How To (Hopefully) Not Lose Your Apple Pencil
I found an app that will help you find your $129 stylus
A 3 year old made me lose 129 dollars.
When people see an Apple Pencil, it becomes the only thing they care about in the world for roughly 2-3 minutes.
When a little kid sees something new, it becomes the only thing they care about in the world for roughly 2-3 minutes.
Combine both, and you have a terrifying combination.
I eventually found it behind a piano.
Nobody deserves to face the stress I experienced in my 15-minute search. Thankfully, I found an app that’ll help you.
It’s called Wunderfind.
Does It Work?
That’s the most important question.
Thankfully, it does.
I tasked a friend to hide my Apple Pencil five times. Each time, the Apple Pencil was hidden in obscure locations to make the search reasonably challenging.
In one instance, the Apple Pencil was hidden in the binder ring of an old school binder inside of a closet. In another, it was hidden inside a shoebox.
Here’s how long it took me to find the Apple Pencil (using only my iPad and Wunderfind):
Attempt 1 - 1:40.30
Attempt 2 - 2:22.79
Attempt 3 - 6:52.77
Attempt 4 - 1:14.27
Attempt 5 - 3:10.75 (for this attempt, my friend hid the Apple Pencil behind the piano I mentioned above)
How Does It Work?
The app works by tracking the strength of the Bluetooth connection between the Apple Pencil and your iPad.
That creates a few issues. Here are some tips to help you out:
Walk slowly. It takes a few seconds for the signal strength to update. Walking too quickly might make you miss a spike in signal strength.
Take note of any major obstructions. In one attempt, the signal strength was 60% but the Apple Pencil was right next to where I was holding my iPad. The reason? It was covered by a thick object.
If disconnected via Bluetooth, you may have to get very close to your Apple Pencil for the signal to reconnect. This means you’ll probably need to do some pretty intensive searching if this happens to you.
If you know your Apple Pencil is in a certain location but Bluetooth isn’t picking it up, there’s a good change your Apple Pencil has ran out of battery. If this happens, Bluetooth won’t work.
This might seem like a joke, but make sure you’re tracking the right device. On one attempt, I accidentally tracked the wrong device (a printer), wasting five-ish minutes.
App Info
Wunderfind is very popular - it has an average rating of 4.5/5 from 94k reviewers on the App Store.
The app is simple and intuitive. Wunderfind has a helpful Q&A section to answer common questions people have with the app.
In addition to their free offering, Wunderfind also offers a one-time purchase of $4.99 called Wunderfind Pro.
With Wunderfind Pro, you get the following benefits:
Play Sound
Notify When Found
Notify When Lost
Show Map
Share Location
Apple Watch Complication
And any future Wunderfind Pro features
I think the free offering is more than enough for most people, especially if you’re looking for an Apple Pencil. If, on the other hand, you’re looking for AirPods and you absolutely cannot find them, the upgrade to Wunderfind Pro might be worth it.
That’s another feature - Wunderfind works for any Bluetooth device, not just your Apple Pencil.
Alternatives
Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any completely free app (no in-app purchases) for finding Bluetooth devices.
The two I tried were designed for iPhones, which meant that they were a little tricky to use on an iPad. The bigger issue, however, is that I could not get either of them to connect to my Apple Pencil. When I switched apps, on the other hand, Wunderfind picked the signal up immediately.
Given Wunderfind’s massive social proof, I think it’s probably the best option for people who lose their Apple Pencil. It’s definitely the app I’d start my search with.
Final Thoughts
Wunderfind, like most Bluetooth finder apps out there, isn’t perfect. It does have some issues present with any Bluetooth-based app (obstacles blocking the signal, slow signal strength updates, etc), but it’s still the app I would use if I ever lose my Apple Pencil.
Thanks for reading!
Adi