BEACON OF HOPE
Find My’s core hasn’t changed
drastically, but one of its most
signiĽcant upgrades is that it no
longer requires any kind of network
connectivity at all. Apple’s iBeacon
tech is the key: while it’s commonly
been used for smart geofencing
applications, it allows compatible
devices to periodically pulse a low-
energy Bluetooth signal even when
that phone or tablet is in Airplane
mode. When any Apple device — not
just one from the same owner —
picks up that signal from a device
marked as lost, it throws up a
cryptographically secure report to
iCloud of that device’s location. This
doesn’t mean everyone knows your
lost phone is under the sofa, but
iCloud certainly does, and Find My
does in turn. And don’t worry about
further tracking; the path from your
lost device to your seeker is private,
and if you’re part of the network that
helps someone Ľnd their lost device,
you’ll never know or be able to know.
It’s a smart solution, basically
repurposing tech that’s been around
for a while; iBeacon Ľrst landed with
iOS 7 devices over six years ago.FIND MY
Find My Friends utilized the tech
in a slightly diļerent way, allowing
you to see where your buddies’
devices were, though the initial
implementation (which basically let
you perform unfettered snooping)
was toned down after the launch.
The problem here hasn’t necessarily
been privacy, since setting up a link
required two-way permission, and
the service could be disabled at any
time, but one of battery and data: the
pull and push of location transfer is
heavy on the hardware, and live
tracking tends to destroy battery life.
Last year marked a big jump
— while tracking was added to a hostof diļerent devices in the meantime,
Find My is now an app in its own
right, rolling together the two
services into one and adding more
functionality. It’s still able to do the
sanitized location-checking of Find
My Friends, and it’s capable of
seeking out an iPad, Mac, iPhone,
Apple Watch or AirPods, and could
soon to be able to Ľnd a host more
things too (see Bags of AirTags).
There’s a lot you can do with Find
My, Ľrst of which is (yes) Ľnding
things. Opening up any of your
linked devices shows when and
where it was last recorded, giving
you an idea of its location even if its
battery has run ľat. iPhones and
iPads can, when they’re critically
low, be set to automatically throw a
marker up to iCloud so Find My will
be capable of seeking them out. They
also oļer options like emitting an
audible tone so a locally lost device
can make itself known. Find My can
also give a measure of security. If
you’ve lost a device and can contact
it, you can lock it down and add
a message for the Ľnder, or even
erase it if you suspect it’s fallen into
the wrong hands.THREE WAYS to track anything
Orbit Glasses
$39.99 findorbit.com
Orbit’s rechargeable arm–mounted device
can help you find your glasses — it even
includes a speaker, so you can call them.
It does mean, though, that you’ll need to
plug in your glasses now and then.Tile Sticker
$39.99 (two–pack) thetileapp.com
It’s a little conspicuous, but Tile’s sticker
attaches firmly to anything you want
it to. We tried one on a frequently–
disappearing remote and it was very
effective. No replaceable battery, though.Orbit Card
$34.99 findorbit.com
Thinner (just) than Tile’s three–year Slim
tracker, Orbit’s Card is something you can
pretty much just put in your wallet and
forget about — at least until its battery
needs charging (around three months.)Image rights from top–left: Orbit USA, Tile, Orbit USA, TileAttaching a Tile-type tracker is so easy and,
when you need it, it’ll find your missing kit.
Home Life
72 MAR 2020 maclife.com