iOS 15 "Find My Location" new feature supports real-time location tracking even when the iPhone is turned off

On the morning of August 2, Apple has been improving the experience of Find My since its launch. iOS 15 brings some new features to Find My, including real-time location and a new feature that can track an iPhone even after it is erased or turned off.

Real-time location

When users use the Find My app to check the location of friends or family (authorization is required in advance), their location will be continuously updated instead of refreshing the new location every few minutes as before.

Apple says the feature is designed to provide instant speed, direction, and progress when users view someone's location.

Find a lost device that is turned off

‌Find My‌ in ‌iOS 15‌ can track devices that are turned off. If the device is turned off by a thief, it can still be found when it is near another Apple device.

Apple has not outlined how this feature works, but the U1 chip, Bluetooth, or NFC will continue to be powered in the background, even if the user's device is turned off or out of power, but if the battery is still charged, tracking may continue for a while until the battery is completely drained. This feature actually comes from AirTag, and it is expected that the Bluetooth component is still working, but other functions are turned off.

In fact, similar functions also appear in Apple Pay transportation cards or Car Keys, which can last for about five hours after the iPhone is turned off. In this case, if your iPhone runs out of power, you will not be unable to swipe the card or drive out of the station.

To use this feature, the Find Network feature must be enabled. It is on by default.

Find a lost device that was wiped

If someone steals your iPhone and then wipes it, in iOS 15 it will still show up in the Find My app and can be tracked even after it’s been wiped.

This feature is associated with Activation Lock, which prevents criminals from using the owner's iPhone without the owner's Apple ID and password. In iOS 14 and previous iOS systems, erasing the device will keep Activation Lock open, and the user's iPhone cannot be used without a password, but after erasing the device, the "Find" feature will become invalid.

But now, if Activation Lock is turned on (that is, the device is not unlinked with the user's username and password first), it will still be associated with the user's account and can be used with the "Find" feature.

And when the iPhone is in this state, the "Hello interface" will indicate that the device has been locked to prevent illegal transactions after it is turned on.

Forgotten Alarm

Also known as separation alert, with this feature, the Find App can send alerts to other devices carried by the user, causing a pop-up notification reminder on the user's iPhone.

Forgotten alerts also apply to AirTag and third-party accessories that support "Find the Network". The usage scenario is that if the user takes the iPhone away and forgets the wallet or MacBook in a cafe, the iPhone will notify the user.

Separation alerts can be turned on in the Find My app and need to be turned on for each item a user owns. Users can also set exceptions, so if a user intentionally leaves something at home, they won't receive an alert.

Find My AirPods

For AirPods Max and AirPods Pro, Find My Network can provide an approximate location if these items are lost.

AirPods have always appeared in the ‌Find My Account‌ app, but until now, functionality has been limited. In iOS 14‌ and earlier versions of iOS, ‌AirPods Pro‌/Max showed up in Find My Account, but if they were out of Bluetooth range of your own device, you could only see their last connected location.

But now, these items, like AirTag, can use other people's cooperating devices to locate themselves.

Find Widget

iOS 15 has a "Find" widget that users can add to the home screen or "Today" view to track an item at a glance without opening the "Find" app. The widget comes in two sizes to suit different usage habits.

Support for iPad and Mac

Most of the Find My features that haven’t been mentioned yet apply to iPhone, but on iPad, it also supports split alerts, widgets, and the real-time location of family and friends.

Macs upgraded to macOS Monterey now support widgets and real-time location of family and friends. Offline tracking for wiped devices.

Currently, iOS 15 is still in the testing phase and is expected to be officially released in September, but we do not recommend that general users upgrade their only main mobile phone to the beta version.