Thank you for your input though. The feature uses Apple’s Location Services to track the location of iPhones. Though the signal can definitely travel through solid matter, it definitely weakens or is completely blocked (which happens when you are underground). My eldest found my phone at her house and told me. But as I said to a previous poster, the situation is complicated. Do you know anything else that might affect accuracy? Which one is correct? Turn on location services. More specifically, they were directed to the home of a Las Vegas retiree for no apparent reason, which suggests that errors on the carrier’s side can lead to inaccuracies in such apps. For instance, when Wi-Fi is off and there is no way to access GPS signals, the app might only use nearby cell towers for location tracking, a technique which might give an approximate location circle across miles instead of meters. It should also be noted that Find My iPhone is one of the only apps that uses crowd-sourced Wi-Fi hotspots to get approximate location readings. Somebody found it and gave it to the driver (who was driving his routes with it). If it says “last updated now” it is accurate. 37 posts / 0 new . While you still have your phone, there is no reason for you to touch Location Services. When it does this there is a large blue circle for the location radius. Frequently asked questions concerning accuracy, Find My iPhone will only keep the last known location for up to 24 hours, This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google. The left tab on the bottom, ‘People’, is where you’ll find your friends just like before. Each new network is better than the previous one because it can send out data faster. If you want to secretly track someone’s iPhone without an app, your best option is to use a service called Neatspy iPhone Spy App. As you can see in the example above, sometimes the green circle is so large that it is basically useless. Is it incognito: It can easily be discovered if the owner of the iPhone opens Find My Friends app. In iOS 13 or later, use the Find My app instead, or the Find People app on watchOS 6 or later. Over the last 18 months, our house in Central London has been targeted and attacked by people claiming that we have stolen their Iphone. My phone didn't even ring. I saw him on it earlier that morning when he was at his office, and it said he was where he said he was. Yes, I checked the time. Maybe I was in a poor coverage area. I have noticed that, outside of an occasional delay locating and updating the iPhone 4s, it's typically pretty accurate. This point is an estimation of where the phone is. This is especially true in densely-populated areas where Wi-Fi hotspots are abundant from places like cafes and shopping malls. The snapshots are not always pinpoint accurate, especially on the first "hit" as evidenced if you bring up Apple Maps and see that wider light blue circle surrounding the blue dot. We tried to come near with a taxi, but then it was in another place again. The green dot represents the best possible location fix that the app can calculate and the wider circle around it showcases an area of where the phone might be if it is not located inside the green dot. Note: We will only be discussing the iPhone here because the way other iOS devices are tracked (e.g. How accurate are Find My iPhone and Find My Friends anyway? I lost my phone and the area i was in had horrible services making it harder for the app to locate the phone. You should now see your iPhone listed here. Sometimes it might not update so it’ll say “1h ago”. And the circle around this point means the area where may the phone located. When you checked and it said he was at home, what was the last updated time, at the top? Delete your “friends” from the Find My Friends app, then reinvite them again. Nice isn’t it? For Find My iPhone to work, an iPhone has to be turned on and able to send location information to Apple. On your iPhone or iPad, open the Google Maps app . I know you're looking for tech support and not relationship advice, but if my wife tracked me like this I would absolutely disable location tracking permanently. Example. Subject: How accurate is Find My Friends app? Apple's Find My Friends app on iPhone and iPad lets you share locations, either short-term or long-term, with friends, family, colleagues, and more. Now even when the iPhone has no WiFi or mobile connection. In essence, a bunch of different tracking technologies are used in order to attempt to pinpoint your location. The “Find My Friends” app used to be an extra download, but now it comes with the installed iOS, so if your friends have ever updated their phone, they should have it. Sometimes tech just doesn't work right. The smaller the green circle the more accurate the location is. Once inside, the tracking system showed the 4 phones at a different location.The error on the Apple tracking system means that we are living a nightmare and there seems to be no solution despite appeals to Apple and to the police. No I didn't, Miss Paranoid. This site uses cookies. Adding a friend is easy — just choose from your contacts or provide an email address to send an invitation. At a national road they stopped the traffic and held a passenger bus where it was likely to be in. For example, it might be offline. When I asked why his location told me he'd been home, he said it must be WiFi or something tracking him to his last most well-know location. Suitable users: For those who can have access to the target iPhone and in the contact list of the one they want to track. What Find My Friends Does. However, being indoors can also be helpful. The “Find My Friends” app is a location sharing tool. This is because Find my iPhone, in this instance, relied on data from Sprint to address the location. Press J to jump to the feed. After experiencing such cases, you might also be wondering why the service can be so accurate when you are standing in the middle of a city centre. Your iPhone knows which iBeacon it’s connecting to, so it instantly knows where your are located! Are there other apps that give better accuracy? If all you see is a gray dot, then that means the service cannot locate your device for some reason. But when it’s off, it can be off.I had the Apple Maps (which I assume will give the same coordinates as Find My iPhone) place me in the middle of Florida once when I was in the suburbs of Chicago. FMF can be useful and troublesome at the same time. My BF and I share our locations on FMF. Track Friends using Android. We found it. If you lost your phone in the city, for example, that green circle might represent hundreds of different apartments – a less than ideal scenario. In