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iOS 18.2 Includes New Find My Option for Sharing Lost Luggage Location With Airlines

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Apr 12, 2001
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With iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, Apple added a new feature to the Find My app that's designed to let you share a lost item's location with a trusted person. The feature is meant to help you locate an item through a third-party, such as an airline's customer service staff.

ios-18-2-share-item-location.jpg

The Find My app has an option to "Share Item Location" and "Show Contact Info." If you choose the Share Item Location option, a link is created that lets someone see the location of a lost item when they open it up. Links can be opened on a non-Apple device using a web browser, so people without an iPhone, iPad, or Mac can help you locate something that's lost.

Find My links that you share expire after a one-week period, and you can see how many people have viewed a link. Shared links stop working when an item is returned to you, when the link sharing date expires, or when you opt to stop sharing the location of an item. Share Item Location is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so Apple and accessory manufacturers are not able to view an item's location or information.

Tapping on the Show Contact Info option lets any phone, computer, or tablet connect to a lost item to open a website with more information about it, including the phone number and email address of the person who owns it. You can use this feature to provide details about an item that you've lost, or to view details about an item you've found that you want to return to its owner.

While Find My already allowed you to share an item with a person in your Contacts list, the Share Item Location feature in iOS 18.2 gives you a way to temporarily show an item's location to someone else who might be able to help you find it. It works with AirTags and other devices that connect to Apple's Find My network.

As of right now, United Airlines and Air Canada have implemented support for the Find My Share Item Location feature for lost bags, and Apple says that additional airlines plan to implement support "soon." With direct airline support, airline employees will know what steps to follow to get a lost item such as luggage back to its owner with the help of Find My.

United Airlines, for example, has created an entire workflow for reporting a bag that has an AirTag. If a bag does not arrive, customers can file a delayed baggage report, and those that have an AirTag can add a Share Item Location link to the report.

united-airlines-shared-item-location.jpg

United customer service airlines are able to see the Share Item Location link and view the location of the item on an interactive map. United says that its employees will use the location to more quickly find delayed bags.

Airlines that plan to implement support for Shared Item Location for lost or mishandled bags 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.

Article Link: iOS 18.2 Includes New Find My Option for Sharing Lost Luggage Location With Airlines
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2024/12/12/ios-18-2-find-my-share-item-location/
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I watched the lack of movement of our checked bag on an American Airline flight from Las Vegas to Phoenix on 9 January 2024. The Air Tag was stationary at the airline location on the ramp at the gate for more time than it took to fly from Las Vegas to Phoenix. It finally showed up on the luggage carousel after three later flights luggage had been put on the carousel and picked up.

So much for First Class Service.

Old saying: "If you have time to spare, go by air!"
 
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Airlines brag that 99.8% of checked bags make it to their destination. Most planes have over 170 seats on them, so if there were a checked bag for each seat, they'd lose a bag on one out of every three flights.

It seems to me that such a dismal success rate should be something to be deeply ashamed of, not something to be proud and brag about. Pay extra to have a chance of having your stuff lost.

IDK, how often do package companies lose stuff? Might be cheaper and more reliable to ship your stuff with them instead of letting the airline touch your bags.
 
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ArtOfWarfare said:
Airlines brag that 99.8% of checked bags make it to their destination. Most planes have over 170 seats on them, so if there were a checked bag for each seat, they'd lose a bag on one out of every three flights.

It seems to me that such a dismal success rate should be something to be deeply ashamed of, not something to be proud and brag about. Pay extra to have a chance of having your stuff lost.

IDK, how often do package companies lose stuff? Might be cheaper and more reliable to ship your stuff with them instead of letting the airline touch your bags.
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I knew something who used to do this all the time. Any big trip he'd ship the majority of his luggage. And then just bring a carry on. I tried it once, and it is less stressful but at the time more expensive. Now that airlines are charging for checked bags, it might not be.
 
xpaulso said:
I knew something who used to do this all the time. Any big trip he'd ship the majority of his luggage. And then just bring a carry on. I tried it once, and it is less stressful but at the time more expensive. Now that airlines are charging for checked bags, it might not be.
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People take too much crap with them. Heading off for a long weekend to Athens - this is my entire load out is in a 20L Osprey Daylite Plus which is free to take. There's all clothes, wash bag, first aid kit, iPad and mirrorless camera in there...

1734078461331.jpeg


One thing I learned: lose a lot of weight - the clothes are smaller and take less room. Also the seats are more comfortable! Also get an AirBnB with a washing machine and use it.

If I do a trip up to 2 weeks I can take a small carry on suit case as well. I've done a 2 week hiking expedition without having to use checked luggage.
 
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A very useful feature. Hopefully airlines will make use of it fully to help passengers get their missing baggages. Expecting more airlines to support this in the future.
 
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ArtOfWarfare said:
Airlines brag that 99.8% of checked bags make it to their destination. Most planes have over 170 seats on them, so if there were a checked bag for each seat, they'd lose a bag on one out of every three flights.

It seems to me that such a dismal success rate should be something to be deeply ashamed of, not something to be proud and brag about. Pay extra to have a chance of having your stuff lost.

IDK, how often do package companies lose stuff? Might be cheaper and more reliable to ship your stuff with them instead of letting the airline touch your bags.
Click to expand...
Just last week, I ordered something on Amazon and they said there was an issue in transit, so they had to send it again and I had to wait a couple extra days.

A couple days ago, I saw a tow truck pulling an Amazon prime van on the highway. I assume there were packages on it.
 
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cjsuk said:
People take too much crap with them. Heading off for a long weekend to Athens - this is my entire load out is in a 20L Osprey Daylite Plus which is free to take. There's all clothes, wash bag, first aid kit, iPad and mirrorless camera in there...

View attachment 2461801

One thing I learned: lose a lot of weight - the clothes are smaller and take less room. Also the seats are more comfortable! Also get an AirBnB with a washing machine and use it.

If I do a trip up to 2 weeks I can take a small carry on suit case as well. I've done a 2 week hiking expedition without having to use checked luggage.
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Your packing skills are pretty impressive! You even managed to fit a mirrorless camera in there. Kudos to you!
 
I’m 99.9% sure this feature is just placebo to quell customers. Won’t actually make any difference. Just another “feature” to sucker in people to update.
 
Hey, that's the O'Hare baggage claim in Chicago in the last image! No other airport can match that combination of goofy floor tile and oppressive fluorescent lighting while you're waiting for your bags to finally show up at the end of a long trip.
 
cougarmeat said:
There's a reason why United was selected - Just Say'n.
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Airlines aren't "selected" to have access. They need to opt in to support it and build the operations and IT changes.

United is on the list and one of the first to release because they have some of the best IT of any airline in the world. Now, operations and flying experience are a different thing so I'm not saying they're one of the best airlines in the world. Just that their IT (particularly their app) really is quite good so I imagine it's a well resourced and experienced team able to implement new functionality like this quickly.
 
dannyyankou said:
Just last week, I ordered something on Amazon and they said there was an issue in transit, so they had to send it again and I had to wait a couple extra days.

A couple days ago, I saw a tow truck pulling an Amazon prime van on the highway. I assume there were packages on it.
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Yeah, I actually had an issue just last week. The package almost made it to me, but then for some reason got sent to another town ~100 miles away, and then came back to my distribution center and to me. Ended up being about two days late.

Still... it seems like the logistics of having my luggage come with me should be a lot simpler. Just put the bag on the same plane I'm on. IDK why they regularly make it more complicated than that and stick the baggage on a different plane.
 
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