Apple will soon let users share the location of lost or missing items — such as an iPhone, MacBook, or something with an AirTag attached — via the Find My app with people who are not in their contacts using a link.
The company is currently testing this feature on the iOS 18.2 public beta after introducing it with the 18.2 developer beta earlier this month. Apple said the feature is intended to help locate your lost items by sharing their location with third-parties such as a cab driver or an airline employee.
The company said in the coming months, nearly 20 airlines will start accepting Find My item location links as part of their customer services for lost luggage. 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. Airline staff will have to authenticate access through their Apple account or partner email address.
The Find My app will feature a new “Share Item Location” option, which gives you a shareable link to the location of the missing item. People can open the link on any device (including non-Apple devices) to try and track it. The link automatically expires after a week or when the item is back with you.
There’s also a “Share Contact Info” option that lets any phone connect with an item and open a website, which will show your phone number and email — if you’ve added those details to the item’s contact page. Seemingly, this is meant to help the person who finds the item contact you.
“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,” Eddie Cue, Apple’s SVP of services, said in a statement.
Find My already lets you share an item’s location with people in your contacts. The update would also let users look at statistics like how many people visited the link.