the last few years, it has become quite easy to find someone's location on the iPhone.While the iOS devices are known to be quite secure, they are also becoming more social. the iPad) can differ greatly. When the phone was plugged into the charger once he got home, it started tracking again, showing him at home. So for example if YOUR internet connection is bad, and you fire up FMF, it might give you an old location, but it would then also tell you when that location was last observed. If you are prompted to log in, do so right away. Yes it does. How accurate is find my iPhone will be described in this explanation. When I spoke with him an hour or so later, he said that he'd "been out all day running errands for work." In this article, we will attempt to explain all of the reasons why its accuracy can vary so much in different occasions. Just install this free app and sign in with the Apple ID you use with iCloud. Now, it may work. At least the app itself does cache the device's tracking and upload it, so it will fill in the gaps when cellular service is bad or nil. The easiest way to check is to use the phone in the exact same spot with and without the case on and see if it works differently. Anonymous: When my husband is at work, the app shows his location as being in the middle of a nearby pond. Could it really just track him at his last location and not update for hours? My husband collected it for me before going to a club meeting. Definitely. Part 1: How to Track Someone’s iPhone Without App. I mistakenly left my phone at my daughter’s house. As you can see, both Find Friends and Find iPhone rely on iCloud to work. If they are turned off, the location accuracy will be decreased dramatically. This doesn't seem right, and I've never had it tell me that he was anywhere other than where he was before. Yesterday, it said he was home for 2.5 hours, and after a while it began to just read "location not found." They will deactivate your SIM, which means that the phone will have no signal, which in turn means that you won’t be able to find it. When it is not, it will only use Wi-Fi hotspots and cell towers. The app allowed a person approved by the user, who also had to have an Apple device, to access the GPS location of the user's Apple mobile device. For example, metal, aluminum, and even carbon fibre cases can decrease signal reception. You may check the location service and WiFi setting on your phone. Essentially, Apple is using Wi-Fi hotspots and mobile towers to locate satellites in order to get quick GPS readings when the phone is located outdoors. My husband’s phone showed up at a particular location for a duration of 2 hours (5:30pm-7:30pm) before it died. So if you ever lose your phone or suspect that it is stolen, go to Find My iPhone on iCloud immediately and turn on the Activation Lock. Anyhow, it’s usually pretty good. Edit: He also said that he did not turn his phone or GPS off all day, however when I saw "location not found" I called him, and it went straight to VM. They can improve location accuracy in indoor public places such as malls, airports, and shops. The denser a building is, the harder it is for signals to be sent out and received. Generally speaking, Find My Friends is accurate, but it takes time for it to really find your location. Share your story with us in the comments below! It certainly does. And, no, it wouldn't report the last location. We put that to the test in order to find out exactly how the service works for you: In our tests in an urban environment, where there are plenty of Wi-Fi hotspots around, we found out the most accurate readings. This is also suitable for Find My Friends shows the wrong location of your friend. Newer networks are faster and often more stable. At least the app itself does cache the device's tracking and upload it, so it will fill in the gaps when cellular service is bad or nil. Also, the feature does not provide accurate location; approximate only. Is what he is saying possible? In fact, Apple also provides some native features to check the location on the iPhone of our friends. Once again, however, it should be noted that most cases are fine and do not obstruct the phone’s signal reception. An unofficial community to discuss Apple devices and software, including news, rumors, opinions and analysis pertaining to the company located at One Apple Park Way. Finally, you might be located in a country where location services are not offered by Apple. One of the reasons why I stopped using Find My Friends and started using Life360*. There are plenty of fantastic cases for iPhones out there that do not obstruct the device too much so if you have to use a case, try one of those. We have seen several things which can affect the accuracy of phone-locating services. “Find My Friends” is an app that allows you to … The size of the green circle around your phone's location will give you an indication as to how accurate Find My iPhone is. Now, we would also like to offer you some suggestions which might help to improve the accuracy of such services. By using our site, you agree to our use of cookies. It would simply say "Location Not Found.". If he was in a meeting and put it in airplane mode he wouldn't be trackable. Cookies help us deliver our Services. It allows people to locate friends and family using their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. Also, you sound delightful. Also, I've had a situation before where FMF was tracking the location of my iMac or iPad instead of my phone. You’ll see a blue dot, which shows where you are. Unless, of course, you're doing this because of something he had done in the past, in which case, who are we to judge your situation. The GPS position of my phone was off by about 200′ . Rain, snow, or even thunderstorms do not affect technologies like Wi-Fi and GPS. As we have seen before, losing the signal (such as when you go underground) can make it unstable or unavailable. My husband’s ipad tracked it to the same incorrect location. Find My iPhone and Find My Friends are still preinstalled and available on iOS 9 and later. It took me a few hours, I finally heard a faint beep beep. It's important that both GPS and Wifi(even if they are not connected) are activated on your phone. Or, you might have attempted to locate your daughter who is visiting her grandparents in Indiana but the app showed her location with a 10-mile variance. I lost my phone running in the mountains. I guess if you were checking to begin with, that’s a sign right there. Building a database of Wi-Fi hotspots is a huge undertaking and the only other company to do something similar is Google. So, Nearby Friends is not available on PC or Mac computers.