Does find my friends work if phone is off

iPhone owners will soon be able to track down their iPhone using the Find My app even when it's switched off or has been wiped. 

The new 'Find My network' capabilities should come in handy in numerous scenarios, including when an iPhone has run low on battery power or a thief has turned the phone off. Currently, by enabling Find My network setting – an additional capability beyond Find My iPhone – users can locate an iPhone when it's offline, as well as AirTags, but not when the iPhone is powered off.   

9to5Mac has posted an image of the notification that tells users that the iPhone remains findable after power off or in power reserve mode.  

SEE: Top 10 iPad tips (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

"Find My helps you locate this iPhone when it is lost or stolen, even it is in power reserve mode or when powered off," the dialog states. The functionality can be changed in "Find My network" in Find My within Settings.  

Apple has detailed some of these capabilities in iOS 15 preview notes and a press release, but hasn't explained how it works. 

There's also some extra protection for situations when a thief has stolen an iPhone and sold it to someone else. This relies on the Find My feature Activation Lock, which is turned on when a user turns on Find My.  

"To help ensure that nobody is tricked into purchasing your device, the Hello screen will clearly show that your device is locked, locatable, and still yours," Apple explains. 

Apple is also introducing separation alerts, which delivers an alert to the owner's iPhone when an AirTag or compatible product is left behind. Find My provides directions to the item. 

SEE: 5G smartphones have arrived. But for many, the reason to upgrade is still missing

The Find My network will also give users an approximate location of missing AirPods Pro and AirPods Max. It aims to get the user within Bluetooth range so they can play a sound to find the earphones or headphones.  

Apple announced dozens of new features for iOS 15 at WWDC, including Zoom-inspired features for FaceTime, a new SharePlay on FaceTime feature for sharing music and TV content with others on a call, and Live Text to capture and copy text from a photo.

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As human beings, we naturally love to take care of our friends and family. We have seen that every time our smartphones come with simple solutions to make our life easier. Today we will talk about the Find My app and Does Find My Friends work when the phone is turned off? 

If you are an Apple user then you can easily track your friend’s Apple device with this app. 

A smartphone is a personal device for every individual. So a group of people claims that sometimes this app is violating their privacy. Do not take this seriously because we will explain everything and after that, you can decide for yourself.

Many people are also curious to know if this app works when the phone is in airplane mode or offline. Through this blog we will describe all functionalities of this app, you just need to stick with us.

Find My Friends does not work when the phone is turned off. We will explain the working procedure of Find My Friend later in this article. It is a built-in app for all Apple devices.

That’s why there is no option to get it on Android. Recently the name changed to Find My instead of Find My Friends.

Let’s get into the topic. After opening, you have to share your location with your friends from the app. You can easily choose your friends from contacts and Airdrop.

You can also use their email and phone number. Now when you have shared your location your friends need to share their location too. After that, you are ready to track your friends and your friends can also track you in the same way. Seems easy like Instagram, follow and follow back kind of things.

Exploring features

The user interface is clean and handy. This application comes with a location-based alert system. Now you do not need to worry about your family members. You will be notified automatically when they have reached home safely.

Find My Friend will let you know when your child is out of school. Even when your friend arrives at a destination you will get a notification. You can set alerts for different purposes and customize parental restrictions. Here you will find two types of location sharing according to your needs.

1.Share your location permanently
2.Share your location temporarily

You can invite any friend to share their location. That’s how you two will get connected. The good thing is this app supports 3D touch.

Working procedure of Find My Friends (Online/Offline)

When you and your friend both have enabled location sharing with each other, Find My Friends starts working. You have to turn on the location service on your phone. For the most accurate result, you need a Wi-Fi connection. Instead of Wi-Fi, you can use mobile data.

The interesting part is this app does not send your location directly to your friend’s device. When you share your location this app sends it to Apple. If your friend opens the app and asks for your location then Apple shows it to him.

Now let’s talk about the reason you are here. If your phone is switched off then Find My friend can not track you. Apple stores your location for two hours. So when your phone is off they store your last active location and show it to your friends.

After these two hours, your friend will see “Location not available”. Once you are back and turn on your phone, Find My Friends will immediately start its activity. Got your answer? Wait, that’s not all. There is something else you should know.

What happens when your phone is on but you are out of any kind of network coverage or in airplane mode? The answer is No, You won’t be tracked. But if you are using iOS 13 or above you may see Find My instead of Find My Friends.

If you look more closely you will see another application missing which is Find My Phone. In iOS 13 Apple has combined these two apps into one single app that is Find My. Now you can track your friends alongside your phone with one app. This app contains more features than the previous ones.

In the new interface, You can just swipe to change Find My Phone to Find My Friends. The good news is the phone tracking system can work offline. That means your device can be tracked when you have no wifi, or you are out of network coverage. But it can not track a switched-off phone.

Hopefully, in future updates, we will get offline support for Find My Phone also. It will be amazing and more helpful for us.

Turning off location sharing

Some people find this app very embarrassing. Yes, sometimes this app is like an eye everywhere which creates some privacy issues. You may not want to be followed by your friends everywhere. In this case, you can turn off the service easily.

There is an option to hide your location. It is a one-click process. After hiding your location you will be invisible in other devices until you get yourself in. You can also switch off your phone to hide your location. But it seems a bit annoying. So here is another smart solution for you.

Some location spoofing applications may help you. An app called iMyFone AnyTo is one of the best out there. It just requires a PC to install and can change your current location into any fake location you assign. You can also turn off any kind of location tracking service including Find My Friends with this app.

Final words

Apple has always been a trusted brand for us and we have seen that they care about our privacy. We cannot trust all the gossip about violating privacy. You know every good thing can be used negatively.

These days you can customize every bit of your iPhone. So You can easily hide your location from this app. As the app is improving with every update we can expect that very soon you will be able to track your friends and family members while their phone is switched off.

Finally, we are at the end of our discussion and you have already got all the answers. Personally, I think using the Find My Friends application is worthwhile. It does the work exactly why it was built for.

Can you still see someone's location if their phone is off?

Can someone see your location if your iPhone is off?

Does find my friends only work when the phone is on?