There are often times when we lose track of where we kept our phones. This can be quite frustrating especially when you are at a job that requires you to travel too much or if you stay at home with your kids all day who love to misplace your phone. This is where Find My iPhone helps one out. But, how accurate is find my iPhone location? Let’s find out.
If you keep your phone somewhere and struggle to find it later, then this feature of an iPhone is going to be a lifesaver for you. However, how does one know its accuracy? In this article, we will be checking out various aspects of this feature such as what Find My iPhone is and how accurate it is. Finally, we will be taking a look at whether or not it is worth using.
What is Find My iPhone?
Find My iPhone is a feature in the ‘Find My’ app preinstalled on Apple devices like iPhones, iPods, Macs, and others. This feature allows you to track down your lost iPhone by using the app on another Apple device. This app also allows one to locate and track compatible devices other than Apple. Not all third-party devices are available for this feature.
The ‘Find My iPhone’ and ‘Find My Friends’ were separate apps on previous versions of iOS. These two apps were combined in iOS 13 and do the same work as the previous applications. The new app is ‘Find My’, designed to track any Apple device linked with your Apple ID. It can locate the connected devices even if they are offline.
You can sign in to your iCloud and navigate through Find My iPhone. Your device model will be displayed. Click on it and you will be able to see its location. You can also use the app to make your device produce sound in case it has been missed near you.
When Find My is enabled on an Apple device, it will not unlock without the iCloud password of the registered Apple ID. You can put the lost devices on Lost Mode to lock them and display your contact number on the screen.
Accuracy of Find My iPhone: How Accurate is this Feature?
In normal circumstances, this app can accurately locate your device up to 3 to 4 meters. Many factors may affect the accuracy of the Find My iPhone feature, as we will discuss further.
1. GPS
GPS is a huge factor in determining the accuracy of the Find My iPhone app. If the device is located in an area with good satellite mapping and GPS signals, the range of accuracy increases up to 8 to 9 meters. The GPS signals cannot be very reliable in rural places or areas with congested satellite signals.
If the device has good access to GPS service and satellite signals then the ‘Find My’ feature will give the most accurate results.
2. Wi-Fi
When GPS signals are not strong enough, the app tries to use Wi-Fi signals to track down your iPhone. Wi-Fi is a good method to locate your lost device within some local premises or nearby areas.
The ‘Find My’ app will use public or home Wi-Fi networks but this might not work if either the Wi-Fi is turned off or the iPhone is in sleep mode.
3. Cellular Data
This is the last source that might help in locating your iPhone. It will check if your contact number is still working. The ‘Find My’ app gathers data from nearby cell towers to determine the location of your missing device. The area for search increases in this option and it gets difficult to pinpoint the exact location.
This method will work in case of failure of the other two options but it will not work if the device is switched off or in case the Airplane Mode is on.
The accuracy of ‘Find My iPhone’ is the highest when it uses GPS as the tracking method. Any other source reduces the accuracy and makes it difficult to track the exact location.
Find My iPhone: Is it worth it?
Now that we are clear with what the feature of Find My iPhone is and how it accurately identifies the location of your iPhone – it is time to move on to the main question. Is it worth using?
This feature is an attempt to make Apple devices safe and repulsive in terms of theft. However, when we come to real situations, this app only shows an approximate position where your iPhone might be. There might be instances where your device location could be wrong. There could be many underlying technical reasons for this.
Despite all this, it has helped users get their lost iPhones and it also helped the authorities to locate the devices. So, we can safely state that this feature is worth it and you can rely on it whenever you or someone else misplaces your iPhone.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is Find My iPhone ever wrong on location?
ans. If your network connection is weak, Find My iPhone can specify the wrong location.
2. How accurate is iPhone location tracking?
ans. This feature can find your iPhone within the range of about 15 to 20 ft. This accuracy is very impressive, hence it can be said that it has a strong tracking system.
3. Why does the Find My iPhone location jump around?
ans. Bad signal tampers with the accuracy of your iPhone’s location, making it jump around.
Conclusion
There can be several reasons why you may not be able to find your iPhone, and it is considered smart to possess a tracker such as Find My iPhone. This way, if someone ever steals your phone or you end up misplacing it there are high chances that you will easily recover it.
Hopefully, the content of this article will be enough to help you understand all about the Find My iPhone tracker and how accurate is find my iPhone location. Various aspects such as the factors on which the accuracy of this tracker depends and whether or not it is worth purchasing have been discussed in this article for your benefit.
