Thread

My phone detects going on a run as “someone snatching my phone and running off”

75 points · 135 comments · luu

Waterluvian · 1786041461 · focus · HN ↗
Is "snatching a phone and running off" a common enough problem in some regions that this is worth having? Or is this a feature chasing after fears of the bogeyman, leading to concrete inconveniences like this?
1. bombcar · 1786041823 · focus · HN ↗
  Ever since phones became pretty immune to reselling-theft (steal phone, reset it, sell it) people have been snatching phones and trying to empty crypto, banks, etc before it locks. Some apps don't reauthenticate.
  1. Waterluvian · 1786041991 · focus · HN ↗
    Interesting point. The article linked in a sibling comment (about 2025 thefts) suggests that they are being resold. Which makes sense if it's a $2000 product that's so stealable. But I do recall there being a lot of difficulty resetting a phone that isn't yours. Do you feel the is article wrong? Are there ways around it? Is "pretty immune to reselling-theft" a newer feature than 2025?
    kotaKat · 1786045863 · focus · HN ↗
    Activation Lock now extends to the serials of the parts inside every iPhone since Apple knows the S/N of everything. If you pull the battery off an Activation Locked phone and put it in another phone it's going to freak out and complain the part is pairing-locked and won't pair to your device but it'll be baseline usable. You'll just keep getting nasty nags in the Settings letting you know you're using stolen parts.
    <a href="https://support.apple.com/guide/security/activation-lock-security-sec0f8dfd030/web" rel="nofollow">https://support.apple.com/guide/security/activation-lock-sec...
    As of iOS 27 beta, there's now an additional "partner finance lock" status that will also be an available parts-lock status (to prevent a 'leased' device from being parted out).
    <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-could-restrict-leased-devices-after-missed-payments/" rel="nofollow">https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-co...
    bombcar · 1786050532 · focus · HN ↗
    If I have your unlocked iPhone, I could probably reset your Apple ID because I have access to your email and your texts so I can reset your Apple ID password unlock your phone unlock. Remove it from Find My and reset it.
    It makes me wonder if there’s some way to put a third lock on there that’s not normally unlocked.

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