Find My is an

asset tracking Asset tracking refers to the method of tracking physical assets, either by scanning barcode labels attached to the assets or by using tags using GPS, BLE, LoRa, or RFID which broadcast their location. These technologies can also be used for in ...

service made by

Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...

that enables users to track the location of

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

iPadOS iPadOS is a mobile operating system developed by Apple for its iPad line of tablet computers. It was given a name distinct from iOS, the operating system used by Apple's iPhones to reflect the diverging features of the two product lines, suc ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

watchOS watchOS is the operating system of the Apple Watch, developed by Apple Inc., Apple. It is based on iOS, the operating system used by the iPhone, and has many similar features. It was released on April 24, 2015, along with the Apple Watch, the o ...

visionOS visionOS is a mixed reality operating system derived primarily from iPadOS and its core frameworks (including UIKit, SwiftUI, ARKit and RealityKit), and MR-specific frameworks for foveated rendering and real-time interaction. It was develope ...

devices,

AirPods AirPods are wireless Bluetooth earbuds designed by Apple. They were first announced on September 7, 2016, alongside the iPhone 7. Within two years, they became Apple's most popular accessory. AirPods are Apple's entry-level wireless headpho ...

AirTags AirTag is a tracking device developed by Apple Inc., Apple. AirTag is designed to act as a key finder, which helps people find personal objects such as keys, bags, apparel, small electronic devices and vehicles. To locate lost or stolen items, ...

, and a number of supported third-party accessories through a connected

iCloud iCloud is the personal cloud service of Apple Inc. Launched on October 12, 2011, iCloud enables users to store and Data synchronization, sync data across devices, including Apple Mail, Calendar (Apple), Apple Calendar, Photos (Apple), Apple Ph ...

account. Users can also show their primary device's geographic location to others, and can view the location of others who choose to share their location. Find My was released alongside

iOS 13 iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple for the iPhone, iPod Touch and HomePod. The successor to iOS 12, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June ...

on September 19, 2019, merging the functions of the former Find My iPhone (known on Mac computers as Find My Mac) and Find My Friends into a single app. On watchOS, Find My is separated into three different applications: Find Devices, Find People and Find Items. After release on

, Find My was released on

13.1 on September 24, 2019 and

10.15 on October 7, 2019.

Background

The original "Find My iPhone" app was announced on June 10, 2009 and released in June 2010 alongside

iPhone OS 3 iPhone OS 3 (''stylized as iPhone OS 3.0'') is the third major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., succeeding iPhone OS 2. It was announced on March 17, 2009, and was released on June 17, 2009. It was succeeded ...

. At the time, it required a paid subscription to Apple's

MobileMe MobileMe (branded iTools between 2000 and 2002; .Mac until 2008) is a discontinued subscription business model, subscription-based collection of online services and software offered by Apple Inc. All services were gradually transitioned to and e ...

service. It was made free of charge with the iOS 4.2.1 update on November 22, 2010, but only for devices introduced in 2010. With the release of

in October 2011, the service became free for all users. A

Mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

version called "Find My Mac" was added to OS X 10.7 Lion. "Find My Friends" was announced on October 4, 2011, the day before

Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...

’ death, and released on October 12, 2011, several hours before the release of

iOS 5 iOS 5 is the iOS version history, fifth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 4. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2011, and was released ...

. In October 2015, Find My Friends was added to iCloud.com to view the location of friends from a web browser. In iOS 9, both Find My iPhone and Find My Friends became built-in apps, and thus could not be removed from devices. With the release of

and macOS 10.15 Catalina, the functionality of both Find My iPhone and Find My Friends was combined into a single application, simply titled Find My.

Features

People

Find My allows users to share their device locations to contacts with an

, or

device for an hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely. Once shared, others are able to see the exact location of a person's device on a map and can receive directions to the person's location. Notifications can be set, alerting a user when someone leaves or arrives at a set location.

Devices

Users can find the location of their Apple devices and play a sound on the device at maximum volume. A device can also be marked as lost, locking the device with a password and suspending sensitive features such as

Apple Wallet Apple Wallet (or simply Wallet, known as Passbook prior to iOS 9) is a digital wallet developed by Apple Inc. and included with iOS and watchOS that allows users to store Wallet passes such as coupons, boarding passes, Campus card, student ID c ...

. Lost mode also allows a user to leave a message and contact information on the lock screen of the device. A user can also choose to erase a device, deleting all content and settings, which is useful if the device contains sensitive information; however, the device can no longer be located after this action is performed. After the erase is complete, the message can still be displayed and the device will be activation locked. This makes it hard for someone to use or sell the device. An Apple ID password is required to turn off Find My, sign out of iCloud, erase the device, or reactivate a device after an activation lock. Since iOS 15, Apple added a feature to locate an iPhone 11 or later for up to 5 hours after the battery is nominally drained, or up to 24 if it was powered off manually by the user (iPhone SE models excluded), through the power reserve feature. To be eligible to claim on a stolen or lost iPhone when covered with

AppleCare+ AppleCare+ is Apple's brand name for extended warranty and technical support plans. It allows the customer unlimited incidents of accidental damage with a deductible (which, like the price of the plan, varies by device). AppleCare+ is available fo ...

with theft and loss coverage, Find My must be active on the user's device.

Items

With the release of iOS 14.3, third-party

Bluetooth Bluetooth is a short-range wireless technology standard that is used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances and building personal area networks (PANs). In the most widely used mode, transmission power is li ...

items and accessories with support for the Find My network accessory program can also be tracked, under a separate "Items" tab. If something is lost but out of Bluetooth range, the app will display the last known location until another

, or

device is nearby. Similar to Apple's own devices, third-party items can be placed into a "lost mode" which prevents others from pairing to the device. Lost items can be identified from within the Find My app, allowing a user to see a message or contact information from the owner of the lost item.

also use

ultra-wideband Ultra-wideband (UWB, ultra wideband, ultra-wide band and ultraband) is a radio technology that can use a very low energy level for short-range, high-bandwidth communications over a large portion of the radio spectrum. UWB has traditional applicat ...

technology to find lost items (if the Apple device used for searching supports it).

Privacy concerns

Friends

Find My, as well as its predecessor Find My Friends, raised privacy issues arising from tracking a user's location, without notification. Several safety features mean a user shares their location only with people they choose and can revoke permission at any time. "Friends" can track only users who have accepted an access request. A user can remove a person from access at any time or make the tracking temporary.

Third parties

The introduction of item tracking has prompted concern that the device could be used to track someone without their knowledge by placing an AirTag in their belongings. In an attempt to prevent stalking Apple has introduced notifications which alert users if they are being followed by an unknown device.

References

External links

Overview of the Find My network architecture
{{iOS 2019 software Apple Inc. services IOS-based software made by Apple Inc. iOS software Internet geolocation