Uhm... maybe this is the case with Electrum and / or some other wallets... But this doesn't happen with all the wallets.
Sure, but OP said the thief was using Jaxx wallet:
they put the receiver phone on the table ..their phone ...was a iphone with a jaxx live wallet
Jaxx wallet does indeed show unconfirmed transaction, which it labels as "pending transactions", as soon as they are detected, which is typically within a few seconds.