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Your teen's first iPhone: settings to set up together

Updated 4 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

Short answerSit down together on the first day, with the teen holding the phone. Set a passcode they can remember, turn on Find My and Stolen Device Protection, and set a SIM PIN. Make sure they know their Apple Account password. Share location only if they agree. This is about theft and strangers, not about watching your teen.

A first phone can be lost or stolen like any other, and a little setup now makes a bad day easier. It's written for iPhone, and the teen should do the tapping. You point.

Set it up as a team

What to set up

  1. A passcode they can remember. Our advice is more than 4 digits, and not a birthday or a pattern like 1234. Keep it private from classmates, and don't type it where others can watch. If a friend or partner already knows it, here's what to do.
  2. Find My. Apple says that if Find My wasn't on before the iPhone was lost, you can't mark it as lost or erase it remotely. Turn it on first. The checklist has the steps.
  3. Stolen Device Protection. Apple says it adds a layer of security when the iPhone is away from familiar locations, and that it must be turned on before the device is lost or stolen. Here's how it works and how to turn it on.
  4. A SIM PIN. Apple says it protects the SIM from others using it for calls or mobile data. Find the carrier's default PIN first and don't guess, because Apple says a wrong guess can permanently lock the SIM. Steps are here.

The Apple Account password, and who keeps it

This one is easy to forget, because the phone signs in by itself. The teen will need it on another device if the phone is lost. Try it together now using this guide, with the teen typing.

Who should keep it? Our advice is the teen, because it's their account. A written copy on paper at home, away from the phone, is a good back-up, and they can decide whether you hold it. Don't keep it as a photo or in Notes, where a thief could find it.

If you set up an account for a younger child, it works differently. Apple says parents or guardians have to create an Apple Account for children under 13, and that age requirements vary by country or region. Apple's page also says an organizer, parent or guardian in the Family Sharing group can help reset a child's password from their own iPhone. Apple's page on child accounts says more, including Screen Time and parental controls, which this guide doesn't cover.

Family Sharing, in one paragraph

Family Sharing lets a group of people be linked on Apple's services. The part that matters here is location. Apple says the organizer sets up location sharing for the group, and then each family member can choose whether or not to share their location with the rest of the group. Apple also says that members who don't share can't have their device's location seen, though family can still play a sound on, put into Lost Mode or erase a missing device. Read Apple's page before you set it up.

Sharing location, only if they agree

Location sharing can show where the phone is, but it also shows where your teen is. Some teenagers are fine with that and some aren't. Explain exactly what you'd see, and accept a no. You can still do everything else on this page.

If they say yes, Apple says you can share for an hour, until the end of the day, indefinitely or a custom time, and stop at any time. It also says the person you stop sharing with won't be notified. Make sure your teen knows how to stop, so the choice stays theirs. Here are the steps.

Photos of IDs and cards

A school ID, a passport, a bank card or a boarding pass in the camera roll goes wherever the phone goes. Suggest that they don't keep photos of these, and delete them once they're no longer needed. This guide explains why, and this one shows how to look. Only they should decide what stays, and you shouldn't look through anything else.

Write down what helps

How FirstHour helps

Plan B goes through 16 guided tips, starting with the passcode, Find My, the Apple Account password, Stolen Device Protection and a SIM PIN. It also makes a first-hour plan your teen can send to someone they trust or print as a wallet card. Protect points out pictures of cards, IDs and codes on the iPhone, and your teen decides what to do with each one. It can miss things, so "nothing found" doesn't mean "safe".

FirstHour can't turn these settings on, can't lock the iPhone or a bank account, and isn't a monitoring or parental-control app.

Questions

My teen says no to location sharing. Is that a problem?

No. Find My, Stolen Device Protection and a SIM PIN still work without it. A written list of who to call does most of the rest.

Should I know their passcode?

That's for the two of you to agree. It's their phone, and a passcode that's shared gets known by more people. One option is a sealed note kept at home.

The phone has just been stolen. What now?

Start with what to do if your iPhone is stolen.

Sources

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