A teenage boy was arrested for stealing a phone at O'Connell Bridge in Dublin city centre after a tracker app located him, a court has heard.

The 16-year-old boy is charged with theft of an iPhone 4S valued €500 from a male on October 27.

The teenager was arrested in the city-centre about an hour after it was taken.

It was alleged the phone's tracker app had helped gardai find him, the Dublin Children's Court was told today.

The boy, who was accompanied to court by his mother and his solicitor, and was ordered by Judge William Early to appear again in four weeks, when he will be expected to enter a plea.

As a condition of bail, the teen has been ordered to obey a curfew.