AppJive

Pros:
-Service is sound
-They take care of everything for you
-App is simple and easy to handle

Cons:
-Not a very appealing wallpaper is created
-No wallpaper editor
-Error issue in form (see below to get around it)

This App has two rankings:

For concept & service:

5/5

For app execution:

3/5

The best way to not lose you iPhone, is to not misplace it… That being said, (and not very well,) what happens when you lose your iPhone? Is it gone forever? Did you leave your name & number on the screen for someone to contact you? Why should they return it?

These questions have probably crossed your mind at one point or another. Well I have found a possible solution. This past week the developers of the Lost Phone Recovery App (Rewarding Return LLC) contacted me notifying me of their new iPhone application.

First, let me go into what their service does. They help you get your iPhone back to you in the event someone finds your lost iPhone. Basically the screen shot above is self explanatory, but I’ll go into it none-the-less.

The app generates a code specifically for only your iPhone. The code is then inserted into an iPhone Wallpaper like the one above. You then set the photo (saved to your photo reel) as your wallpaper.

The Finder contacts Rewarding Return via the website on the wallpaper or the toll free number. Rewarding Return then has the item shipped to them for verification. They then ship the item back to you, and your reward to the finder. (Yes, I said reward. I’ll explain later.) Rewarding Return pays for all the shipping costs and makes all the arrangements. So yes you saw the “Reward” part…. The thing is why would anyone want to return you iPhone? Keywords: “REWARD IF FOUND.” They say you should still a minimum of $20 as the reward, I did $30.

Now let’s return back to the app itself. Now, the application itself is mainly for registration, creating your ID number & creating a background.

When you open the app, you have the option to Register of Login:

When you register, it’s very simple, basically just complete the form & submit (you’ll also choose a pin number to login with within the application):

If you go to login, simply type in the pin you registered and you can choose the update your info and/or download you wallpaper again.

Issues with app:
The only real issue I encountered, was when I was entering my address into the field & I tapped on submit, it told me to make sure all fields were filled. I noticed that the Address line 2 was blank, I don’t have info for that line, so I just added a ” ” (space) and the form submitted.

Another thing I ran into, not really an issue, but rather a lack of a feature. When you background is created it looks likes the first screen shot above – not really appealing & individualistic, so it would be nice if the information was an overlay for a picture that you could import. In other words – a wallpaper editor would be nice to have.

I ended up sending my wallpaper to GIMP and editing it into a background (I’ve included how to do this after the review). So if you know photoshop or how to use GIMP, then with a bit of cutting & pasting you can have your wallpaper good to go! Here’s the one I did:

If you don’t know how to use a photo editor or don’t really wasn’t to deal with all that, then, when setting the wallpaper as you background you have the ability to reposition the wallpaper. I dragged mine down, so that the info was toward the bottom rather than in the center of the screen, like so:

Overall:
I think this is a great idea, and for only $7, it can’t be beat. Yes, there are other applications that can actually locate your iPhone, but how are you going to get it back? Also another thing I’d like to note – it would be nice if they could assign you an actual sticker as well (after all they do sell them), so that you could stick it to the back of you iPhone, since knowing me, by the time someone finds it, the battery might be dead… But I do recommend this application for anyone looking for a “little more protection.” [$6.99 - iTunes link]

Creating your customized background:

Export the wallpaper with the code on it to your computer along with any photo you wish to use as the background. I just used a photo I had taken with the iPhone camera as my background. I used GIMP, so directions will be that way.
I opened up the ID photo and cropped it down to just the badge info, I then re-sized the image to 350

Popularity: unranked [?]