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Should They Kill Find my Friends?

Small White Car

Small White Car

macrumors G4
Original poster
Aug 29, 2006
10,976
1,514
Washington DC
So if you use "Find My Friends" you probably know it's not working so well with iOS 7.

At first I was hoping for a fix. But now it's caused me to wonder, wouldn't we be better off if Apple just killed this app and just made it a function you could enable in Maps?

After all, you can access your Mac's Safari-tabs within Safari. You don't have to download a "Your Mac's Internet" app from the app store.

I mean, how great would this be?

find_maps.jpg


And you could control it in SETTINGS > MAPS where they would put a page that gives you the same controls that the current FmF app has.

This could certainly be the kind of update that a x.1 update gets, so it's not out of the question. I have no reason to think that they are doing this, but I have to say I think it's what I'd prefer over an updated FmF app.

EDIT:

And for those who are wondering, I intentionally didn't put it in the 'Standard-Hybrid-Satellite' row because I don't see it as a mode that you just leave on all the time.

Rather, it's something you turn on when you need it, look at, and then it turns itself off when you close the app. (In other words, there is no 'Hide Friends.' That just happens by itself.)

So your friends are always one simple touch away, but they're not auto-loading every single time you open maps.
 
I like this idea a lot. The redundancy of having two map apps display different things always seemed off.
 
It's a feature that I wish would work better. My wife and I used to "stalk" each other, so she would know when I was leaving work and could start on dinner (or vice versa, I cook too). I would still like the concept, wished it worked.
 
Nice idea. I like it.

I've never used the Find my Friends app and I don't know of a single person who has. It's a nice idea in theory I suppose, but I don't think it warrants a standalone app.
 
sdilley14 said:
Nice idea. I like it.

I've never used the Find my Friends app and I don't know of a single person who has. It's a nice idea in theory I suppose, but I don't think it warrants a standalone app.
Click to expand...

I use it all the time. Good to check on a partner with an erratic work schedule -- just open the app to quickly check if he's still at work or is on the way home. Oh, and it also has a notification feature that tells you when your friend leaves / arrives at a place. I set my partner's phone to always notify me when he leaves work. Very useful!
 
Small White Car said:
So if you use "Find My Friends" you probably know it's not working so well with iOS 7.

At first I was hoping for a fix. But now it's caused me to wonder, wouldn't we be better off if Apple just killed this app and just made it a function you could enable in Maps?

After all, you can access your Mac's Safari-tabs within Safari. You don't have to download a "Your Mac's Internet" app from the app store.

I mean, how great would this be?

Image

And you could control it in SETTINGS > MAPS where they would put a page that gives you the same controls that the current FmF app has.

This could certainly be the kind of update that a x.1 update gets, so it's not out of the question. I have no reason to think that they are doing this, but I have to say I think it's what I'd prefer over an updated FmF app.

EDIT:

And for those who are wondering, I intentionally didn't put it in the 'Standard-Hybrid-Satellite' row because I don't see it as a mode that you just leave on all the time.

Rather, it's something you turn on when you need it, look at, and then it turns itself off when you close the app. (In other words, there is no 'Hide Friends.' That just happens by itself.)

So your friends are always one simple touch away, but they're not auto-loading every single time you open maps.
Click to expand...

This is a great idea. It's definitely redundant to have two separate apps that can do essentially the same thing.
 
I don't have any friends!

I call my wife when I leave work so she knows what time I'll be home. Checking an app to see where somebody is sounds a bit creepy. Like a stalkers dream.
 
I would love for it to be integrated in Maps, as a matter of fact I think Apple would love that as well. However, with all the tin foil hat wearers, keeping it a separate app that you have to download and can visibly delete is probably the right thing to do from a PR perspective.

It is an extremely useful app for me, Friends and Family. Being in college and having friends that, well, shall we say "get lost" on Friday nights, It is nice to be able to find one another in the "I have no idea where I am" state. My parents really love it for knowing where my brother and I are when coming home for a break. However, by far the best use of it for us is my Dad, who have early stages of dementia and lives alone, only problem is that illness also has the effect of him forgetting his phone. If only there were a way to put it in a watch... Hmmm.

