New iOS 8 Feature Can Help You Find a Lost iPhone, Is Also Kind of Creepy Lost your phone? Bummer. But Apple has one more way for you to locate it.
By Jason Fell •
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Lost your iPhone? Bummer. With a new feature to iCloud, Apple's iOS 8 gives people one more opportunity to track down their lost or stolen devices.
The new feature is called "Send Last Location." Basically, it sends a person's iPhone or iPad geolocation data to Apple moments before the device's battery runs out of juice. In other words, Apple knows exactly where you and/or your device is if its battery dies.
Sounds pretty handy. Also kind of creepy.
While Apple has already had features in place to help people lock, track and wipe lost or stolen devices via iCloud's "Find My Phone," those tools only work if the phone is on and has a data connection. "Send Last Location" allows people to check with Apple to find out the device's last known location before the battery drains to nothing and otherwise becomes untrackable.
Apple could store this location data for about 24 hours, though that time frame could change once iOS 8 launches officially this fall, according to a report from Apple Insider.
Of course, Android owners have already had these types of security features -- including the option to send location data from a device to Google -- available via Google's Android Device Manager.
