Your iPhone has quite a few built-in safety features that are designed to help keep you safe. Take a closer look at the iPhone‌ options you can enable to help protect yourself.

Stolen Device Protection on iPhone

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported about a problem with iPhone pass-codes stating: iPhone thieves across the country are locking people out of their Apple and iCloud accounts and gaining access to Apple Pay and bank apps, draining them of thousands of dollars—sometimes before victims even know what happened. Link to report here below:

That was before Stolen Device Protection. iOS 17.3 or later

You can use Stolen Device Protection to protect against the instance if someone has stolen your iPhone and stolen passcode. Stolen Device Protection prevents the person from performing critical device and Apple ID account operations (like changing your device passcode or Apple ID password) by requiring biometric authentication with Face ID or Touch ID with no passcode fallback.

When Stolen Device Protection is turned on, more sensitive operations require a Security Delay: a successful Face ID or Touch ID, an hour wait, then an additional successful biometric authentication. Security Delay helps prevent someone from making changes to settings that can lock you out of your iPhone or Apple ID account. These measures help protect your device and account, and give you more time to turn on Lost Mode using the Find My app or Find Devices on iCloud.com.

Messages Check In

If you’re going out somewhere, you can use the Check In feature in Messages to let a trusted friend or family member know where you’re going and when you should arrive.

When you head out, turn on Check In, and it will keep track of your progress. If you stop along the way, Messages will ping you to see what’s going on, and if you do not respond, helpful information like your battery level, location, route traveled, location of last ‌iPhone‌ unlock, and cellular status will be shared with the trusted person.

Check In is a feature that ensures someone is keeping an eye on you from afar, and if you’re in an accident, or otherwise in trouble, it gives detailed information that can be used to find you.

Use Find My

You can also give a trusted friend or family member access to your location through the ‌Find My‌ app. Go to ‌Find My‌, choose the People tab, and tap Share My Location.

With the iPhone 15 and the second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, ‌Find My‌ can be used to track down your friends in a crowd if you’re in a crowded place like a concert venue. Note that both parties will need to have an ‌iPhone 15‌ model.

Medical ID

Make sure your medical information is up to date in the Health app. Tap on your profile and then go to Medical ID to update your information.

This is a quick way for someone to see your name, age, allergies, and emergency contacts, and it’s data that can be viewed when your ‌iPhone‌ is locked.

Safety Check

It’s a good idea to use the ‌iPhone‌’s Safety Check feature every now and then to see who you’re sharing data with and who can track you. Open up the Settings app, go to Privacy and Security, scroll down, and tap on Safety Check.

In an emergency, you can use the Emergency Reset option, but for a check up, you’ll want to tap on Manage Sharing & Access. It will show you who can see your location, which apps have access to your location data, who you share photo albums with, who you share notes with, all devices logged in to your ‌Apple ID‌, and more.

Other Features to Know About

• Emergency SOS – If you press and hold on the side button and either volume button on the ‌iPhone‌, you can call emergency services surreptitiously. There’s also an option to press five times on the side button to call, which is an even easier method. Adjust your SOS settings by going to Settings > Emergency SOS.
• Emergency SOS on Apple Watch – To contact emergency services on the Apple Watch, hold down the side button until the emergency call slider appears, and then drag it to make the call.
• Crash Detection – Crash Detection contacts local emergency services if a crash is detected. It’s on by default, but double check that it’s enabled under Settings > Emergency SOS > Call After Severe Crash.
• Satellite SOS – In a remote area where you don’t have signal, you can use satellite connectivity to get help in an emergency. It’s a feature available on the iPhone 14 and 15 models, and note that you will need to be outside and have a line of sight to the sky for the best connectivity.
• Use Siri – You can ask Siri to call 911 (or your local emergency number).
• Text 911 – Need to get help while staying quiet? You can text 911 in the United States by opening up the Messages app and typing 911 in the “To” field. This works on Apple Watch too.