Find my Friends needs both parties to have an Internet connection

Nowhere does it say Find my Friends needs both parties to have a live Internet connection (WiFi or cellular) at the time they want to find a friend. That may be obvious to most, but I've just helped someone who didn't realize that. You must have an active connection to iCloud to ask for another's location, and they need the same to get the request (and send back their location) ..

iCloud-OTHER

Posted on Jun 1, 2016 3:12 PM

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6 replies

Jun 6, 2016 6:09 AM in response to KupunaKane

From the Apple page I linked to:


You might not see your friend's location for these reasons:

  • Your friend might need to correct the date on their device. Tap Settings > General > Date & Time.
  • The device is off or isn't connected to cellular or Wi-Fi.
  • Your friend turned on Hide My Location in Find My Friends.
  • Your friend turned off Location Services in Settings > Privacy > Location Services or in Settings > Privacy > Location Services > Find Friends.
  • Your friend isn't signed in to Find My Friends on the device being located.
  • The device is in a country where Apple doesn't offer this feature. This feature might not be available in all countries due to technical limitations or local law.

A device's previous location will be available for 2 hours. After 2 hours, "Location not available" appears.

Jun 1, 2016 3:36 PM in response to Winston Churchill

.. it's not even in little letters on the tin !


Your feeling it's very obvious isn't the point; I think it's obvious too (which also isn't the point). Increasing the odds of finding someone who wanders, for whatever reason (dementia is one example), requires a cellular data plan for both the finder and the findee because neither is going to be able to use WiFi as they wander and search. And I know that the small print says you shouldn't rely on FmF (or FmP) for such purposes (a dedicated GPS tracker would be better), but it can help .. I've just been through setting this up for a couple approaching 70. You're right, not everyone always sees the obvious ..

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Find my Friends needs both parties to have an Internet connection

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