You know those messages that pop up on your devices letting you know that you signed in on a new device on FaceTime or iMessage if you change or reset a device?
I just got one saying there was a new sign in from “Doug’s iPhone” and I could ignore it if it was me.
There is just an “OK” button to click away.
Notably there is nothing about what to do if it wasn’t you.
I didn’t change or modify any of my current devices. And my iPhone’s name wasn’t “Doug’s iPhone”.
Anything I should be wary of?
Do you have 2FA turned on for your AppleID? If not, change your AppleID password ASAP! Then https://support.apple.com/HT204071.
Yes, I do.
Then, assuming you didn’t get an alert to enter a 2FA code before the signin notice, it would seem to be a false alarm. Have never heard of anything similar. You might want to give Apple a call and see if they have noted a similar experience.
There was no code entry alert. Maybe I’ll call Apple. I did login via the web and review my devices and they all looked correct.
Given your first name, I reckon that you do have an iPhone with that name but maybe are not aware about its name? The device name is automatically set when you set up from scratch. You can change the name, but not many people do this.
These alerts come without rhyme or reason, rarely, but thy do come, maybe after certain software update, I could never properly find out when exactly.
If I’m wrong (and I might be, because you already reviewed all your devices on the web), all that Apple will tell you, is to change your iCloud password. Should your password be too simple, maybe a good idea.
Actually I do have an old iPhone 6 Plus with that name it turns out. I only use it to play white noise at night for my dog. I guess it must have triggered that alert for some reason.
Sign-in alerts can pop up at weird times for no apparent reason. Just now, when I sat down at my MBP, it showed a FaceTime sign-in alert for my iPad. I’ve never actually used FaceTime on my iPad, and I haven’t done anything on it requiring an Apple ID sign-in for days.
The fact that the named device is actually one you own and control makes this more of a quirk than a security concern, but I’d love to know what actions trigger these spurious alerts.