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Apple's New 'Find My' App for macOS and iOS Can Find Your Devices Even When They're Offline

Monday June 3, 2019 11:58 AM PDT by Mitchel Broussard

Apple's "Find My Friends" app is being revamped in macOS Catalina and iOS 13, and will now be called simply "‌Find My‌." The new version of the app combines ‌Find My‌ iPhone and ‌Find My‌ Friends.

The major feature of the updated app is that it can now locate Apple devices that are offline, making it even easier to find your ‌iPhone‌ or MacBook if you ever happen to lose it.

Apple said that when a device is offline and sleeping, it sends out a secure Bluetooth beacon that can be detected by other Apple devices nearby, even the ones owned by other people. This results in a network that works to find lost Apple devices through a secure, encrypted, and anonymous signal relay.

Tag: WWDC 2019

Top Rated Comments

d5aqoëp

67 months ago

This feature gets a thumbs up from me.

Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)

benshive

67 months ago

Creepy

Not really. I think it's really cool. Just taking advantage of the fact that you're probably always within a few feet of another iPhone.

Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ASFx

67 months ago

What kind of battery drainage should we expect from a constant Bluetooth signal being emitted? Just curious.....

Bluetooth is an extremely low power tech. if it's anything like the power consumption used on the Tile devices, it will be completely unnoticeable. Tiles run on a single small battery for over a year.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

NickName99

67 months ago

Wow, this is a really powerful feature. I definitely wouldn’t trust it from anyone but Apple; implemented carelessly, it could potentially lead to offline device hacking.

Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)

r98266

67 months ago

Creepy

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Codpeace

67 months ago

This is super cool! Wow...

Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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