- Apple's Find My is now upgraded with the ability to Share Item Location, users share a live location of the lost item.
- Users can share this end-to-end encrypted link with their close ones and partner airlines to make detection faster and easier.
- The feature comes as part of the iOS 18.2 public beta, and will be adapted by over 15 popular airlines worldwide.
Apple’s Find My is undoubtedly one of the best ecosystem features that its users can make use of, and understandably so. Using Find My, Apple users can easily track their misplaced or lost iPhone, iPad, and the like, or even locate their AirTagged items. Well, Apple has just made it easier to locate your stolen or misplaced items with a new Share Item Location feature.
As per the official Apple announcement, the feature comes as a part of the iOS 18.2 public beta. Yes, the same build that will reportedly let iPhone users finally see the estimated charging time. Talking about the new Share Item Location upgrade to Apple’s Find My, as it sounds, it will let users share the location of “an AirTag or Find My network accessory with third parties such as airlines.”
Eddy Cue, Apple’s Senior VP of Services, states:
“The Find My network and AirTag have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when bags have been misplaced or mishandled. With Share Item Location, we’re excited to give users a new way to easily share this information directly with third parties like airlines, all while protecting their privacy.”
To take advantage of the feature, Apple users can simply head over to the Find My app on their iPhone, iPad, or Mac and create a “Share Item Location.” This will create a link showing the location of the items on an interactive map.
Then, they can simply share the said link with their friends, family, or third parties like airline services to keep everyone in the loop. Additionally, every time the location of the Airtagged baggage changes, this particular website will automatically reflect that, while also showing when it was last updated.
Over 15 popular international airlines will start using Find My Item locations to detect misplaced baggage. These airlines include Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling. However, Apple does ensure that more airlines will join in on it gradually.
Now, if you’re worried about this link being visible to anyone and everyone, don’t be. Access to such links will be limited, with recipients being required to authenticate access using their Apple Accounts or partner email addresses in the case of airline service providers. Not to mention that the links themselves will be end-to-end encrypted, with not even Apple or Find My Network accessory manufacturers being able to access them.
David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer, states,
“We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind.”
Further, Kinzelman adds that they plan on integrating the feature to select airports initially, but are aiming to introduce it systemwide as soon as early 2025.
SITA (Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautique), an air transport technology leader, will be integrating Share Item Location into its baggage-tracing system called WorldTracer. The system is used by over 500 airlines and 2,800 airports worldwide.
