Feeling let down by Find My Network

Question

Feeling let down by Find My Network

Hi all

I recently accidentally left my iPad in one of the security trays at Charles De Gaulle airport (Friday evening) as the security operative moved it to its own tray without me realising, our flight was leaving very soon so we had to run to the gate (made it) but during taxi’ing to the runway I realised my iPad Pro wasn’t with me.

I immediately fired up the Find My app to find that my iPads last known location was where we were staying and it was last seen on Thursday evening.

Over the entire weekend it’s location never updated and luckily it’s been found and is being shipped back to me. It’s currently with the courier company, however it’s location has never updated and Lost Mode is in pending state from when I attempted to activate it on Friday evening on the plane.

so really my question is, why hasn’t the Find My network worked on this occasion to locate my iPad? I know it has battery and is switched (or has at least been powered over the weekend) as I was sent a photo of its Lock Screen by the lost and found department at the airport. It wasn’t on Airplane mode so it should be able to communicate with other Apple devices nearby, surely it must have been in contact with at least one device by now?

If anyone has any similar experiences or potential answers I’d be keen to understand a bit more as to why the Find My network seems to have let me down on this occasion.

Thanks!

iPad Pro 11-inch Wi-Fi

Posted on Jun 7, 2022 8:32 AM

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Answer 1

LotusPilot

Level 10

303,944 points

Jun 7, 2022 8:52 AM in response to UsernameIsAlreadyTakenSadly

Sorry, not so.

Be aware that a WiFi Only model of iPad lacks GPS - and can only estimate its location based upon the public IP Address of the WiFi network to which it is currently associated. The accuracy of estimated location can vary significantly.

Only Cellular+WiFi models of iPad incorporate GNSS/GPS positioning for accurate determination of location. Cellular models with an active Cellular plan can, while powered-on, continuously communicate via its cellular connection.

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Answer 2

LotusPilot

Level 10

303,944 points

Jun 7, 2022 8:42 AM in response to UsernameIsAlreadyTakenSadly

Do you have a WiFi Only model of iPad, or a WiFi+Cellular model with an active Cellular Service plan?

iPad requires an active WiFi or Cellular network connection with which to communicate with Apple’s “Find My” back-end servers. Unless your iPad has managed to connect to a WiFi network - or has cellular service - it’ll not be able to communicate.

It is perhaps also very likely that you will have shut-down your iPad when passing through the Airport or Airport Security screening. This might clearly explain why your last known location is shown as your stop prior to arriving at the Airport.

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Answer 3

Jun 7, 2022 8:44 AM in response to LotusPilot

It’s a WiFi only model.

I was under the impression that Find My utilised Bluetooth to allow secure communication even if the iPad is switched off?

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Answer 4

LotusPilot

Level 10

303,944 points

Jun 7, 2022 10:23 AM in response to UsernameIsAlreadyTakenSadly

The functionality to which you refer is new, very new - and is heavily dependent upon devices in the network all being updated to the most recent versions of iOS/iPadOS. If devices are fully shut-down, all radios are powered off.

Recent models of iPhone do keep their Wideband and BTLE radios active for an extended period after shut-down - explicitly to support Transit and Find My functions.

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Answer 5

Jun 7, 2022 10:14 AM in response to LotusPilot

Thanks LotusPilot, that is a shame, I was following the wording:

Find My network: If your device is offline (not connected to Wi-Fi or cellular), Find My can locate it using the Find My network.

which I found on the Apple website for iPadOS 15 which implies the Find My network would kick in and help locate the iPad

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Feeling let down by Find My Network

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