Apple Find My
Device locator in Phones & tablets
Recommended for locating lost iPhones and other devices, plus remote erase. Critics say location sharing is forced on by default rather than opt-in.
Recommended for locating lost iPhones and other devices, plus remote erase. Critics say location sharing is forced on by default rather than opt-in.
35 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 22
- criticize it
- 13
- approval share
- 63%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Finds lost phones and other devices
“FindMy is a big one for me - if I lost or misplaced my phone”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “Can you slim macOS down?” “Find My is invaluable for locating it again.”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone” “when my kids lose it in a bag somewhere I can use find my instead of wasting an hour digging around”
Comment from 9 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone” - Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “The growing vigilante movement to knock out Flock surveillance cameras”
Reliable, works well for daily use
“still the one thing that works great and keeps me at Apple”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Welcome (back) to Macintosh” “it's always worked fine for me”
Comment from 9 Feb 2026 in “AirPods Pro 4 Could Feature Cameras to 'See Around You'” “I use it almost every day”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability” Good directions and full route display
“The Find My app actually gives really good directions.”
Comment from 14 Oct 2026 in “Apple HomeView” “it showed me the EXACT complete route on the map”
Comment from 27 Jan 2026 in “Apple introduces new AirTag with longer range and improved findability” Remote erase and useful alerts
“enable find my and do remote erase/etc.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “An Apology” “this app can send useful notifications”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Apple Watch for Your Kids”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Forced on, not opt-in
“It's not okay. This type of tracking isn't demanded or desired by the end user as it's silently forced upon them.”
Comment from 15 Jun 2026 in “Over half of parents of 18-25 year-olds track adult children w smartphone apps” “setting their 'Find My' ecosystem as opt-in instead of opt-out”
Comment from 8 Jan 2026 in “Google will now only release Android source code twice a year” Ties device to Apple ID lock
“Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: My Apple ID is locked for a week, Apple is a single point of failure” “Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks your device to your Apple ID”
Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: My Apple ID is locked for a week, Apple is a single point of failure” Heavy battery and memory use
“I noticed a significant reduction in battery life on my mobile devices. The reduction coincided with the rollout of Apple's "Find My" service”
Comment from 17 Feb 2026 in “What Your Bluetooth Devices Reveal About You” “Find My was using 3GB of memory!”
Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces MacBook Pro with All‑New M5 Pro and M5 Max” Tracks people and shows history
“I also love that Find My says my partner was "last seen" at home "8,912 days ago"”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “Apple Maps claims it's 29,905 miles away” “has rhe largest network of user tracking (FindMy)”
Comment from 15 Aug 2026 in “Google Is Making Private AI Practical with Homomorphic Encryption”
What people said
32 of the 36 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“enable find my and do remote erase/etc.”
“The Find My app actually gives really good directions.”
“Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks”
“Ideally don't use "Find My" - it's what locks your device to your Apple ID”
“Find My with it's always-disabled options”
“has rhe largest network of user tracking (FindMy)”
“Find my exists for a reason.”
“telegram notifications, homekit and find my were the culprits”
“sorry, this location only shows the building and not the apartment, so we can't enter the apartment and get your phone”
“I got to teach a Detective the technical limitations of Find My, and also successfully recovered some of my property”
“the technology is in reality useless”
“when my kids lose it in a bag somewhere I can use find my instead of wasting an hour digging around”
“Find My is invaluable for locating it again.”
“Find My support or similar (for parents who would give this to kids)”
“It's not okay. This type of tracking isn't demanded or desired by the end user as it's silently forced upon them.”
“but "find my" can still force a sound which is how they find the device they "lost"”
“this app can send useful notifications”
“I really appreciate that findmy is e2ee by Apple”
“"Find My" was far superior in remote tracking of airtag-equivalents”
“Find My was using 3GB of memory!”
“still the one thing that works great and keeps me at Apple”
“I noticed a significant reduction in battery life on my mobile devices. The reduction coincided with the rollout of Apple's "Find My" service”
“it's always worked fine for me”
“I applaud the utility of "find my"”
“it showed me the EXACT complete route on the map”
“I use it almost every day”
“FindMy is a big one for me - if I lost or misplaced my phone”
“setting their 'Find My' ecosystem as opt-in instead of opt-out”
“I was frustrated that Apple Find My would always only show the live location”
“I also love that Find My says my partner was "last seen" at home "8,912 days ago"”
“is useless the moment a thief powers off the phone or yanks the SIM card”
“'findmyphone' services, which are OPT-IN litterally do the same thing.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.