Private-I
Thu, Sep 18, 2008
My second iPhone application hit the App Store last night. The application is called Private-I and is intended to help users recover lost or stolen iPhones. The program was written using Google’s App Engine as its back-end, and sends the user an email with the iPhone’s location whenever the program is opened. The icon for the app was designed to lure thieves and curious finders to open the program. You can check out the full description on the App Store here.
[UPDATE]: Private-I got some great press in the last couple days. Reviews on Techcrunch, Gizmodo, and Wired, to name a few.
September 19th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Excellent concept. Great program to give you a little peace of mind.
I am having one issue I was unable to solve. Although a new email is given and saved, the program continues to send updates to all (older) submitted addresses. I have erased the program, restarted the iPhone, and reinstalled the program; oddly enough, it continues this add behavior; somehow remembering those previously entered email addresses.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
MichaelS
September 19th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I hope that you won’t be giving up the day job for this.
Yokums last blog post..What is upgradeable Series A preferred stock?
September 20th, 2008 at 5:09 am
Im having the same problem. I feel like a dumb@ss for uing my phone email!!!! also, it gives a really big area where the phone might be. Why cant it use the phones GPS?
September 20th, 2008 at 6:49 am
Yes, I might suggest mentioning *not* using a local (i.e. iPhone accessible) email address. In fact, it might even be a good idea to note setting up a gmail accout specifically for “tracking” purposes (family/department iPhones, other eqiup using other programs).
MichaelS
September 20th, 2008 at 8:10 am
Thanks for the feedback. I am working on both the issues identified in the previous comments. They are server-side issues, so they should be fixed within a day or so. I am updating the link format for the email messages so that the program drops a pin on the map to show a more precise location. As far as how big the area is that the phone might be in, the longer the application is open the more accurate the results. If you have an iPhone 3G, the location detection does use the built-in GPS to get a more accurate read.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am
The location information is sent to the address before it changes even if the registered address is changed. How should I do?
October 8th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I would have more confidence in the application if you could at least spell the following words correctly in your “Private I-Activated” screen.
Connection
available
Otherwise, nice work!
October 8th, 2008 at 10:34 am
You should also consider adding this the the instructions on the iTunes store and the application:
If you use an email address that gets sent to your iPhone, you will be alerting the thief that the gig is up. You should use an email address that does NOT get sent to your phone.
October 8th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Thanks for the heads up on the typos Nukie. I will fix them in an update.
–Mike
Mike Schneiders last blog post..Big in Japan
October 9th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Hi,
I can say I’ve ever met an attorney who also wrote populare software apps. I read that some guy who wrote an iPhone game is making a small fortune off it. I hope this app is similarly profitable for you too.
I am experiencing the same issue Michael S is: the email I initially specified (which is accessible on the iPhone) continues to receive emails after I changed the email address in the Control Panel settings. Until this is fixed, the effectiveness of the app is severely undermined because the thief is likely to see the email.
October 9th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your post. I am expecting to have the email issue sorted out before the end of the weekend.
I also heard about that guy who says he is making a small fortune on his iPhone game. I am sure he is doing well, but I think the expectations for financial success on the App Store are overblown. I hope I am wrong.
–Mike
October 10th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Is there a control setting that we could access to change emails and other settings? For example, for tracking you children and reducing the number of emails sent in a given time. And have the ablitiy for the program to run in the background. Once a theif gets the phone and notices that detection. He is likely to turn off the phone and restarting it.
Love the program.
December 15th, 2008 at 5:38 am
HI,
I just wanted to thank you. Thanks to this wonderful program I was able to give the exact location of my stolen iphone to the police and am eagerly awaiting its return. And let’s just say I will never trust distant relatives again!
You have saved this uni student $850. I dont know how I could ever thank you!
December 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
Hi guys
I love the program as well. But what about adding a fake form for the ‘unwanted user’. Where he has to enter name email website an so on. To identify or find the person easyer? So finally not only sending me an email with his location from gps but also his private info?
love it