Family Sharing, Location stopped updating, But now showing a last seen time in the future?!

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Level 1

7 points

Family Sharing, Location stopped updating, But now showing a last seen time in the future?!

I have been using family sharing for a year, and it's a great feature. It offers peace of mind when you can check if your kid is home from school or on a trip, etc. Or when out on the mountain bikes, etc. I've used it many times when he has crashed in the bush, to go out to rescue him.

About a week ago, he was away (330 km away) on a 4x4 trip over the Xmas break, and I knew they had been down in an area of very soft sand dunes, so I checked if they had made it through the worst bits. However, it showed no location update, likely due to poor phone signal in that area.

He has returned home now, however, and whilst his location is again working, it's showing a location from a week ago, and the "Last time seen" (Highlighted in yellow on my pic attached) is showing a time in the future!! (It did show "Next Mo" now its "In 4 Wks").

Any ideas? So strange!

Posted on Jan 9, 2024 9:58 PM

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Answer 1

BT0110 Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 15, 2024 5:34 PM in response to BT0110

Problem solved...

It turns out the person who has the phone that now appears in the future had manually changed his date (To speed up the progress of some SIM game he was playing). Hence appearing in the future.

We now know why it displayed a future time, and the phone is back to normal. However now, the family sharing map locations is now stuck on the future date and not updating his real-time movements. We will wait four weeks and see if it corrects itself... If not, then who knows? It's a glitch created by his future date settings..

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Answer 2

SravanKrA

Level 10

431,338 points

Jan 9, 2024 10:40 PM in response to BT0110

That does sound unusual! It's possible that the location services or GPS on his phone experienced a glitch while he was in an area with poor signal. Sometimes, when the phone can't establish a connection to update its location, it might show the last known location until it can reconnect.

As for the "Last time seen" showing a time in the future, that's odd and could be a technical error within the Family. Set time zone to Automatic. Set your Calendar to Gregorian. If you have set Hebrew calendar then the date that will be seen by you will seem to be in the future.

On your iPhone or iPad

Go to Settings > General > Date & Time.
Turn off Set Automatically. Is this setting dimmed?
Change the time zone or the date and time: Tap Time Zone and enter a city with the time zone you need. Or tap the date to change the date and time.

If you can't change the time or time zone on your Apple device

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Answer 3

SravanKrA

Level 10

431,338 points

Jan 9, 2024 10:35 PM in response to BT0110

This is a user-to-user public forum.

This platform serves as a space for users to engage in meaningful conversations, share information, and exchange ideas related to Apple products. It's a community-driven initiative where users support each other by sharing their experiences and technical expertise in using Apple devices. While Apple Inc. is not actively participating in these discussions, the forum is a valuable resource for seeking guidance and assistance from fellow users who possess a wealth of experience with Apple products. Feel free to explore the discussions, ask questions, and benefit from the collective knowledge of this community.

Please note that this is a public forum, so when attaching a screenshot, please avoid including any personal credentials such as IP addresses, card details, email IDs, Apple IDs, IMEI numbers, serial numbers, phone numbers, order IDs, invoices, or any identifiable location information if you are sharing a map.

You may get better and prompt responses if you may kindly provide the iPhone Model that you have and the iOS version if it is known to you and re-post.

With the limited information that you have provided, It is hard to even guess the problems faced by you.

You may get faster and better responses to your query by --> Writing an effective Apple Support Commun… - Apple ...

Please re-post with detail so that someone else can help.

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Answer 4

BT0110 Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 9, 2024 10:50 PM in response to SravanKrA

Thanks for your reply. While I note it's a community forum, it appears that a large number of the questions asked are of issues similar to mine. Hence why i posted here, in-case someone else has seen this before.

I have no issue with the (Identifying info removed) screenshot of a map I posted, a random country town location he was passing through. Nothing meaningful or that could be of consequence to us. Overall, it is a fantastic seaside town; I highly suggest a visit.

I am on an iPhone 12 Pro Max; he uses an iPhone 14 Pro Max. Both have current firmware. We have also looked at the time and date settings; all appear normal. His phone is not present at the moment, and I'll check the other date settings on that later.

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Answer 5

BT0110 Author

Level 1

7 points

Jan 9, 2024 11:50 PM in response to BT0110

Just adding to this, I've now logged in and tried "Find My" on a PC (Windows), and it is displaying the correct location for the iPhone 14. However, Family sharing still shows the iPhone 14 as "in the future". Also Via Family Share, it still displays an issue with the location.

If I go to "find my" on my phone and select people, it shows the person in question in a town 300+ KM away "in 4 weeks".

But if I go to "Find My" > "devices," it shows that phone is in the proper real-time location (Where it currently is). Going back to "People," it shows hundreds of kilometres away in the future.

You may say, so use "Find my", but it's much quicker to click on messages, the person's name, and one click displays their location. Rather than having to scroll through menus, it's worked for years, so I'm at a loss as to why it isn't now.

Absolute puzzler...

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Family Sharing, Location stopped updating, But now showing a last seen time in the future?!

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