track the location of your misplaced iPhone, sound an alarm on your lost or stolen iPhone, take a photo of the user remotely and send a message with sound. There’s no monthly or yearly fees involved. [$3.99]
Use Device Locator Before the iPhone is Lost or Stolen
  1. Purchase and install Device Locator.
  2. Launch the app by tapping the icon.
  3. Create an account in https://device-locator.com.
  4. Customize the settings in your iPhone.
Device Locator
LoJack Your Stolen or Lost iPhone with Device Locator
  1. Visit https://device-locator.com and login to your account.
  2. Set it to emergency mode and lock the application from the web application.
  3. Track your iPhone’s recent location history, including the most recent position on a map.
Device Locator
More Apps

IHound

iHound helps locate and keep your iPhone safe with remote locking, remote data erasing, location tracking and siren alerts playing. It’s a free download but users are required to subscribe at least 3 months which costs $3.99. [$3.99/3 Months]
iHound

If Found+

If Found+ replaces your iPhone background wallpaper with a message if you have lost your iPhone. Even if your iPhone is locked with a passcode, a good Samaritan can reach you if he/she finds your phone. [$0.99]
If Found+
Mobile Spy
Mobile Spy allows you to monitor your iPhone in real time by providing reports of incoming and outgoing calls, SMS, GPS locations, contact list, e-mails, website URLs, photos and videos. [$99.97/year]
Mobile Spy

Phone Trace 4

Phone Trace 4 tracks your lost or stolen iPhone’s real-time location reports and provides you with the new number of the person who is holding on to your iPhone. It also can send emails, SMS and some commands remotely. [$7.99]
Phone Trace 4

Motion Alarm

Motion Alarm plays a customized alarm to alert you or the unauthorized iPhone holder when a preset level of movement is reached. It also provides GPS tracking so you’ll be able to receive a position report in your email Inbox. [$1.99]
Motion Alarm

Navizon

Navizon marks the positions of your lost/stolen iPhone with a real-time and accurate live locating system. [Free]
Navizon

Find My Friends

Besides Find My iPhone, the Find My Friends app can be used as an iPhone device tracker as well. By using your family members’ or friends’ iPhone (which has been accepted and added previously), you’ll be able to see your iPhone’s location on a list or on a map. [Free]
Find My Friends

20 Best IPhone Spy Apps

Ever imagined yourself as a character in a James Bond movie where the bad guys are lurking around corners waiting for the right opportunity to grab you and take you to their secret hideout? Okay, maybe not. But if you did, you’d probably have a lot of fun with today’s post, where we look looking into some apps made for spying with your iPhone. Granted, having all of these apps on your iPhone will not make you a spy overnight – please don’t take it as challenge by us for you to behave that way – however, you might find some of the apps of the espionage kind here useful to you.


The mission here, if you choose to accept it, is to hunt for your very own iPhone spy app from this list. Some apps will be more useful than others, while others are just for fun. Then, there are some apps only available in the US as they only work with US mobile numbers. Don’t ask us why this is so, we’d ask but we’ve got a feeling that if they told us, they’d have to kill us!.
 
Contact Spy
Not sure who is behind the unknown number who just called you? Save that number into your contact list and run it through this search engine app, where It will then try to find out who called you. This feature only works for US phone numbers. However, you can enter the first and last name of anyone you don’t know, and the app will try to find out who that person is. Of course this won’t give you the best results if the person’s name is ‘John Doe’. [$0.99]
Contact Spy

Call Log Pro

This app records the voice conversations of phone calls to another person. You’ll have to use the app to call the person and it will only start recording once the person on the line answers the phone. You’ll then be able to email yourself the recording for safekeeping. This app starts out free where you can record conversations for 2 minutes. After that, you’ll have to pay a minimum of $4.99 for 30 minutes of recording time. [Free]
Call Log Pro

