If you're planning on selling or upgrading your iPhone in the near future then you should definitely pay attention to one piece of advice from Apple, as the tech giant urges users to turn off this one important setting.
There's a generally accepted checklist that most people go through when getting rid of an old phone, as you're probably going to want to format the storage, charge up the battery to full, and give it a clean before handing it over to the next owner.
Forgetting to turn off one key setting could cause an unexpected frustration for whoever now owns your gadget though, and depending on how you've got rid of it there might not be a way for them to fix it.
That's why Apple has decided to step in and take matters into its own hands, issuing a new warning to all iPhone users that urges them to turn off one of your phone's most useful settings - at least just before you get rid of it.
What setting does Apple recommend turning off?
As reported by CNET, Apple has issued a strong recommendation that all iPhone users disable the 'Find My' setting before selling or upgrading their device, as it's likely to cause major complications for the next user.
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This isn't just a case of privacy either - although it's not ideal that you might be able to track the next owner of your iPhone - but instead it's all to do with a feature called 'Activation Lock', which offers significant protection against thieves.
If you're unaware, Activation Lock is a feature that requires you to enter your Apple ID and password in order to unlock the device after it has been restarted, making it significantly harder for thieves to either access your data or sell the phone to another person after the battery has run out.
It's tied in to the Find My functionality though, so if you fail to disable that you'll leave your old iPhone functionally inoperable for its new owner, and they likely won't find out until it's too late.
How to turn off Find My and Activation Lock
Thankfully disabling both of these settings can be done in no time at all, so make sure to follow the steps listed below to prep your phone for its new owner.
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First you'll want to make sure that you've disabled Stolen Device Protection, which is part of what enables Activation Lock to do its job:
- Open the 'Settings' menu on your iPhone, then navigate to 'Face ID & Passcode'
- Select 'Stolen Device Protection', and then disable it from the toggle you find inside.
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After this you'll then be able to deactivate Find My, which you can do by following these directions:
- Open the 'Settings' menu again, and select your name or Apple ID at the top of the menu
- Open the 'Find My' section, and then press the 'Find My iPhone' button
- Once you're in that menu, you'll then be able to disable the Find My iPhone setting
If you're only upgrading your device and don't plan to get rid of your old iPhone though you might want to consider keeping it on, as you could still benefit from its security features when using the old device as a backup.
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However, if you're going to get rid of it either by giving it to a friend or family member, or by selling it on the second hand market, make sure you've turned both these settings off.