How To Find Lost Iphone Without Apps Installed

The Find My Phone app is a great addition to your iPhone, and as the name suggests helps you to not only track your phone in the event it is stolen, but also lock it so that it cannot be misused. But what if you don' have the app installed? Does that mean that you have to bid adieu to your iPhone forever? Not really, because we are about to reveal to you 5 different ways to track your iPhone without app, so you can hopefully find your phone in the condition it went astray.

Part 1: Solution 1 – Apple's iCloud to the rescue
Part 2: Solution 2 – Google to the Rescue
Part 3: Solution 3 – Using Google Photos to Track your iPhone
Part 4: Solution 4 – Have another iPhone? Use it to Track one that's gone missing!
Part 5: Solution 5 – Using mSpy to track an iPhone

Part 1: Solution 1 – Apple's iCloud to the rescue

Take note that this solution will not work if you haven't activated the Find My iPhone service when you set up your device. If you have, here's how to go about it.

Step 1. Get started by heading over to iCloud, and logging in with your credentials.

If you are greeted with the two factor authentication process, which asks you to insert a code that was sent to your devices, you can simply skip it by heading to the quick access link at the bottom.

skip the two factor authentication process head to the quick access link

Step 2. From the dashboard, locate the Find iPhone icon on the second row and click on it.

locate the Find iPhone icon

Step 3. Hover over to the All Devices dropdown menu and choose your iPhone.

choose your iPhone

Step 4. The tracking process will now begin, and you should be able to see it displayed on an interactive map if successful.

begin to track the phone

Step 5. Once you know the exact location of your device, you can do one of three things—activate lost mode, trigger an acoustic signal or erase all data.

Part 2: Solution 2 - Google to the Rescue

Note that this solution will only work if you have Location Services enabled on your iPhone.

It's no surprise that both Apple and the search giant are fond of gathering information on all sorts of things, most notably your location. Google stores this information on its Timeline, so without ado, head to the Google Timeline.

head to the Google Timeline to track your iPhone

Step 2. Select the present date from the left hand panel.

Step 3. Scroll to the bottom of the timeline, and select the latest location update.

Step 4. If your location is the same as your previous updates, your phone hasn't moved so you go and get it from that location. Contrarily, if your phone has moved, you should contact authorities, and not go after the thief alone because you never know the type of person they are.

Part 3: Solution 3 - Using Google Photos to Track your iPhone

If the above Google features do not work for you, the search giant has one more service that can help aka Google Photos.

This option is somewhat complex, and requires that you have the Google Photos app installed with automatic upload turned on. Further, someone will have to take photos with your iPhone, and in the event it is actually stolen, this is highly unlikely.

Well, if you have the aforementioned prerequisites, head over to photos.google.com to visit your most recently uploaded photos. If you happen to notice any recent photos, click on them and check their location by clicking on the right sidebar. Again, if you do find the location using this method, it is best to contact your local authorities.

Use Google Photos to Track your iPhone

Part 4: Solution 4. Have another iPhone? Use it to Track one that's gone missing!

This method requires that you have Find My Friend enabled on both your missing iPhone and the one you're going to use to track it. Good news is that starting from iOS 9, this feature is stock and will already be installed on the device.

Step 1. Open the Find My Friends app on the iPhone that you will use for the tracking, and then enable Share My Location by tapping on their contact picture located at the bottom.

Ensure that the location is being Shared From This Device as there may be other devices connected with the same iCloud account.

Step 2. Next enable AirDrop from the control center of your iPhone and make yourself discoverable to everyone. Further hit Add on the tracking iPhone, choose your contact icon and select Share Indefinitely.

Step 3. Once the tracking iPhone's location is shared with your device, a popup will appear asking you how long you would like to share your location for, which is where you select Share Indefinitely.

use another phone to track the missing one

Step 4. When you're ready to begin tracking, open up the Find My Friends app, click on their contact (your contact in this case) to see its exact location in real time.

Part 5: Solution 5. Using mSpy to track an iPhone

One of the biggest reasons of using mSpy is that you can do much more than just track your iPhone. With 25 features on tap, mSpy is geared towards keeping track of your iPhone as well as those using it. This remotely managed software is compatible with iOS, Windows and Mac OS, and can be easily accessed from any browser.

Use mSpy to track an iPhone

It is designed for both home and commercial use, so whether you'd like to keep track of your kid's text messages employee emails, mSpy can truly be your best friend. Things you can keep tabs on include instant messages such as from WhatsApp, emails, multimedia messages, incoming and outgoing calls and GPS locations.

Speaking of GPS locations, here's how to get started with tracking your iPhone using mSpy.

Step 1. You first need to choose between one of three plans, and your login credentials will be emailed to you upon successful completion of purchase.

choose the plan and get the login credentials

Step 2. Next open the confirmation email from your computer and click the link to go to the mSpy control panel aka dashboard.

go to the mSpy control panel dashboard

Step 3. Simply follow the onscreen instructions to install mSpy on the device you wish to monitor.

Step 4. The interface is highly intuitive, so all the information you need is featured on as single screen. To track your iPhone using mSpy, simply open up the dashboard, click on the top left hand corner to select the device you'd like information on and then click on locations tab to view its exact whereabouts in real time.

view the exact whereabouts of your phone by mSpy

There you go! Lost your iPhone? We've provided you with 5 different ways to locate it, and we hope that one of them could help you recover your device.