No matter how you look at it, the loss of a smartphone or tablet is a nightmare. Fortunately, it seems that with each new release of iOS, attempting to locate a lost or stolen iDevice gets a little bit easier. The same can soon be said for iOS 8 as it'll include a new feature to help pinpoint the last known location of a handset or slate before the battery fades and the unit powers down.
It's called, aptly enough, "Send Last Location" and it will arrive as a toggle in the "Find My iPhone" or "Find my iPad" feature set in the "iCloud" settings menu. When enabled, the feature will automatically send the last known location of the device to Apple when the battery drains to a critical level.
As mentioned earlier, the feature is the latest offering in an attempt to ease the frustration often associated with losing a device. "Find My iPhone" first debuted in 2010 and was further enhanced by "Activation Lock" in iOS 7.
The arrival of Touch ID in the iPhone 5s last year was another added layer of security, one that is expected to arrive on the next revision of the iPad and iPad mini later this year. We've seen similar touch-related security measures spring up from companies like Samsung in the interim although most indications suggest these implementations are finicky at best.