Spy Gizmos

Spy Gizmos gives you a fun and secure way to communicate with your friends. You can use this app to cipher messages and send the coded message to your friends. Your friends who received the coded message can then use this app to find out what was really written. There are 3 ciphering methods to choose from. You can also write in Morse code where the app can then transmit the sound or flash your screen white and black so that people around you can hear or see the message. [Free]
Spy Gizmos

Self Destructing Message

Self Destructing Message (SDM) is a message app along the lines of Viber or Whatsapp. However, with this app you’ll be able to set ‘self destruct’ timers to your messages. Your friend will have 5, 10, 15, 30 or 60 seconds to read the message that you sent. After that, the message ‘self destructs’ (gets deleted). Because of this, there will be no chat history but it is a secure way to ensure no one else reads your messages. [Free]
Self Destructing Message

Your Secret Folder

This app acts like a secret folder to manage private photos and videos. It protects your files with either a 4 number PIN lock or a dot lock. The options they give you include taking a photo with the front camera when someone attempts to unlock the app. There is also the option to include a fake password. Whenever this fake password is entered, functions to the app will be very limited, and whatever pictures taken with the app won’t be saved. [Free]
Your Secret Folder

GPS Location Tracker

This is a location tracker app for your iPhone which doesn’t have to be running to track your phone. You have to register for an account on their website and have Location enabled on the iPhone in order for it to track your phone. It also uses cellular data or Wi-Fi to upload the location information to a secure server on their website. If there is no cellular data or Wi-Fi available, the information will be stored on the phone until there is a connection available. [$3.99]
GPS Location Tracker

Spy Recorder

Spy Recorder is an audio-recording app which also helps you schedule reminders for recordings. The phone will vibrate and a notification will appear, prompting you to start recording. You can start recording by tapping on the notification. This can also be triggered with predetermined locations. You can also save the location data of each recording then attach and send via email. There is also the feature to pause between recordings, and set the recording duration. [$1.99]
Spy Recorder

Secret Voice

This is another voice-recording app but this app has a built-in web browser which you can use while it is recording. Besides that, you can enable a ‘Black-Screen Mode’ which prohibits activity on your phone, effectively tuning out any incoming calls or messages. Recordings can be shared by email and are secured by a PIN code. There is also the option of recovery mode which allows you to recover accidentally deleted recordings. Without it, a delete stays permanent. [$0.99]
Secret Voice

Night Recorder

Launch this app and hit the ON button to begin. It will only start audio recording when there is a loud enough sound. When the iPhone screen is off, you can launch the app by pressing the iPhone power button. It has 2 recording modes – more or unique files. If you select ‘more’ files mode, the recording will automatically stop if it doesn’t detect any sound. It will then record to a new file if there is another sound. A ‘unique’ file means it will record on one file non-stop once the recording starts, which will only stop when you press the on/off button in the app. [$2.99]
Night Recorder

Top Secret Audio Recorder

Top Secret Audio (TSA) Recorder works like a picture-viewing app where you swipe left and right to view different pictures. However, the app starts recording the moment you tap on the picture. You can add your own pictures or use the ones that came with the app. Since there is no recording interface, no one will know that you are recording audio. You can also passcode lock your recorded files for added security. Files can then be shared or extracted through iTunes. [Free]
Top Secret Audio Recorder

Secret Spy Camera Pro

This camera app has a few functions so people won’t know that you are actually recording a video. While the camera is recording a video, you can enable ‘Spy Mode’ to make it look like you’re browsing a website. There is also a ‘Secret Spy Mode’ where the screen only shows a black picture.To use it’s automatic-snap photo, just set intervals between each photo snap to take and let the app do the rest. [$1.99]
Secret Spy Camera Pro

Secret Camera

Another photo-taking app, but this one has no shutter sound. You can also set the photos to not have any preview mode. If you want a discreet preview mode, you can use ‘Spy Mode’: there is a small thumbnail at the bottom corner of your screen, while the rest of the screen looks like a web browser. That way, no one will know you are really taking photos. You can also passcode lock your pictures and can enable ‘Recovery Mode’ to recover any photos that you accidentally delete. [$0.99]
Secret Camera

