FoneHome runs on your device, periodically transmitting your location, speed, heading, and other information to our server where it is saved. Should your device become stolen or lost, simply log in to our site and you'll be able to view its last known location. You also have the ability to send your device a push message with an optional sound played or web site to visit. This is useful if you've lost your device and you think it's within earshot - send it a push and play a sound to help you locate it. If you believe your device has been stolen or lost, you can send a push message to the device with details on how to contact you, and optionally take a picture remotely using your device's camera.

On devices that support multitasking, FoneHome runs in the background, automatically updating your location on our server as it moves. If your device is restarted while FoneHome was running, the app will restart and begin transmitting its position again. On devices that don't support multitasking, FoneHome will transmit your device's location periodically as long as the app is running in the foreground.

Log in to your account on www.myfonehome.com and select the device you want to send a push to. On the tracking page for your device, click the 'Message / Photo' command. A dialog will appear allowing you to set the options for your push message. Type in your message, or select one of the pre-written message templates. If you would like a sound to play on your device when the push message is received, select one from the drop-down. Please note that the sound will only play if the volume on your device is turned up. If you would like a web site to be opened on the device, enter it in the box provided. If someone swipes to unlock your device while your push message is on the screen, FoneHome will immediately transmit the device's position and then open up the web site you provided. This can be useful if you believe your non-multitasking device with FoneHome has been stolen. You can attempt to fool the thief into swiping to open the message by sending a message regarding banking information and then opening the home page of a banking site.

First send a push message to your device and select one of the camera options from the 'Take photo' dropdown. A push message will be sent to the device and someone must swipe to view the message (we'd like to be able to take the photo automatically with no user intervention but this is not possible with iOS). Once this occurs, the app will take the picture and send it back to our server along with a position update and the picture will appear at the bottom of that device's position tracking page. We store the most recent three photos for each device.

When you take a picture in stealth photo mode, the display from the camera will not be shown on the device while the photo is being taken, so your target won't know that a photo has been taken. This feature is our way of saying thanks for spreading the word about us and helping others protect their devices with FoneHome. Unlocking the stealth photo feature is easy. First, "like" FoneHome on Facebook. (Please note that we do not and can not collect any personal information from you for "liking" us). Second, refer a friend and get them to download and install the FoneHome app. Make sure that when your friend creates their FoneHome account on our web site that they use the email address associated with your FoneHome account as their referral. If they don't use your email address you won't get credit for the referral and the stealth photo feature will not be unlocked. Your friend must install the app and register a new device. Stealth photos will NOT be unlocked if you try to re-register a device that has already been registered in our system. Once your friend's device has been registered, stealth photos will be unlocked for you and will show up as an option in the 'Take photo' dropdown on the Send Push Message screen. Please note that unlocking stealth photo mode will not enable remote photos to be taken without a user viewing the push message on the device as this is an Apple limitation with no workaround.

Unfortunately, no. If your friend did not use your email address as their referral when signing up, you must refer another friend and have them complete the process successfully according to the directions given above. We cannot unlock stealth photo mode for you manually. There are no exceptions to this policy.

First, log in to your FoneHome account and check the last known position of your device. If you believe your device is close by and the volume is on, you can send your device a push message telling it to play a sound to help you locate it. If your device is not nearby, you have the option of sending a push message to your device with your contact details letting anyone who finds your device know how to return it to you. If you have a device that supports multitasking, FoneHome will continue to run on your lost device, automatically checking in and updating its position as it moves. If your device does not support multitasking and you didn't leave FoneHome running in the foreground, your best bet is to send a push message to the device. If someone swipes to unlock the device while the push message is still on the screen, FoneHome will launch and transmit the position of the device to our server where you can view it.

You can also activate 'Lost Mode' which will place the device in a high-accuracy mode which will cause it to send position updates once per minute. Please note that Lost Mode activation is not immediate. Your device must check in at least once after Lost Mode has been activated to know to switch into this mode. Also note that this is very battery intensive so Lost Mode should not be enabled any longer than necessary.

If you believe your device has been stolen, first log in to your FoneHome account and check its last known position. If you have a device that supports multitasking, FoneHome will continue to run on your stolen device, updating its position periodically. If you have a device that does not support multitasking and you didn't leave FoneHome running in the foreground, or you believe the thief has quit the app, you can attempt to fool the thief by sending a push message. We recommend sending a push message telling the thief about "important banking info" or something similar, and sending them to the homepage of a major bank. If the thief swipes to unlock the device while your push message is up, FoneHome will transmit the device's location and then open the web page you sent, which should hopefully keep the thief from suspecting that the device is being tracked.

