One of the many new announcements Apple made at this year’s WWDC keynote was a change to the “Find My” service. The company has officially merged its two previous versions of the app into one, and made it even more useful and powerful as a result.
The fusion between “Find My iPhone” and “Find My Friends” will be complete later this year when Apple officially launches iOS 13, macOS Catalina, and iPadOS to the public. This new, single “Find My” app is available for all three platforms, and before the big launch day arrives we’ve put together a quick overview of what to expect before the app launches.
(You can also take a look at this article to see just how “Find My” works if you ever do need to call upon its services.)
With Our Powers Combined
As mentioned above, Apple decided to combine the powers of “Find My iPhone” and “Find my Friends” into one app, unsurprisingly called “Find My”. You can fill in the rest of the name based on what you need, because the new app will not only make it possible to find a lost iPhone, iPad, or MacBook, but also help you find the people that matter most to you.
Find Devices, Even When They’re Offline
Being able to locate a device that’s on and active is one thing. But what about an offline device? Apple decided to take a crack at it, and seems to have figured it out. To make it a reality, Apple had to utilize crowd source information, basically building a system that allows the offline device to send an encrypted geolocation signal out into the world over Bluetooth, which is then pinged by other Apple-branded devices nearby. That initial location signal is encrypted, and only you, the owner of another Apple device, can actually nail down the exact location of the missing (and offline) device.
Not even Apple can read the geolocation information that the device sends out.
Improved Location Notifications
This will allow users to setup scheduled notifications for different days throughout the week. It also supports more useful place names, and Apple is throwing in “enhanced privacy controls” for good measure.
Find The Lost Things
Sometimes we misplace our most important devices, and sometimes we need help locating our loved ones, too. Apple’s “Find My” app is a way to do just that, a potentially useful tool in the worst of times. Being able to handle all of the location-searching features in a single app is a nice change of pace, too. Of course, the biggest news is the ability to find offline devices, too.