GPS navigation systems they use on their cars. However, this is not the only useful aspect of having maps on a smartphone, as Apple has clearly shown with a couple of its most important apps available on the App Store. One of them is Find My iPhone, which we have already written about and which allows you to locate your computer or your iOS devices and erase them or send messages to them remotely. The other app, which is quite more interesting though, is Find My Friends, an app designed with the purpose of staying updated about the whereabouts of the people you care about the most. Let’s take a look at how to use Find My Friends to keep track of the people close to you, either temporarily or on a constant basis.
Using Find My Friends
One of the most convenient aspects of Find My Friends is that you don’t need to have it installed on your own iPhone or other iOS device for it to work. In fact, all you need to start using it is to simply sign into the app with your Apple ID. This allows you to use anyone’s iPhone to check on the location of, say, your children or anyone you are connected with through the app. If you don’t plan to use Find My Friends to follow any particular person, the app suggests alternatives to you to from among your iCloud contacts. Otherwise, the intro screen of Find My Friends becomes the app’s main hub, where you will be able to get a glimpse and history of the location of your friends. In order to locate a friend or relative using Find My Friends, you will first need to send them an invitation, which you can do right from within the app. In similar fashion, any of your friends and acquaintances who want to start following you can invite you for you to accept. Once they do, you will receive their invitation via email, as well as through the app’s Requests menu located at the bottom right part of the screen. Important Note: Even if you and your friends accept each other’s invitations, you will all need to still enable your location within Find My Friends for you to “see” each other. To do so, within the app tap on the Me lower menu and turn OFF the option Hide from Followers.
Additional Uses
In addition to its main functionality, Find My Friends also allows you to follow other people on a temporary basis, for which you need to set an “expiration” time for the tracking to stop at. Also, a very nice option of Find My Friends is that you can set up notifications within the app that can be triggered by location, so you can be notified the moment your children reach school or when your friend departs their place. All in all, Find My Friends is an app the ends up being far more useful than it looks at first and, if used appropriately, will allow you to always stay in touch with your family and know their whereabouts, provided they use iOS devices too. Android users can track their family members in a similar way using the Life 360 app. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
