When you lose an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad, you lose more than just your device. You lose all the unsynced data on your device, such as notes, contacts, and emails. You can minimize the impact of losing your iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad by taking steps to make it easier to find your Apple device before you lose it.
If you have already lost your iPod Touch, iPad, or iPhone, there are some steps you can take to figure out where it is, especially if you start looking for it before the battery dies.
Sync and Install Find My iPhone
If you sync your iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad on a regular basis, you will be less concerned about missing data and be able to concentrate on finding it, so get in the habit of syncing with iTunes on your computer.
When you update your software to iOS 4.2 on an iPhone 4, 4th generation iPod Touch, or iPad, you will have access to Apple’s Find My iPhone app for free. If you have an earlier generation if iPod Touch or iPhone, you can subscribe to Find My iPhone through Mobile Me for an annual fee.
After you have finished installing the iOS 4 update for your iPod, iPhone or iPad, go to the App store and download Find My iPhone for free from Apple. It does not matter if you are using an iPod or an iPad; the app is called Find My iPhone for every device. After you install Find My iPhone, you have to go into “settings” on your device and create a Mobile Me account, using the email and password that you use to shop at iTunes.
Once you install Find My iPhone you can track your iPod, iPhone, and iPad by logging into me.com on your computer or my using another Apple device with Find My iPhone installed. Even if you do not subscribe to the Find My iPhone program, you can install the app and track a new iPad or 4th generation iPod and iPhone 4.
When you look for your iPad on Find My iPhone, you will see where your device is within an area. It might look like your iPad is in the front yard when it is really in the kitchen, but you can see general locations. You could see if your iPad was on a school campus, at your house, or at a restaurant. You can use Find My iPhone to make your iPad or iPod make a noise, send a message to the screen so if someone finds it they can call you, lock the device, or erase the data from me.com.
How to Find a Lost iPod, iPhone, or iPad
If you are looking for your favorite Apple gadget and you do not have Find My iPhone installed, do not be disheartened. First, you should see if the iPod is in your house. You can call an iPhone, but with other devices you might need to resort to looking at what computers are connect to your home wireless network.
You will need the information that the administrator uses to log in to the home wireless network, but then you can log into the gateway for your wireless network and see if your iPod, iPhone, or iPad shows up as a device connected to the wifi network. Your device will have the same name that it uses when it syncs with iTunes.
Just because you do not see your device on the network list, do not give up hope. If you do not see your device, it means that it is not connecting to the network. It could be that the battery is drained, that there is not network connections in the basement where your iPad is, or it is out of range by being in the car, backyard.
If you are sure your iPod is missing and you can not see it on a network, you can try posting a plea for help in the iLounge Lost iPod, iPhone, and iPad message board. People post devices they have found, so maybe yours will be there. You can start sending emails to trigger the sound of a new message, and maybe someone will hear that and find your iPod or iPad, and hopefully you will hear the small sound in your car or gym bag and it will turn out that your iPod was just hiding and not really lost.
Once you get your iPod, iPhone, or iPad back, take some steps to make sure that it would be easy to return if lost. You can install Find My iPhone, and you can set a daily alarm to go off at a high volume so that if you lose your iPhone again, you can start listening for it when the alarm goes off. You can write your name and phone number with a sharpie on your iPod and on the case, and someone will be able to contact you to return it.