Apple Find My Explained: Tracking items, Devices & More
While the app was initially restricted to finding lost Apple devices, the idea has evolved, with Apple merging Find My iPhone and its collaborator app Find My Friends into a individual Find My app with the free of io 13, allowing the ability to track your Apple devices, friends and kin, and more recently, items, from one stead .
While the idea of tracking person ’ randomness location can be off-putting, it ’ s worth pointing out that Find My location share is an opt-in service – you can ’ t just select person from your contacts and get access to their location data. That ’ vitamin d be a massive invasion of privacy .
rather, friends and family can decide to share their location with you for a limited clock – ideal if you ’ ra meet a friend in a large sphere – or indefinitely.
Whether tracking Apple devices, items or people using Apple ’ mho Find My app, we ’ ve got all you need to know right here .
Which devices is the Find My app available on?
Being an Apple overhaul, it shouldn ’ t come as a surprise that Find My is exclusive to Apple devices – Android users will have to look elsewhere .
The estimable news is that, because the Find My app was released aboard io 13, there are enough of iPhones and iPads with access to the app. Mac users had to wait a fiddling farseeing, but it finally came with the exhaust of macOS Big Sur .
equitable to clarify, the Find My app is available to download on :
- All iPhones running iOS 13 or later
- All iPads running iPadOS 13.1 or later
- All Macs running macOS Big Sur
There ’ second besides a web app available via icloud.com for existing users on personal computer or Mac, handy if the io device you normally use to access the app gets lost or stolen .
Locating devices on Find My
Let ’ s beginning by delving a little deep into locating Apple devices on the Find My app – after all, it was the foundation of the Find My iPhone app experience at release back in 2010 .
Simply open the Find My app and tap the Devices tab at the bottom to bring up a list of all your Apple products. Any device that you ’ ve set up, linked to your iCloud account and enabled the Find My tracking feature should be listed within the app. If you ’ ve got class Sharing enabled, all your family ’ second devices will be listed excessively .
Your devices are displayed in the form of a tilt, but their locations are besides represented on a map in the form of icons, and you can zoom in to get a better theme of where you might ’ ve left those annoying AirPods you ’ ve been looking for.
You can besides tap on a finical device to get access to promote features, including the options to play a good to help locate a nearby device, and the ability to get directions to its placement via Apple Maps if it ’ s far away. If it ’ randomness marked as offline, you can besides set a notification for when it reconnects .
If you think it very could be gone, you can mark the device as lost. This will disable Apple Pay and displays contact information ( and a custom message ) on the engage screen to prompt whoever finds it to get in contact with you. If you ’ re concerned about the data on the device falling into the incorrectly hands, you can besides go nuclear and wipe the device remotely by tapping Erase This Device .
Finding friends and family on Find My
not retentive after the ability to track your own devices arrived, Apple besides introduced the ability to locate friends and syndicate that have shared their localization data with you via the People tab in the Find My app .
Like when finding Apple devices, all your friends and syndicate are listed and shown on a map .
Tap on a finical person to contact them or get directions to their current location in Apple Maps – but be warned, their localization won ’ thymine update in Apple Maps if they leave while you ’ re on your way to them. You can set notifications to avoid this, letting you know when they leave their stream location, or when they arrive at a particular localization – arrant for keeping an eye on kids .
You can besides use the menu to name frequent locations, making it easier to see where friends and family are at a glance, and you can besides stop sharing your placement with the contact if you want to go incognito .
Locating items on Find My
The most recent addition to the Find My app is the ability to track items using Apple ’ randomness Find My network of over 1bn iPhones and iPads worldwide, and it works in a similar way to Bluetooth trackers from the likes of Tile, utilising Bluetooth Low-Energy to anonymously communicate with the network when in range of a compatible device .
Apple has its own Bluetooth tracker, the AirTag, that can be attached to items like keys and wallets, but you ’ ve besides got a choice of third-party items including Belkin earbuds, Chipolo tag and a VanMoof electric bicycle, and the choice will likely expand over time .
Like other features, you can get an overview of your track gadgets in the Items yellow journalism of the Find My app, and you can see them on a map sheathing excessively. It works in a similar way to finding Apple devices, allowing you to activate a chime to help locate the appliance nearby, and you can set notifications if it moves from its current location besides .
If you ’ re using an AirTag with an iPhone 11 or late, you ’ ll besides be able to use Apple ’ s UWB-based Precision Location to guide you to the exact localization of the tracker within 40ft .