Locate your friends and favorite objects on your Apple devices
Back in iOS 13, Apple combined the apps formerly known as Find My Friends and Find My iPhone into one convenient app for finding both people and possessions. The new app is called Find My, and in iOS 15, it's a one-stop shop for anything location-related. Plus, it's one of the best iPhone features for those that need to locate essential contacts and devices in a pinch.
What is Find My?
Find My is Apple's app for locating lost devices and keeping up with family. The functionality used to be split out into two different apps, Find My iPhone and Find My Friends, but was combined into one app with iOS 13.
You can use the Find My app to check whether you left your iPad at the office or make sure a family member got home safely. If you lose a device, you can have it play a sound to help you find it or display a message in case someone else picks it up. You can even erase it remotely if you think it might have fallen into the wrong hands.
How do I set up and use Find My?
You can easily set up Find My on iPhone and iPad, and there's also a Find My app for Mac.
Once the feature is turned on for your devices, you'll be able to see their location via any other apple device logged in with your iCloud account or at iCloud.com.
You'll also be able to invite friends and family members to share their location with you to make it easier for you to find each other and stay connected.
What devices can I track with Find My?
Find My is built into iOS and macOS so you can keep tabs on devices like your iPhone and iPad with ease. There's also Find My for Apple Watch, plus support for accessories like AirPods and AirTag. Even non-Apple devices can build in Find My capabilities.
Apple devices with Find My compatibility
Of course, Find My is most prevalent in Apple's first-party devices. It will work with Find My if you've got a recent iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Here's a complete list of Find My-compatible Apple devices:
- iPhone
- iPad
- iPod touch
- Apple Watch
- Mac
- AirPods
- AirTag
Beats devices with Find My compatibility
Beats, as an Apple subsidiary, benefits from tight integration with Apple's ecosystem. Find My is one such integration that can help Beats owners find their lost headphones. Below are the Find My-compatible Beats devices:
- Beats Studio Buds
- Beats Flex
- Powerbeats
- Powerbeats Pro
- Beats Solo Pro
Non-Apple devices with Find My compatibility
In 2021, Apple allowed third-party brands to start integrating Find My capabilities, leading to interesting trackable items. Here are the non-Apple devices with Find My that have launched so far:
What happens when a device goes missing in Find My?
Since you take your devices with you everywhere, you could end up leaving something anywhere. If you do, you can open up the Find My app on another Apple device signed in with the same iCloud account or go to iCloud.com and log in there. It will show you the location of your devices and give you some options if your item is lost.
If a device is nearby, you might want it to play a sound to make it easier to find. If it's not so close, you can put it in Lost Mode and have your device's display show a message in case someone picks it up so they know how to contact you. Lost Mode also starts tracking its location, sends you a notification when it next connects to the network and protects your data with a passcode.
When the chances are looking increasingly slim of you tracking your device down, or if you think it might have gotten into the wrong hands, you can have erased your device remotely.
Can Find My locate an offline device?
Yes. If your missing device can't connect to the internet, the Find My app can still help you track it down using the Find My network.
There are millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world, and each time one gets near your missing device, it will securely and anonymously send its location to iCloud so that you can see it in the Find My app.
Some devices, like the iPhone and iPad, also automatically mark their location when the battery is critically low, which should help you find them even if they run out of power.
Updated October 2021: Updated for iOS 15, macOS Monterey, and watchOS 8.
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