Apple to Launch 'Find My' Network in South Korea Next Spring

[MacRumors]

Apple has announced it will finally introduce its popular 'Find My' network to South Korea in the spring of 2025, after apparently overcoming local regulatory hurdles. The launch will bring the full range of Apple's location-based Find My services to South Korean customers for the first time, enabling them to keep track of devices, belongings, and loved ones.

Last July, a petition on Korea's National Assembly Electronic Petition website called for the introduction of Apple's Find My service in the country, garnering over 9,000 signatures. The petitioner highlighted the frustration experienced by Korean users and users from abroad who lost their devices but were unable to use the Find My app to locate them. Apple previously said that the limitation was its inability to export high-precision map data out of the country because of local laws, but Korea also has strict privacy regulations that it may have come up against.

Regardless, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) apparently responded positively to the petition, and its acting chairman Kim Tae-gyu expressed support for bringing the Find My service to South Korea. The KCC also said it had been in ongoing talks with Apple about the timing of its introduction.

With the Find My network enabled, users will be able to to locate their iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other Apple devices, as well as AirTag-connected personal items and third-party Find My compatible trackers, while maintaining strong privacy protections.

One of the main features of the Find My network is its ability to pinpoint lost devices on a map, providing users with step-by-step directions to retrieve their misplaced items. The app also allows users to trigger a sound on their lost Apple devices, making it easier to locate them when in close proximity.

Find My also lets users stay connected with friends and family by opting to share their location with specific contacts. This can be useful when meeting up in crowded areas, particularly for owners of an iPhone 15 or iPhone 15 Pro, who can take advantage of the Precision Finding capability to navigate directly to their friends' exact locations.

The original "Find My iPhone" app was launched in 2009 alongside iPhone OS 3. "Find My Mac" was added to OS X 10.7 Lion in 2011, while "Find My Friends" was released in October 2011. With the release of iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 Catalina, the functionality of Find My iPhone, Find My Mac, and Find My Friends was unified into the app we know today as Find My.

Article Link: Apple to Launch 'Find My' Network in South Korea Next Spring

 

[Futurix]

Why was it not available until now?

 

[Rayansb]

Why was it not available until now?

legal and government hurdles.

 

[TechWhisperer]

Why was it not available until now?

Yeah why isn’t that information provided in the article. SMH.

 

[timmyh]

article updated.

 

[diskrisk]

Tim Sweeney in shambles as he will now cancel all his trips to South Korea, in solidarity with thieves and their right to steal MacBooks privately.

 

[Neofox]

Finally! So pumped about that. Not having an easy way to locate your device was really a bummer...

One of my coworker lost her phone yesterday and with no way to locate it it was very stressful.. fortunately for her it was in the office bathroom but it would have been so much easier to find with the Find My network

 

[Rafagon]

Now all that's missing is that country's northern counterpart.

 

[contacos]

Why was it not available until now?

Kim

Google Maps does not work in South Korea either (only public transport works somewhat in Seoul but no routing). Must use Kakao Maps or Naver Map instead

 

[seungheonhan]

legal and government hurdles.

It's not true.
There was no legal problem.

 

[Jay Tee]

This and AirTags are among the very best products anywhere for Dementia/Alzheimer sufferers.

Literally life-savers.

 

[Slainor]

Why was it not available until now?

not enough innovation

 

[twintin]

It's not true.
There was no legal problem.

From the updated article

"Apple has announced it will finally introduce its popular 'Find My' network to South Korea in the spring of 2025, after apparently overcoming local regulatory hurdles."

so it most certainly sounds like some form of legal problems.

 

[TwoBytes]

I never knew it was not available in regions. I thought the Phone creates the becon for the network to exsist and as long as there are iPhones, the findmy network is available.
Well there you go, having my stuff lost and thinking findmy might help if there are iphone users out there isn't a strategy

 

[JosephAW]

Still buggy in the USA. My brother started sharing with me and I with him and no matter what we do I cannot see his location but he sees mine perfectly fine. Too bad there isn’t something like trace Route for problem-solving so you could figure out where something is failing.