You can also activate 'Lost Mode' which will place the device in a high-accuracy mode which will cause it to send position updates once per minute. Please note that Lost Mode activation is not immediate. Your device must check in at least once after Lost Mode has been activated to know to switch into this mode. Also note that this is very battery intensive so Lost Mode should not be enabled any longer than necessary.

For any given location that your device has reported, you can print a report detailing the device's location details, maps, and nearest known address. This report can be given to the police to aid them in finding and recovering your device. Please do not attempt to apprehend a suspected thief on your own. Give your device's location report to the police and let them handle it.

In order for your position to be detected on an iPod touch or a WiFi iPad, since these devices don't have a GPS, they must be connected to a wireless access point that has been mapped by Apple and known to be in their system. If the access point you're connecting to has not been mapped, there is no way to get your WiFi device's position. Fire up the Maps app on your device and see if it finds your location. If Maps can find you, FoneHome should be working too. If Maps can't find you, FoneHome won't be able to find you either and you'll have to try to connect to another wireless access point that's been mapped to get a position update to go through. This is a limitation of the hardware in these devices and not of the FoneHome software.

On your device, go to the Settings "app" -> Location Services (or Settings -> General -> Location Services, depending on your iOS version) and verify that location services are enabled both globally and for the FoneHome app. If location services are enabled and FoneHome still cannot locate you, start the Maps app on your device and see if it finds your location. If Maps can find you, FoneHome should be working too. If Maps can't find you, FoneHome won't be able to find you either. See the question regarding GPS accuracy.

On your device, go to the Settings "app" -> Notifications and verify that push notifications are turned on both globally and for the FoneHome app. Also, occasionally push messages get backed up in Apple's system and they can take several minutes to several hours before they are finally delivered to your device. Unfortunately there is nothing we are able to do about this as the problem occurs on Apple's servers after we hand the push message off to them. If push messages still won't go through, try deleting and reinstalling the app. You will not be charged to download the app again if you use the same iTunes account you used when you originally purchased it.

iPhone models 3GS and newer and iPod touch 3rd generation models and newer support multitasking, provided they are running version 4.0 or higher of Apple's iOS operating system. iPads support multitasking provided they are running version 4.2 or higher of iOS. On devices that do not support multitasking, the FoneHome app must be running in the foreground (it must be the only app open and actively running on the device) in order to function. Push messages can be sent to your device and received regardless of if the app is currently running or not. If a push message is viewed on the device and the app was not running, it will be started and will transmit a position update.

The app should use approximately 10 to 20 megabytes of data per month, depending on how often your device checks in. Keep in mind that whenever your device is connected to WiFi, all communications with our servers will be done using the WiFi connection and will not count against your cellular data usage quota.

The most likely cause for this is that you are running an outdated version of Apple's iOS operating system on your device. There are bugs in certain versions of iOS prior to 5.0 that can cause background apps to randomly shut down and not be restarted as they should. You can check what version of iOS is running on your device by going to Settings -> General -> About and scrolling down to look for 'Version'. You can update the OS on your device by connecting it to your computer, launching iTunes, and clicking the 'Check for Update' button on the main iTunes screen. If you have completed the update process and the FoneHome web site is still showing that your device's OS is out of date, open the FoneHome app on your device, open the settings screen, click 'Account', and then login again with your email address and password. This will transmit the updated version information to our servers.

Go to Settings -> General -> Restrictions -> Enable Restrictions. Enter or create a passcode if prompted. Then set the "Deleting Apps" option to OFF. You may also want to tap the Location option on the same screen and select "Don't Allow Changes" to prevent changes to location services settings and keep a thief from disabling location services on your device. If you don't see these settings on your device, please make sure you have updated the OS on your device to the latest version by following the instructions above.

This is not a bug. If you have Significant Updates enabled within the app, the Location Services arrow will always stay on in the status bar. This does not mean your GPS is constantly on. It simply means that the OS will notify FoneHome whenever your device's position has changed significantly (usually whenever it changes cell towers). It is recommended that you leave this feature ON.