# Apple Find My

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/find-my/

16 people recommended Apple Find My in Hacker News comments, 5 had mixed feelings and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 12 months, in 14 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended for locating lost iPhones and other devices, plus remote erase. Critics say location sharing is forced on by default rather than opt-in.

Summary written by Claude from 32 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 30 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Finds lost phones and other devices (4 comments in the sample): "FindMy is a big one for me - if I lost or misplaced my phone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46703686)) "Find My is invaluable for locating it again." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851090)) "when my kids lose it in a bag somewhere I can use find my instead of wasting an hour digging around" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48851305))
- Reliable, works well for daily use (3 comments in the sample): "still the one thing that works great and keeps me at Apple" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47225227)) "it’s always worked fine for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46947305)) "I use it almost every day" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46766406))
- Remote erase and useful alerts (2 comments in the sample): "enable find my and do remote erase/etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50111847)) "this app can send useful notifications" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48462730))
- Good directions and full route display (1 comment in the sample): "The Find My app actually gives really good directions." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50081017))

## What people warn about

- Forced on, not opt-in (2 comments in the sample): "It's not okay. This type of tracking isn't demanded or desired by the end user as it's silently forced upon them." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48544178)) "setting their 'Find My' ecosystem as opt-in instead of opt-out" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46543249))
- Heavy battery and memory use (2 comments in the sample): "I noticed a significant reduction in battery life on my mobile devices.  The reduction coincided with the rollout of Apple's "Find My" service" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47043752)) "Find My was using 3GB of memory!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47233699))
- Ties device to Apple ID lock (1 comment in the sample): "Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks your device to your Apple ID" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49988556))
- Tracks people and shows history (1 comment in the sample): "I also love that Find My says my partner was "last seen" at home "8,912 days ago" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46265498))

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.apple.com/icloud/find-my/)

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Apple Find My", https://hackerapproved.com/p/find-my/ (16 recommend, 5 mixed, 12 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.