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Comment by cobrausn | Hacker News Reader

So, after reading the article and seeing that smart devices are often targets... I have to ask, is there an app that would help in these kinds of cases?

I'm picturing an app with a button on the main screen. Press the button, device location is uploaded periodically to a server. For bonus points, make the device look like it is powered off (although I suppose there really isn't much you can do if they pull the battery).

After the fact, you might get lucky and the data reveals where the device went, which police might be able to use to track down who did it. Not sure if anything like this exists (don't have a smartphone), but it seems like something that might be useful if you live in an area where this happens a lot.

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Not to be a complete schmuck about it, but Glock makes a wonderful 'app' for that. Unfortunately, California systematically denies its citizens the right to lawfully carry firearms concealed - and in many cases denies them the right to own at all. I would think that a straightforward fix for the robberies would be to enable 'self-service' self-defense and get the laws around legal gun ownership changed.

San Mateo is sort of ok, for the Bay Area. You need "heightened good cause", but the standard isn't absurdly high.

A Glock would not have helped in my case, when five or six young men attacked me at close range (in Oakland), unless I was Chuck Norris and willing to throw away my own life as well as theirs. More police on the streets, and more effective followthrough after the fact, would have helped, though.

Sounds like a great case for standard-capacity magazines (instead of the neutered 8-rounders they want you to have). But that's just me being snarky :-) There's firearms classes out there that teach you how to effectively deal with multiple attackers, but in general it just plain sounds like you had a bad day coming your way. Sorry to hear that, and I hope karma catches up with your assailants sooner rather than later.

No worries. It was just a bad day. :) To be honest, I feel sorry for those guys. They're throwing their lives away.

You're describing "Find My iPhone". I was mugged for my iPhone twice in NYC. The thieves turned the phone off relatively quickly and reset it, which rendered Find My iPhone useless at the time. It was tied to the Apple ID rather than the device (not sure if that's since changed).

As of iOS 7, you can actually remotely render the phone unusable. I've heard NYPD is now handing out flyers advising people to update their iOS devices to iOS 7[1] so they can take advantage of this feature.

While most crime in NYC has declined, smartphone robberies are -- as in Oakland -- majorly up y/y.

[1]https://twitter.com/Hoffm/status/381564392602480640/photo/1

To reset the device or turn of Find My iPhone, you now need to enter your Apple ID password.

You've always been able to remotely disable.

Shameless plug here for Zones: https://github.com/WhisperSystems/Zones

I was robbed in West Oakland over the summer while developing the app. Funny thing, I actually had the app installed on my phone at the time it was stolen and made a bunch of design and feature changes after the fact.

There are apps as you describe.

A better solution would be to render the device inoperable after it has been reported stolen. I hate to be a cynic, but it seems Apple, AT&T, Verizon and others are resistant to this not because it is difficult to accomplish, but due to lower revenue possibly.

Frankly, more people are getting assaulted and injured due to smart phone thefts, and while I do blame the perpetrators, I also find inaction on the part of smart phone vendors abhorrent.

FYI, I've lived in Oakland over 30 years and have not been robbed yet. Not to say it won't happen, but people on their phones are generally more oblivious to their surroundings than usual. Oakland has its problems, but it gets an inordinate amount of this type of bad press that greases the public fear wheel.

I'm afraid your cynicism is at least partially misplaced. Apple has now made it so that iPhones can do exactly what you say. If it's protected with a passcode already, you can't wipe the device. If it's not, you can remotely lock it until and unless you recover it. See: http://www.apple.com/icloud/find-my-iphone.html

an inordinate amount of this type of bad press

So, what would be a more appropriate amount and type of press for the violent robbery capital of the country?

This one is generally highly recommended. Didn't work for my laptop, but I think it was stolen by professionals that wiped it without ever powering it on.

http://preyproject.com/

Android: Cerberus.

It's pretty common. Apple builds this functionality into all of theirs, for example:

http://www.apple.com/icloud/find-my-iphone.html

There are Android apps that will do the same thing.

The problem is getting the police to care about a relatively minor crime, and getting to the phone before the thief (or his fence) wipes it, or ships it to Vietnam or wherever.

It's built into Android as well: https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager

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