5 Tips for Setting up Apple iCloud’s Find My iPhone App

Apple is making it easier for its smartphone users to locate their iPhones and other missing iOS devices through the Find My iPhone app. On Wednesday, Apple rolled out a new version of its operating system, iOS 5, along with iCloud and Mac OS X 10.7.2.

Find My iPhone is Apples free app for locating your iOS devices. It has been updated to version 1.3 and now works with iCloud.

Here what users can do if they've lost their iPhones and other iDevices.

- Go to Settings, tap iCloud, and enable Find My iPhone.

- If you have misplaced your iPhone, sign in to icloud.com from any computer or use the Find My iPhone app on another iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch device to display its approximate location on a map.

- You can also display a message or play a sound to help your lost device: You can write a message and display it on your screen and your message will show up, even if the screen is locked. You can tell Find My iPhone to play a sound that overrides the volume or silent setting.

- Set a passcode lock remotely: If you so happen to leave your iPhone in a public place you can protect what's stored until it is returned by remotely setting a four-digit passcode lock to prevent others from using your iPhone and accessing your personal information.

- Remote Wipe protects your privacy: If you lose your iPhone and it hasn't been safely returned to you even after displaying a message that you've lost it, you can start a remote wipe process to restore it to its factory settings. Remember iCloud or iTunes should have the most recent back up of your data, which you can restore once you find the phone.

You must ensure that iCloud is set up on the devices your using to find the iPhone. If not follow these steps:

- To update to iOS 5, connect your device to your Mac or PC and follow the onscreen instructions in iTunes. This will require you to have iTunes 10.5.

- Then turn on iCloud: Once you turn on a new iOS device after the iOS5 update is complete, follow the onscreen instructions to activate your device and set up iCloud. If you skipped the setup process or you just want to change your iCloud settings, then tap the Settings icon on the Home screen and select iCloud.

- Customize your settings: Tap the Settings icon, select iCloud. Tap the On/Off switches to enable individual iCloud services such as Find My iPhone and more.