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Tasks to complete so you can locate a lost iPhone

By BY GEORGE GORDON / Computer Guru - | Sep 11, 2023

Friends ask me all the time to help them find their lost iPhone. Before you can find your iPhone, you need to set up a couple of things in your Settings.

First of all, you need to constantly backup to iCloud all your data at least once a week. Even if you can’t find your phone, at least your data is not lost and stored on the cloud.

Next, go to Settings, and on the top, click on your photo or name and scroll down to “Find My” to make sure “Find My iPhone” is turned on. Also click on “Find My Network” and “Send Last Location.”

Once you’ve done that, open up the Finder App on your iPhone and click on People, then Me, and check the boxes “Share My Location” and “Allow Friend Request.” That’s it for the Settings.

To test it out, open up Safari, type in “iCloud.com” and sign in. Click on Find Me and “Devices.” There you are!

Since the fire, I’ve been getting calls about buying new computers and repairing used and broken ones. I usually advise people to purchase Apple products, and the MacBook Air is the most popular. It has the best price of about $900 versus the MacBook Pro that starts around $2000. If you still insist on a PC, then I suggest the HP or Dell laptops. Remember that they come with Windows 11, which is not a bad operating system compared to the last ones like Windows 8 and Windows 10.

Many people struggled without internet after the fire waiting for Spectrum to come back online. People found out that Home Depot was selling the Starlink internet system at $199, but they were sold out quickly (and then you had to buy them from the company at $632).

Well, I bought one on Ebay for $432 and had to wait a few weeks for it. Once I hooked it up, which was fairly simple, it came instantly online. It didn’t ask for a name and password. After hours of searching and activating it, I finally found a site to place my new user name and password on it.

I first had to download the Starlink App, which showed me how to activate and purchase a monthly service charge of $120. So now that I cut Spectrum and use Starlink, I was able to set up my Apple TV and video cameras.

To top if off, I signed up for YouTube Prime for $29 a month, which allows five other people to join. This allows me to see most of the networks and get free music, shows and movies without ANY ADS. Comparing that to my Spectrum policy, which I paid $220 for and got smothered with ads, I think I scored with YouTube Prime.