Night Vision Camera

This app makes you feel like a spy on a mission as you can choose different scopes to look through the camera of your iPhone. You can also choose from ‘Night Vision’ mode and ‘Infrared’ mode to make it seem like you’re on a mission. To take a picture, simply tap the bottom left corner button of the camera. [Free]
Night Vision Camera

ReconBot

ReconBot is a stealth video recording app that shows a black screen while it records a video. All your recordings can then be stored securely within the app which has a dot lock system. If you use the ‘Remote View’, you can watch your live recording on a unique website link on your computer. Recordings can be trimmed and shared via email. You can also enable location on your iPhone to determine where the recording happened. [$0.99]
ReconBot

Spy Cams

This app explores the feed from many live cameras around the world. It is not known how they have access to these cameras as nothing is stated on their app page. However, it is fun to scroll through security cameras from all around the world. You just might stumble across some interesting sights. [Free]
Spy Cams

Security Cam

This is another security recording app to make people unaware that your iPhone is capturing a video. The recording will begin if triggered by motion or sound. There is also the option to take photos every few seconds. The time and date will be shown on the recorded video. The files can then be emailed or exported through iTunes. [$9.99]
Security Cam

Camster 2

With this app, you’ll get a list of free public cameras that you can view. You can favourite any camera on the list if you find it interesting. Although there is the option to monitor your own network camera, it only works with the paid version of the app. [Free]
Camster 2

Live Cams Pro

Live Cams Pro is yet another app where you can view public cameras from all around the world. You are also able to add your own webcam and monitor it with this app. It supports a whole list of IP camera models which you can use to monitor your home in case you are going away on vacation for awhile or if you want to keep an eye on things at home, from the workplace. [$2.99]
Live Cams Pro

Cam On! Lite

This app is another app that has a map full of webcam cameras you can view. Not only that, you can control some of the cameras viewing angle (limited viewing angle) with on screen controls. You can also take a picture of the place you’re viewing and save it to your iPhone photo album. [Free]
Cam On! Lite

My Webcam

With this app, you can broadcast your own webcam for the world to see. You can also make it private for your personal viewing. There is a free program compatible with both Windows and Mac that you can use to broadcast your webcam. Because of this broadcasting program it can support any type of USB webcam or the webcam on your laptop. [$4.99]
My Webcam

How To Reinstall Older Version App For IPhone [Quicktip]

Here’s the situation: the new update you have gotten for your favorite app keeps crashing the app, rendering it useless. You’ve made the issue known to the developer (by your countless app reviews) but they tell you they need two weeks (or more) to get a working version up. In the meantime, deleting the app and reinstalling it doesn’t help.If using the app is real important for your work or for your sanity, you will need a quick solution.
Restore Apps
Well we have one but it will only work if you backed up your iPhone before the update. We’re going to show you how to reinstall the app to its pre-update version. Remember that the previous version is no longer available on the app store.

Quick Reminder

Here’s a quick reminder of how to back up your iOS apps before the update.
Connect your iOS device to your computer, right click on your device and select Transfer Purchases. What this does is back up the current version of your apps to your computer.
Transfer Purchases
In the event that you update an app that keeps crashing your device, you can still revert to the old version that has been backed up into your computer.

Restoring Older Version IOS Apps

If you haven’t deleted the faulty app, delete that annoying bug-ridden sucker on your iOS device. Then connect your device to iTunes and drag the backed up app from iTunes into your device. After that, click "Sync" button.
Restore Apps
Alternatively, if you desperately need that app then you can ask someone who has made a backup to email you the app file.

Phone A Friend

The person can do this by right clicking on the app on iTunes and then selecting Show in Windows Explorer or Show in Finder for Mac.
Show In Explorer
There will be an .ipa format file. This file can then be used to install the older version app, just download it and drag it into your iOS device.
IPA File
We hope this gives you another reason to practice frequent backups of the apps in your iOS devices. Lastly, before you download the ‘fixed’ update or another new app update, remember to back up your apps.