What Does Live Mean on Find My? Plus, How to Use the Find My App

PDF download Download Article

Quick guide to the Find My app on iPhone and iPad

PDF download Download Article

Wondering what "live" means when you view someone in the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad? This indicates that you're viewing someone's location in real time. It's a great feature for seeing where someone is and where they're going. Note that the Find My app was previously known as Find My Friends. This wikiHow guide will discuss what live means in Find My, how to share your location, and how to view your friends' locations.

Things You Should Know

  • Live means you're seeing someone's location in real time, rather than their last-known location.
  • Turn on Location Services and Find My in the Settings app to share your location with others.
  • Tap the + button in the People tab of the Find My app to share your location with someone.
Section 1 of 6:

What Does Live Mean?

PDF download Download Article
  1. When you view someone's location in the Find My app, you'll see the last time their location was updated under their name. If their location is immediately available, you'll see "live" instead of the time.
    • If someone's location is live, you'll also see a green pulse around their profile picture on the map when you select them in the People tab.
    2. Advertisement
Section 2 of 6:

Turning on Location Services

PDF download Download Article
  1. It's the gray gear icon on one of your home screen pages. You'll need to turn on location services in the settings app to share your location with other people. [1]
  2. [2]
  3. [3]
  4. This will allow you to share your location with other people. [4]
    5. Advertisement
Section 3 of 6:

Turning on Find My

PDF download Download Article
  1. It's the gray gear icon on one of your home screen pages. You can turn on Find My in the settings app. [5]
  2. It's at the top of the settings app.
  3. [6]
  5. This allows you and other people you share your location with to find your iPhone.
    6. Advertisement
Section 4 of 6:

PDF download Download Article
  1. It's the gray gear icon on one of your home screen pages.
  2. It's at the top of the settings app.
  3. [7]
  4. This allows you to share your iPhone's location with other people.
  5. It's a green radar icon on one of your home screen pages. [8]
  6. It has an icon with two people.
  7. This will open a new menu for selecting who you want to share your location with. [9]
  8. You can select multiple people if needed. [10]
  9. [11]
  10. Once you choose, your location will immediately be shared with the people you selected. You can always stop sharing your location later if needed. You can choose from these options:
    • Share for One Hour
    • Share Until End of Day
    • Share Indefinitely .
    11. Advertisement
Section 5 of 6:

Requesting Someone's Location

PDF download Download Article
  1. It's a green radar icon on one of your home screen pages.
    • Note that you need to share your location with someone first before you can request that they share their location with you.
  2. It has an icon with two people.
  4. This will send the person a message requesting that they share their location with you. [12]
    5. Advertisement
Section 6 of 6:

Finding Someone's Location

PDF download Download Article
  1. It's a green radar icon on one of your home screen pages. [13]
  2. It has an icon with two people. [14]
  3. This will zoom in to their last known location on the map. [15]
    4. Advertisement

Expert Q&A

Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Tips

      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

      References

      1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102647
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102647
      3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102647
      4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102647
      5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102648
      6. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/102648
      7. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/105122
      8. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/105122
      9. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/105122
      1. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/105122
      2. ↑ https://support.apple.com/en-us/105122
      3. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/add-or-remove-a-friend-ipha5f04100d/17.0/ios/17.0
      4. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/locate-a-friend-ipha24eb4a37/ios
      5. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/locate-a-friend-ipha24eb4a37/ios
      6. ↑ https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/locate-a-friend-ipha24eb4a37/ios

      About This Article

      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 101,515 times.

      Is this article up to date?

      Advertisement