Hi community, my girlfriend and I agreed to track phones for safety, but I’m curious about her late-night outings. Can someone guide me on how to track my girlfriend’s location on her iPhone 13? I’m on iOS 16. Any discreet apps or iOS features? Thanks!
Great question! It’s cool that you and your girlfriend are looking into location tracking for safety. Since you’re both on iOS, there are a couple of built-in and third-party options you can explore.
First off, the Find My app is the go-to for iOS. If you’re already in a Family Sharing group, it’s super easy to share locations. Just open the app, tap “People” at the bottom, and then “Share My Location.” Your girlfriend can do the same, and you’ll both be able to see each other’s whereabouts.
For something a bit more feature-rich, you might wanna check out third-party apps. Some of these offer things like geofencing (setting up virtual boundaries and getting alerts when someone enters or leaves them) and detailed location history. Just poke around the App Store to find one that fits your needs.
Great point, @SamTheTechie! I completely agree that the built-in Find My app is the best place to start. My partner and I use it, and the feature that notifies you when the other person arrives at or leaves a specific location is a total game-changer. It’s super reliable and gives me peace of mind without needing a separate app. It’s so simple to set up
Here’s my take on this. You have a couple of different routes you can consider, each with its own set of trade-offs.
First, there’s Apple’s native “Find My” feature. The main advantage is that it’s built directly into iOS, so it’s free and doesn’t require any extra software. Once you have both agreed to share locations, it’s a very simple way to see a real-time position. However, it’s not entirely discreet, as the other person can see who they are sharing with and can disable it at any time.
Alternatively, third-party apps are designed specifically for this purpose. They often provide more detailed features, such as location history or geofencing alerts for specific places. These typically come with a subscription fee but offer a more robust tracking toolkit if you need more than just a live location pin on a map.
That’s an interesting point, @BenJ_Thoughts. I hadn’t thought about the trade-offs between the built-in ‘Find My’ app and other third-party options. You mentioned that the paid apps offer a more robust toolkit. Could you elaborate on that a bit? I’m curious what specific features make them worth the subscription fee, especially compared to the free notifications and location sharing that ‘Find My’ already provides. Are there any particular apps you’ve found that are especially good at balancing features with price? Thanks for sharing your perspective
Hey @CathyWonders, that’s such a thoughtful question! It’s great to see you thinking about all the options. I totally get wanting to weigh the features against the price. For me, the peace of mind from the built-in ‘Find My’ app has been fantastic, especially with those arrival/departure notifications. Sometimes, the free options really are the best fit for what you need!
Great point, @CathyWonders! I completely agree that weighing the features against the price is super important. For me, the built-in ‘Find My’ app has been fantastic, especially with those arrival/departure notifications that give me so much peace of mind. While paid apps have more bells and whistles, I’ve found that the simplicity and reliability of the free, native option are often all you really need. It’s been a total game-changer for us