Apple is opening up the Find My network to third-party devices.
Patrick Holland/CNETApple is growing its Find My network to include devices made by third-party companies, including Belkin, Chipolo and VanMoof. Find My functionality launched in 2009 along with iPhone 3GS. Over the past 12 years it has grown from just tracking lost iPhones to being able to find most Apple products like Macs, Apple Watches and AirPods. With the launch of iOS 13 in 2019, Find My could get the approximate location of your lost Apple device using Bluetooth. For example when your iPhone is in Lost Mode, other Apple devices on the Find My network can discover it via Bluetooth and share that info securely and anonymously back to you. Currently, the Find My network has hundreds of millions of Apple devices tied to it.
Starting today, you can track non-Apple products like VanMoof's S3 and X3 e-bikes and starting in June Belkin's Soundform Freedom True Wireless Earbuds and the Chipolo One Spot item finder which can be attached to keys or a backpack, for example.
Third parties work with Apple as part of its MFi program to get products certified that they follow specifications for things like privacy, end-to-end encryption and unwanted tracking protection. Find My products can be added to the Items tab of the Find My app and attached to your Apple ID. If you ever sell or give a Find My item to someone else, it's just a simple swipe left to remove it from your Apple ID.
Certified Find My items have a built-in speaker to play a locate sound if you trigger it from within the app. You can set a Find My item to Lost Mode and be notified when it's found or add a note with an email address or phone number. Even if the item isn't online, it can be found using Bluetooth by other Apple and non-Apple devices enrolled in Find My. And the entire process is encrypted end-to-end to protect your privacy.
All Find My items or devices will have a "Works with Apple Find My" badge. If someone comes across your item and sees the badge they can go into their own Find My app into the Identify Found item section to report it as found. If the item has an attached note from Lost Mode the finder would be able to view it.
More products and accessories will enter the Find My network soon, Apple said in a press release Tuesday.
Correction at 5:50 p.m. ET: Find My uses Bluetooth to find an approximate location of an item or Apple device that is in Lost Mode.
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