What to Know

Stolen Device Protection is an iPhone security feature to protect your phone from thieves.
However, sometimes Stolen Device Protection won't recognize you're at home.
To fix this, you will need to add your home address and enable Significant Locations.

Apple’s Stolen Device Protection is a great feature that protects your iPhone from potential thieves by preventing changes to any security settings, such as your passcode, when you’re away from home. However, some users have found that Stolen Device Protection incorrectly reports that they are away from home when they’re not. Let’s get to the bottom of why this seems to be happening.

What Is Stolen Device Protection?

Stolen Device Protection keeps your iPhone secure by preventing changes to your passcode or Apple Account password. Additionally, accessing passwords requires Face ID authentication and does not fall back to your passcode, meaning only your face can unlock them. This is a great feature that helps combat thieves who might figure out your passcode. Everyone who has access to this feature should enable it.

However, a strange phenomenon has happened when some users have activated Stolen Device Protection. Sometimes, when Stolen Device Protection is turned on, you might go to change your passcode or make a change to your Apple Account and your iPhone says you're not at a familiar location, so you’ll have undergo a security delay. For more iPhone security tips and tricks, be sure to sign up for our free Tip of the Day newsletter. Now, let’s see if we can figure out how to remedy this situation.

How to Enable Significant Locations

System Requirements

These steps were performed on an iPhone 15 Pro running iOS 27 (available as a beta now and to be shipped universally in September 2026). However, while it might look slightly different, these same steps can be performed on iOS 26. Find out how to update to the latest version of iOS.

In order for Stolen Device Protection to know you’re at home, it needs access to your location, specifically Significant Locations. If your iPhone says you're not at a familiar location, let’s make sure you have Significant Locations enabled:

Open the Settings app, and tap Privacy & Security.
Tap Location Services.
Scroll all the way to the bottom and select,System Services.
Tap Significant Locations.
Make sure Significant Locations is toggled on.

With Significant Locations enabled, your iPhone should be able to better recognize when you are at home. However, you also need to make sure you have a home address added to your iPhone.

How to Add Familiar Locations to iPhone

If Stolen Device Protection is not recognizing your home even with Significant Locations enabled, you should add your home address in Maps. You can also follow these steps to add your work or other familiar locations on your iPhone:

Open the Maps app.
If your home or work is not already added, you will see buttons for adding your Home and Work. There is also an Add button for adding other significant locations. Tap any one of them to get started.
Enter the address of the location you're adding or select one of the Siri Suggestions. For this example, I'm adding my home.
The label can sometimes default to the address you entered, so change it to one that makes sense for you. Since this is my home address, I've labeled mine Home.
Select the type of location from the list. I've selected My home.
Tap the toggle for Add to Contact Card if you want this address added to your contact card.
Tap the checkmark icon when you are finished.

That’s how to add your home address to your iPhone so that Stolen Device Protection can recognize when you are at home.

FAQ

What is a Security Delay on iPhone? A Security Delay is a part of Stolen Device Protection. When you attempt to make security changes to your iPhone while away from a familiar location, you'll have to undergo a Security Delay of 1 hour before you can continue making changes.
Why is there a Security Delay on my iPhone? If you are not in a familiar location, you will be forced to wait out a Security Delay before you can make security-related changes to your iPhone.
Should I turn on Stolen Device Protection? Yes, everyone should turn on Stolen Device Protection. This feature prevents changes to your iPhone passcode, your Apple Account password, and does not allow access to your passwords without a successful Face ID scan.