OmniTech Newsletter 03

Hi there!

It’s Tom Koch from OmniTech, Apple/Mac Tech and Tutoring—welcome to the 3rd edition of the OmniTech Newsletter!

If you received this email by mistake or would like to unsubscribe, just reply to let me know, and I’ll take care of it.

Do you have topics you’d love to see covered here? Send me your suggestions!

🤔 Got a Weird Text Lately?

I’m sure you’ve seen some odd text messages pop up lately, like “Can you help take care of my dog?” Or other weird requests like just the word “Hello” from an unknown number? These are often scams, trying to get you to engage and respond.

My advice? If you get one of these messages, just ignore and delete it—better safe than sorry! If it is someone that really needs to get back to you, they will.

‼️ Heads Up! A new text scam going around uses “The Toll Roads” company name as a way to try to get you to click on a scam link.
Remember, do not click the link or any other suspicious link.

As with all potentially fake or suspicious links, go directly to your web browser (Safari, Chrome, etc) and manually type in the website address and check your account information.
And, remember: if it looks suspicious, it most likely is.

🔎 Find My iPhone: How to Locate a Lost Device

Recently, a neighbor found a lost iPhone and was able to reunite it with its owner thanks to Apple’s Find My feature. I suggested she keep it powered on so the owner could track it—and guess what? The owner was able to find it!

Here’s how you can set up Find My and use it if you misplace your own Apple device.

1. Set Up Find My:

* On your iPhone or iPad, go to Settings (Gear Icon) and tap your name at the top to access your iCloud settings.
* Tap Find My then click “Find My iPhone/iPad” and make sure the Find My iPhone/iPad switch is on (the switch should be green).
* Turn on Find My Network to allow nearby Apple devices to help locate your phone if it’s lost.
* Switch on Send Last Location to keep a record of your phone’s location if it powers off.

2. Using Find My to Locate Your Device:

* Open the Find My app on a Mac, iPhone or iPad that is registered to your iCloud account, and a map will show your devices’ last known locations.
* If your device is close by, select it and tap Play Sound to hear a tone that’ll help you track it down.
* Not nearby? Tap Mark As Lost to lock it and add a message for whoever finds it.
* Even if the phone isn’t nearby, click the Play Sound button. Perhaps it is at a friend’s house or car? The sound will notify them that they have your device and they can contact you.

3. Works with More than Just iPhones

Find My also supports AirTags, AirPods, Macs, iPads, Apple Watches and supported 3rd-party devices.
If your device is Wi-Fi only, it will use the last known Wi-Fi location.

4. Lost Your iPhone in the House?

You can also use the built-in locator on Apple Watch to ping your iPhone if you’ve misplaced it nearby.

Below is a thorough guide from Apple to help with using your Apple Watch to locate your locally misplaced iPhone:
https://support.apple.com/guide/watch/find-misplaced-devices-apd092474c11/watchos

Finally, if you’d like more ways to use Find My, here is Apple’s helpful guide including how to use the icloud.com/find website with your AppleID and password to find your lost device:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/101593

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Well, that’s it for this issue. Thanks for being part of the OmniTech community! I’m here to help with any tech questions you have, so reach out anytime.

Talk soon,
-t