Find My shows my iPhone stationary for 15+ days — Play Sound always pending. How accurate is this?
I am seeking assistance from someone with a deep technical understanding of Apple’s Find My network and iOS location reporting behavior, particularly regarding edge cases involving offline devices.
Background
- I lost my iPhone on January 12 on a city bus in Victoria, BC.
- I enabled Lost Mode immediately.
- Initially, the device continued to move along bus routes, including route changes, which closely matched real-world bus operations.
- After the bus arrived at BC Transit Headquarters, the device’s reported location stopped moving entirely.
Current Behavior (Key Observations)
- The phone has remained at the exact same location since January 12.
- Location updates appeared on:
- January 12
- January 13
- January 19
- January 27–28
- Every update reports the same address.
- The “Play Sound” request has always remained in a “Pending” state and has never executed.
- I have screenshots documenting each of these location updates.
Technical Questions
- Under what conditions would Find My continue to report a stable, unmoving location for over two weeks?
- What does a persistently pending “Play Sound” request indicate about the device’s:
- Connectivity
- Power state
- Network availability
- Could this behavior be explained by offline Find My network Bluetooth pings from nearby Apple devices?
- If so, how accurate is this positioning indoors?
- Is this pattern more consistent with the device being physically present at that location, rather than representing cached or delayed data?
Multiple Apple Support advisors were unable to clearly explain this behavior. I would greatly appreciate insight from someone familiar with the actual system design, limitations, and edge cases of the Find My network.
Thank you very much for your time and expertise.
