Just got an Apple Watch SE for my 11 year old and Find My is not working as advertised.

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Just got an Apple Watch SE for my 11 year old and Find My is not working as advertised.

I can see his device in Find My since it's setup as Family Sharing, but when I click over to People, it says "No Location Found" for him. I know you might say, well you're already tracking him thru the Apple Watch SE Device but Devices doesn't provide the Parental Security measures available in People. The features for geofencing notifications, etc. are all located in the People section. Very frustrating as I just bought this watch for this purpose and this is a huge setback. I've read all of the articles, signed in/out of iCloud, stopped/started sharing location, turned off/on location services sharing, deleted his contacted/recreated, etc. Nothing has fixed the issue.

My iPhone 14 Pro is on iOS 16.5 and the SE Watch is on 9.4. This article explains a similar issue but he never got a resolution. Find My people vs devices not working - Apple Community

Please help! We're going on vacation tomorrow and I need the security of geofencing.

Apple Watch SE

Posted on Jun 15, 2023 6:03 PM

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Answer 1

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Justadad94 Author

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5 points

Jun 29, 2023 8:43 AM in response to Justadad94

RESOLVED: Well my son lost his watch after 1 week (geesh). We got a new one and I set that one up exactly the same way as the first one except that I created a new iCloud Account for him. The Find My location sharing is now working from both Devices and People.

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Answer 2

javaliga

Level 10

120,173 points

Jun 15, 2023 6:45 PM in response to Justadad94

Did you setup his watch using Family Sharing or Family Setup? They are completely different things.

Set up Family Sharing - Apple Support

Set up Apple Watch for a family member - Apple Support

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Answer 3

Justadad94 Author

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Oct 2, 2023 4:11 PM in response to PNW_A

I completely understand about not wanting to create a new Apple

ID but in this case I did and it solved the issue. It seems like a software bug to me.

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Answer 4

Dah•veed

Level 9

66,487 points

Jun 27, 2023 2:08 AM in response to Justadad94

Is the child's watch the SE GPS+Cellular version? Does the child have an iPhone his watch is paired with?

"You can also share your location in the Find People app on watchOS 6 or later with Apple Watch models that have GPS and cellular and are paired with your iPhone."

M1 Mac mini, macOS 13.4;  Watch, series 7 GPS/cellular, watchOS 9.5.2; iPad Pro 2nd Gen, iPadOS 16.5; iPhone 12 Pro, iOS 16.5; TV 4th Gen, tvOS 16.5; HomePods, audioOS 16.5 and Airport Express w/ Airplay 2

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Answer 5

BobHarris

Level 9

56,819 points

Jun 27, 2023 11:33 AM in response to Justadad94

I think LD150 has the correct answer. You Son needs to share his location with you, if you want to use the People Find My.

But that can also always be revoked.

But the Apple Watch Family Sharing Find My device will always work, and cannot be revoked by your Son.

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Answer 6

Dah•veed

Level 9

66,487 points

Jun 27, 2023 1:12 PM in response to Justadad94

I think that it's not a bug. Apple made it pretty explicit;

"You can also share your location in the Find People app on watchOS 6 or later with Apple Watch models that have GPS and cellular and are paired with your iPhone."

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Answer 7

Dah•veed

Level 9

66,487 points

Jun 28, 2023 11:59 AM in response to Justadad94

If you are determined that Apple's explanation of the requirements which I've quoted twice are in error and it will give you peace of mind, yes, visit an Apple Genius Bar.

You have to go online to make an appointment at the Genius Bar of your choice.

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

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Answer 8

LD150

Level 10

100,125 points

Jun 27, 2023 2:23 AM in response to Justadad94

the young person also needs to share their location from their watch. They are still individuals with privacy rights

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Answer 9

Dah•veed

Level 9

66,487 points

Jun 27, 2023 11:27 AM in response to Justadad94

The quote from Apple I posted appears to infer that Find People requires both a GPS+Cellular watch and a paired iPhone.

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Answer 10

Justadad94 Author

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Jun 27, 2023 11:11 AM in response to Dah•veed

The SE is a GPS + Cellular. His watch is paired with my iPhone 14 Pro thru Family Setup. He doesn't have his own phone. His location is shared thru his watch with Location Services turned on. Like I said, I can see the watch's location thru Find Devices, but not thru Find People.

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Answer 11

Justadad94 Author

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Jun 27, 2023 1:02 PM in response to BobHarris

He has shared his location with me. I've cycled it on and off multiple times with no positive result in Find People. A few of my contacts are sharing location with me and I can see them fine thru Find People; just not my son. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that it's paired to my phone; there's not clear answer from Apple on this other than it seems like a bug to me.

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Answer 12

Justadad94 Author

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Jun 28, 2023 11:46 AM in response to Dah•veed

Do you recommend going to an Apple store for assistance? I've set everything up as suggested as far as I can tell and it still doesn't work. If it's supported then they should be able to make it work for me.

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Answer 13

Justadad94 Author

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Jun 26, 2023 11:15 PM in response to javaliga

Thanks for the quick response and sorry for my late reply. I used Family Setup, my mistake in verbiage.

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Answer 14

Justadad94 Author

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Jun 29, 2023 8:42 AM in response to Dah•veed

Maybe I'm missing something. You've quoted Apple's documentation 2x and I've followed all of their steps multiple times but it's still not working so what would you do if you were in my situation?

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Answer 15

Oct 2, 2023 11:41 AM in response to Justadad94

did you ever get a resolution? creating a new Apple ID not an option as then the watch won't sync messages with her iPad.

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Just got an Apple Watch SE for my 11 year old and Find My is not working as advertised.

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