 

[Neofox]

From the updated article

"Apple has announced it will finally introduce its popular 'Find My' network to South Korea in the spring of 2025, after apparently overcoming local regulatory hurdles."

so it most certainly sounds like some form of legal problems.

The thing is that the Korean government didn’t change a thing. That’s why Korean did a petition for apple to add find my as nothing was actually stopping them to do so. The government actually said that they were not against and apple when asked said that it was for « internal reasons ».

If you want my opinion it’s for the same reasons there will be no Apple Intelligence for now in Europe, not because EU said no, but because Apple don’t want to go through the trouble of doing something that may get denied later on. And now that the SK government clearly said that they are not against they decided to go through.

 

[GCRoberts]

Yes, of course next Spring. Our daughter has been teaching English in Seoul since February and will be coming home next February/March. The only way we've been able to keep track of her location is through SnapChat which somehow does allow her location to be shared through social media.

 

[twintin]

The thing is that the Korean government didn’t change a thing. That’s why Korean did a petition for apple to add find my as nothing was actually stopping them to do so. The government actually said that they were not against and apple when asked said that it was for « internal reasons ».

If you want my opinion it’s for the same reasons there will be no Apple Intelligence for now in Europe, not because EU said no, but because Apple don’t want to go through the trouble of doing something that may get denied later on. And now that the SK government clearly said that they are not against they decided to go through.

That's not what the article say. Where did you find that info ?

Even if Korean government didn’t change a thing, Apple and them need to interpret the present law in same way. May have been something that was unclear until now. Who knows.

 

[nutmac]

Why was it not available until now?

As others alluded to, South Korea has a strict law for mapping data, where more detailed data must be hosted domestically. The reason is probably to prevent North Korea, however ridiculous as that may seem (I guess South Korea has never heard of VPN), but probably also to protect the local businesses.

So popular navigation apps like Apple Maps and Google Maps cannot be used for driving directions, and their maps are typically far less detailed.

Of course, this should not necessarily prevent Find My network to function, but it certainly puts a damper.

 

[YuniHKim]

legal and government hurdles.

People thought so but turned out that there were no hurdles and other android phones such as Galaxy already provided same service in Korea. So iPhone users were so upset and started petition and Apple never gave any REASON for blocking this feature in Korea.

 

[YuniHKim]

That's not what the article say. Where did you find that info ?

Even if Korean government didn’t change a thing, Apple and them need to interpret the present law in same way. May have been something that was unclear until now. Who knows.

I am Korean and that’s true. Galaxy already is providing the location service in Korea.

 

[YuniHKim]

I can tell you one more funny thing that is… Apple Korea have been selling AirTag without Find My feature working in Korea.

 

[Neofox]

That's not what the article say. Where did you find that info ?

Even if Korean government didn’t change a thing, Apple and them need to interpret the present law in same way. May have been something that was unclear until now. Who knows.

The article is not correct.
Even in English it’s easy to find :

Korea Communications Commission, which is in charge of regulating the protection and use of location information, however, has made clear that no such regulation restricts Apple's Find My service in the country.

“There are similar services to Apple's Find My that are already provided in Korea by other operators,” an official from the commission said to the Korea JoongAng Daily.

“We made an inquiry to Apple regarding the issue about a month ago, and Apple's answer was that it is due to 'company's internal regulation'. As far as [Find My is] concerned, Apple is choosing to not offer the service in Korea, and [it is] is far from being banned.”

Online petition demands Apple bring Find My to Korea

An online petition in Korea is calling for Apple to reinstate its Find My feature, accusing the company of discrimination. If the petition garners 50,000 signatures by Aug. 21, the issue will be taken to a committee for further discussion.

koreajoongangdaily.joins.com

 

[Neofox]

I can tell you one more funny thing that is… Apple Korea have been selling AirTag without Find My feature working in Korea.

Yeah each time I go to an Apple Store I find it funny that they display proudly the AirTag…

 

[svish]

Did not know that it was not available. Good for those in South Korea.