If you have friends or a SO that would use this to "stalk" you, then they probably are not very good friends. Just saying.
 
Last edited:
Apple fanboy said:
I don't have any friends!

I call my wife when I leave work so she knows what time I'll be home. Checking an app to see where somebody is sounds a bit creepy. Like a stalkers dream.
Click to expand...

Heh. It did feel stalkery at first, but now it's second nature. Faster than calling and waiting for him to pick up, or texting "where r u" and sitting around wondering if he'll ever answer.

It's especially good when we are meeting each other somewhere outside. I can see like, he's ten blocks away, so I still have a few minutes to finish my coffee, etc.


Squid7085 said:
If only there were a way to put it in a watch... Hmmm.
Click to expand...

But would he remember to put on his watch? :D

Actually, I think there are apps now for this, with accompanying tags/bracelets for tracking pets, children, and people with wandering tendencies like your dad.

If you have friends or a SO that would use this to "stalk" you, then they probably are not very good friends. Just saying.
Click to expand...

Joking aside, you have to give explicit permission for someone to track you, and it's very simple to turn it on and off as you need/want.
 
Last edited:
Apple fanboy said:
I don't have any friends!

I call my wife when I leave work so she knows what time I'll be home. Checking an app to see where somebody is sounds a bit creepy. Like a stalkers dream.
Click to expand...

Well, you can set geofences. So say you leave your work location, your wife can get an alert automatically without even having to check.
 
I love Find My Friends...bought my two oldest kids iPhones, installed it on them and told them if I couldn't see where they were, the phones would be taken away.
 
I love it. All 5 of us in our household use it daily. It's great to see when my wife leaves work so I know when to get her martini ready. :). I have 3 kids who are constantly on the go and often forget to text when they've arrived at their destination. This way I can easily check in on them without having to text them. And they can check to see to see where I am when coming to pick them up.

My middle child just moved off of an Android Galaxy Nexus phone and onto an iPhone; I am saving $10/mo now as I don't need to purchase Family Locator.
 
its a great feature especially if your planning to meet someone and your both travelling. The lack of support for its depressing though

I think its a good idea folding it into maps would give it some nice functionality. you could select a cafe to meet your friend at, send them the location and see when they are about to arrive to order them a drink all from within one app

just needs some time and support and if combined with maps will be a far more utilised and powerful feature
 
Horrible idea. Find my Friends needs it's own app due to all the features, like geo fencing. Plus I use Google Maps, I don't want to open apples ****** maps, scroll to the bottom, click on show friends then have it load. I'd rather just open Find my Friends app. They should not kill the app, they should make the app icon flat though.
 
Dammit! I had this idea weeks ago and even told my wife of my brilliance but then you go and post it here like it's all your genius idea. Get out of my head and stop stealing my ideas!!!!!

;)
 
Excellent idea! Would be nice if Airport Utility was integrated into Wi-fi Settings, too. I hate when things that should be part of the OS are separated as "apps."
 
As long as the functionality is not killed off, sure why not?
However this feature is the main reason everyone at my place got an iPhone over a Galaxy, since this allows us, in case of an emergency or no show situation to see everyone is ok.
 
I don't have any issues with it not working on iOS7. Being a divorced dad with a young son on an iPhone it's great idea to see if he is home from school, out with his mom and/or available for a call. If I see him at home I know usually it's a good time to call. If I see him out and about I know it's probably best to wait till later to call him.

But really don't see much point in it beside that. I had some friends on there and some other family members then remembered that I don't really give a damn where they are and what they are doing. I'm connected to most of them via FB and IG anyway so most of the time know what they are doing and where they are. Plus they are my "friends" so I usually know just because we are friends and we chat.

It's a good little app for what I use it for but really wouldn't care if they killed it or not. I kind of think it can be a little creepy depending on who's on there and why.
 
I use it with iOS 7 without any problems.
It's easy to keep tabs on the family..
Everyone knows its there, and nobody has anything to hide.
 
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