iPhone 15/16 adds an arrow and distance to Find Friends
If you’ve ever been in a crowded museum, farmer’s market, or shopping mall and realized your travel buddy has vanished, you know the mix of frustration and mild panic that follows. Luckily, Apple has a solution!
Yes, Find Friends has been around since iOS 5 in 2011. It is great because you can see the location of your friends and family on a map. However, if you know your friend is nearby in a crowded location, that’s only somewhat useful. “Yes, I know he is in The British Museum, but where?!” Find My got a huge upgrade with iPhone 15 and 16. Now, your iPhone will tell you how many feet away your friend is and in what direction!
The next time you get separated in a crowd or lose your bearings during a bathroom break, instead of aimlessly wandering and texting “where are you?” into the void, launch the Find My app and locate them in the People tab. The Find button appears if they are close enough. Tap it, and within seconds, a directional arrow pops up on your screen and guides you right to them.
Requirements
Both of you must have an iPhone 15 or iPhone 16 model (excluding iPhone 16e)
Location sharing enabled in the Find My app
Bluetooth and Location Services turned on
You need to be within 200 feet of each other in optimal conditions, closer if there are walls and other obstructions.
This feature even works when you don’t have internet access, which is useful since cellular service can be spotty in a different country or overloaded at a concert.
Why it’s a game changer for travel (and daily life)
This is one of those features that doesn’t sound like a big deal—until you use it. If you’re:
Visiting a crowded museum
Walking around a busy city
Getting split up at a festival or parade
Trying to reconnect in a big department store
Looking for a teen who wandered off at the mall
…it just works. No back-and-forth texting. No playing Marco Polo over FaceTime. Just a simple arrow pointing the way.
Bonus
AirTags also support precision finding to locate items like your keys or backpack, though at a much closer 100-foot range. But it works with iPhone 11 and newer, except iPhone 16e. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work with third-party Find My trackers, just original Apple ones.
Final thoughts
If you and your loved ones have iPhone 15 or newer, try it before your next outing—especially if you’ll be traveling. It might just save you from a lot of wandering, worrying, or backtracking.
Social media blurb:
Lost your travel buddy in a museum? With the iPhone 15/16’s Precision Finding, just follow the arrow. It worked wonders for me in London and Blenheim Palace—no cell signal required! #JimmyTechTips #AppleTips #FindMyFriends
