Comments on: Private-I Brings LoJack To Your iPhone

By: regie12

regie12 — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 07:11:48 +0000

This looks like a copy of GadgetTrak for the iPhone, which was launched in August, which is free due to the limitations imposed by the SDK, it also gets network data and stores the data for you on the server.

By: thedude

thedude — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:29:45 +0000

This app is ridiculous… think about it: Even if someone finds your phone and clicks the icon, how long do you think he will keep this app running? 30 sec? a minute? five minutes?

As soon as he closes the app, the location information will no longer update (since iPhone apps CANNOT run in the background.)

Good luck finding this person!

I got the Owner Information app from the app store.
(check out – http://www.phonefound.com)

You can enter your personal information and create a wallpaper with your information on it.

This way in case an HONEST person finds your iPhone and actually want to return it they can easily figure out who is the owner.

By: hdwredes

hdwredes — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 05:21:46 +0000

Is there a program where one can find their phone if it is lost? I know this program relates to stolen phones, but what about one that we simply lose. With the GPS function, can’t the owner simply activate the GPS to figure out where the phone is?

By: Dom

Dom — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:29:16 +0000

Oh, and then make “Loading Private Photos” a user-definable field to take it a step further: “Loading $customFieldLabel” — so if I give Private-I, say, the SMS icon, I could make it say “Loading SMS Messages” if I wanted. Or even “Loading Contacts”, or whatever.

By: Dom

Dom — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:27:13 +0000

Why not let the user choose an icon for it — the phone icon, the sms icon, the email icon, etc, and then let us place it where it’s normally found, and fool the person into clicking it?

For example, let’s say I chose the “Photos” icon (the stock icon that launches the photo gallery) and then positioned Private-I in the upper-right-ish portion of the home screen. To the usual person, it appears to be the photo gallery.

Then I take the “real” photo gallery icon, and put it on the second/third home screen.

The same idea could be done with any of the stock features (phone, sms, email, etc). Perhaps even allow the user to -switch- icons with stock. So let’s say I chose that photo gallery icon, Private-I might let me assign the stock photo gallery icon a -new- icon to tell them apart.

Just some thoughts.

By: TouchType Makes iPhone Email Better With Landscape Mode

TouchType Makes iPhone Email Better With Landscape Mode — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:37:51 +0000

[...] same developer, Mike Schneider, who created Direct Line (easy phone tree navigation) and Private-I (loJack for your iPhone). I like how this guy [...]

By: kats

kats — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:52:57 +0000

I have to say that I think this is pretty nifty idea.

By: links for 2008-09-19 « 個人的な雑記

links for 2008-09-19 « 個人的な雑記 — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:02:11 +0000

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By: TechTango » Blog Archive » Private-I Brings LoJack To Your iPhone

TechTango » Blog Archive » Private-I Brings LoJack To Your iPhone — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 18:34:54 +0000

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By: » Private-I Brings LoJack To Your iPhone micro jmw blog

» Private-I Brings LoJack To Your iPhone micro jmw blog — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 17:01:44 +0000

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By: Aaron Lake

Aaron Lake — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:11:34 +0000

Is there a jailbreak app that does something similar in the background? I’ve been looking for something that would toss my position to a private webserver via scp or another secure channel on a regular interval.

By: james

james — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:44:05 +0000

Hmm, so you know where your phone is? Haven’t you already reported it stolen/lost to AT&T?

Do you plan to drive to the location and yell around for anyone with a stolen iPhone?

By: Mike Schneider

Mike Schneider — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:46:10 +0000

Jason,

Thanks for the review.

In response to some of the comments above, there are certainly limitations to the program. It has been an interesting challenge programming within the limitations of the SDK. Without allowing programs to run in the background, I couldn’t design a more robust solution. That said, I am coming around to Apple’s approach in managing programs. My iPhone almost never crashes, and continues to run as fast as it did when I bought it. If apps could run in the background, my iPhone would be as painful to use as my old Windows mobile device.

On the issue of whether the thief needs to give permission to access the phone’s location, once the application is opened twice by the user, the prompts no longer appear. The application walks the user through opening the app twice in order to prevent the warning from popping up on a potential thief.

Again, thanks to Jason and Mike A. for featuring Private-I. I am a huge fan of the site!

–Mike
http://www.thisistech.com

By: lance

lance — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:44:11 +0000

http://cashtutor.blogspot.com (can use as much traffic as I can get lol)

By: lance

lance — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:42:33 +0000

i guess its worth it

ttp://cashtutor.blogspot.com

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By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:02:54 +0000

This is pretty cool, I use iHound Software for my thumb drive and external HD, but they haven’t come out with a iPhone version yet. This is pretty sweet, maybe apple will allow some programs to run in the background in the future.

By: Yosef

Yosef — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:03:58 +0000

Well written article, showing both sides of the equation. Apple Neeeeeds to allow apps to run in the bg. Then this would be perfect!

By: TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Private-Iは、iPhone版のココセコム？

TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Private-Iは、iPhone版のココセコム？ — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 03:24:59 +0000

[...] [原文へ] [...]

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 02:08:16 +0000

1. u get the phone back only if the thief actually OPENED the application
2. Thief has to click on ALLOW and not “DENY” when iPhone asks user permission to use the location.
3. and thief has to stay at that place till the cops arrive, and not move. if he moves, he has to reopen the application

Awesome.
Jay (http://www.konsulted.com)

By: Al

Al — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:58:38 +0000

I think the idea is that the thief will be inquisitive enough to open an up that says “private” on there, just like “don’t press the red button”.

By: Thursday’s thoughts : The Popular iPhone

Thursday’s thoughts : The Popular iPhone — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:24:47 +0000

[...] Private-I Brings LoJack To Your iPhone [...]

By: Ryoko

Ryoko — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:17:49 +0000

The idea is good, and for only a dollar then why not? Probably will not be very successful though considering the thief would have to be pretty dumb to open the application. And what is someone going to do even if they had the location of their stolen phone? Call the police to help escort you in retrieving it?

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:13:31 +0000

But the crook needs to click the PRIVATE icon for it to work. It would be better if you loose your iphone, you call a number, enter you phones number and the system emails your phone and it sends an auto email back to the phone owner with location.

By: Aira Bongco

Aira Bongco — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 01:00:09 +0000

Nice new tool. I would sacrifice a buck for it. So long as I could catch theives