Have you ever misplaced the precious iPhone that you bought by selling your friend’s kidney…(haha..just kidding). After which, you went out looking for it through the “Find my iPhone” feature provided by Apple Inc. And this feature made you question the accuracy of the Find My iPhone app. So, how do we find out how accurate it is?
Apple’s feature Find My iPhone has attracted its customers, and this has been claimed to give accurate results. But the result may vary. At times, you may not get accurate results; instead, you will be given an approximate result.
For instance, you forgot your iPhone in your drawing-room, and when you enable its “Find my iPhone” feature, the resultant shows the iPhone to be 2 miles away. I know it might give you a heart attack for a while until you find your iPhone back. But this is what sometimes it works like.
In this article, we are going to talk about the accuracy of the Find my iPhone service provided by Apple Inc. While Apple concludes it to be providing accurate results, it seems the users are not accepting this fact.
Contents
What Is Find My iPhone?
Well, before asking how accurate Find My iPhone we need to know about it. Find My iPhone is a service provided by Apple Inc. to your iOS Device. Its basic function is to provide the accurate location of Apple devices like iPhone or iPad if it has been misplaced.
The idea behind Find My iPhone comes from the present scenario. While we are dependent on our Smartphones, we tend to save all our data like credit card details, pictures, videos, etc. on our phones. Find My iPhone can prevent your data from being stolen. Also, Find My iPhone comes with a family location sharing feature through which, if needed, any family member can also track other members’ locations.
How accurate is Find My iPhone?
Apple uses its Location-Based Assistance to locate its devices. This Location-Based Assistance provided by Apple uses GPS, Bluetooth, and nearby Wi-Fi support to determine the approximate location of your device. In short, Apple combines different tracking methodologies to make its Find My iPhone work at its best.
However, when it entitles itself to locate your iPhone, it uses the word ‘approximate’ with it. This word ‘Approximate’ changes it all, for you cannot say it will always locate the accurate location.
And so, here comes the question “Is Find My iPhone Accurate” or “How accurate is Find My iPhone”?
Well, Find My iPhone uses a combination of different tracking functionalities to make it work. While locating your iPhone, this feature shows a green dot on the map that resembles the accurate location of your iPhone.
Also, when there is a small green circle around the green dot on the map, it shows the approximate location of your iPhone. The bigger the circle the more approximate location you will get.
However, when it shows a grey dot on the map, it means your device has turned offline, and some of its features are not available.
How To Enable Find My iPhone?
Find My iPhone helps you locate your Apple device if it ever gets stolen or misplaced. To locate your missing iPhone on the map, you need to sign in to icloud.com or the Find My iPhone app. Once done, it will enable different features like playing music at full volume to help you locate it, enable lock mode, and tracking or erasing all the personal information from your iPhone.
To enable the Find My iPhone, follow these steps
- On the home screen→ Settings.
- Tap <your name>→ iCloud.
- Scroll down and select Find My iPhone.
- Enable Find My iPhone as well as Send Last Location.
Once the Find My iPhone is enabled, the device will start functioning its location tracking service.
So, make sure to turn on the Find My iPhone service on your iPhone. Because if it’s not enabled, you won’t be able to track your device.
How Does Location-Based Services Impact Find My iPhone
Well, the Location-Based Assistance could give you a hard time finding the device you are searching for. Since the accuracy depends on the results provided by the GPS, i.e., Global Positioning System, Bluetooth, and nearby Wi-Fi available, there may be variation in the result at times. So, how accurate is Find MY iPhone… Let’s Find out.
The variation in the location traced comes due to the low signal available in that area. For instance, if you enable Find My iPhone in a hilly area or in a place with the least network available. It is most likely to lose your iPhone, as Find My iPhone won’t be able to detect your device.
So, basically, the accuracy of Find My iPhone depends upon GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and any cell tower available nearby. At the same time, GPS strength depends on the whereabouts of the iPhone, i.e., either indoors or outdoors. So, it is necessary to enable Wi-Fi on your device to get accurate results. Also, to get a much more accurate result, you need all the tracking functions available to work together.
Although when compared to other tracking devices, Find My iPhone gives considerably more efficient results than all other apps. This happens due to the usage of different tracking technologies to make the location search accurate. The more satellites your Phone connects to, the more accurate location results are found.
Thanks for Find My iPhone!
Final Words
So, the answer to ‘How accurate is Find My iPhone’ is pretty simple. The tracking technologies used by Find My iPhone work best to give you authentic results. Even though Find My iPhone is available to save your Phone from being lost. Don’t be too dependent on it, and try not to lose your precious iPhone.