Apple hasn't launched a formal social network since the failure of iTunes Ping. However, some Apple features act like social apps, such as iMessage and the Shared Albums feature in the Photos app. These latest trends seem to have made Apple's “Find My” the go-to social app for keeping in touch with close friends and family.
Social sharing features have become more common in recent years, especially among younger users, with services like Snapchat and Instagram offering or testing such features.
However, Apple has built its own location-sharing feature into its Find My app, and it appears to be gaining popularity.
Written by Ellen Huett Bloomberg:
I love sharing my real-time location with my friends. Over the past few years, I've slowly convinced about 20 of my friends to let me track their whereabouts 24/7 and, in exchange, I share my location with them.
We primarily use the Find My app on iOS, but a few of my Android friends also use Google Maps' location sharing feature, so we can open the app any time and gaze fondly upon the collection of little friend dots on the map drifting around the city, the country, and sometimes the globe.
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Digital habits are also growing in popularity among younger generations, with some Gen Zers viewing them as friendship rituals or milestones that mark closeness.
While Huet's article doesn't provide any hard data on this trend, I've noticed that Find My sharing is becoming more and more prevalent around me.
Apple's recognition of this trend can be seen in its recent Star Wars ad, whose Mandalorian-esque tagline is “This is how you find your friends.”
Benefits of sharing your location with Find My
As location tracking becomes widely accepted as a given, it makes sense to take it a step further and share your location with your near and dear ones.
Hewett gives an example of how social sharing has created opportunities for fun connections, describing the time she found friends nearby through an app and enjoyed an unplanned meet-up at the airport.
When it comes to scheduled meetings, there's also the convenience aspect: you just open the Find Me app and don't have to think about how close or far the other person is.
Apple has made it easier to see and share your location in recent iOS versions: in the Messages app, for example, your location will now be displayed underneath your contact's photo, and the keyboard will even automatically suggest sharing your location in certain scenarios.
There are myriad privacy aspects worth considering related to this “Find My” trend, but it's still a fascinating development worth considering.
Do you use Find My for social location sharing? How is it working for you? Let us know in the comments.
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