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iOS 10.3 Beta Includes New 'Find My AirPods' Mode for Locating Lost AirPods

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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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30,848



Apple's AirPods are wire-free, which makes them convenient to use, but it's also caused some concern from users who are afraid to lose their $159 earphones. In its latest beta, Apple has introduced a new feature to assuage customer fears - Find My AirPods.

Available in iOS 10.3, Find My AirPods adds your AirPods to the "Find My iPhone" app, listing them alongside all other Apple products. In the app, you can tap on the AirPods to cause them to play a little chirping sound that gradually gets louder for location purposes.

After activating the sound, you can choose to have it play solely through the left AirPod or through the right AirPod so you don't need to listen to chirping if only one of the AirPods is missing.

findmyairpods-800x707.jpg

The location of the AirPods is displayed on the iPhone's screen. The AirPods rely on the iPhone's GPS to display a location (or another iOS device) and will offer up the last known place where the AirPods were connected should the AirPods be misplaced.

Find My AirPods isn't a perfect solution because the AirPods have no built in cellular connectivity of their own, but with the ability to see the last known location, AirPods owners can at least go to that spot to attempt to reconnect, and the included sound capabilities help narrow down a location.

Find My AirPods is activated automatically when iOS 10.3 is installed. AirPods show up in the menu as soon as they're connected to an iOS device. iOS 10.3 is currently limited to developers, but a public beta should be available in the near future.

Article Link: iOS 10.3 Beta Includes New 'Find My AirPods' Mode for Locating Lost AirPods
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/24/ios-10-3-find-my-airpods/
seatton

seatton

macrumors 6502a
Nov 7, 2013
789
1,219
Seattle, WA
I would love to have this feature for my Powerbeats 3 as well since they both have the W1 chip. I have a feeling it will not happen though :(
 
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northernmunky

northernmunky

macrumors 6502a
Jan 19, 2007
829
295
London, Taipei
sputnikv said:
this has undoubtedly been in the works long before the find my airpods app was put on and subsequently removed from the app store
Click to expand...

This was in the UK news a few weeks ago that that app got canned, and people were saying "oh, Apple wants me to loose them so they can make more money out of me when I have to buy new ones" - and a lot of similar nonsense. I said then that aside from the conspiracy theories its probably more likely that the app approvers didn't know Apple was planning to make it a feature anyway and managment ordered its removal. - People then got upset that I wasn't bashing Apple enough!
 
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Juicy Box

Juicy Box

macrumors 604
Sep 23, 2014
7,525
8,861
This is good. At a minimum it will give a little peace of mind.

I remember many comments from past thread scoffing at people that were worried about people losing their AirPods.

Looks like Apple was listening.
 
4

44267547

Cancelled
Jul 12, 2016
37,642
42,491
macTW said:
This is really well done. Even without GPS, you could follow your path from last use to now, listening for chirping. For a lack of GPS, this is almost as good as it could get.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'm fairly aware of my property and rarely lose anything. But this is a great feature. And I knew this feature was coming and rightfully so.
 
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S

SSDGUY

macrumors 65816
Jul 27, 2009
1,345
2,114
MacRumors said:



Apple's AirPods are wire-free, which makes them convenient to use, but it's also caused some concern from users who are afraid to lose their $159 earphones. In its latest beta, Apple has introduced a new feature to assuage customer fears - Find My AirPods.

Available in iOS 10.3, Find My AirPods adds your AirPods to the "Find My iPhone" app, listing them alongside all other Apple products. In the app, you can tap on the AirPods to cause them to play a little chirping sound that gradually gets louder for location purposes.

After activating the sound, you can choose to have it play solely through the left AirPod or through the right AirPod so you don't need to listen to chirping if only one of the AirPods is missing.

findmyairpods-800x707.jpg

The location of the AirPods is displayed on the iPhone's screen. The AirPods rely on the iPhone's GPS to display a location (or another iOS device) and will offer up the last known place where the AirPods were connected should the AirPods be misplaced.

Find My AirPods isn't a perfect solution because the AirPods have no built in cellular connectivity of their own, but with the ability to see the last known location, AirPods owners can at least go to that spot to attempt to reconnect, and the included sound capabilities help narrow down a location.

Find My AirPods is activated automatically when iOS 10.3 is installed. AirPods show up in the menu as soon as they're connected to an iOS device. iOS 10.3 is currently limited to developers, but a public beta should be available in the near future.

Article Link: iOS 10.3 Beta Includes New 'Find My AirPods' Mode for Locating Lost AirPods
Click to expand...

Does it work when they're in several pieces under my lawn mower? ;)
 
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P

paul4339

macrumors 65816
Sep 14, 2009
1,448
732
handy feature, I'm looking forward to it ... I have a fear of losing an airpod while shoveling snow... my fear is the white on white makes it hard to see.
 
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