Apple's 'Find My' App Helps Users Locate More Than Just An iPhone

Apple's Find My app has been credited to helping a teenager locate, of all things, her stolen car.

Apple hasn't released its rumored Tile-like tracker yet, but a 19-year-old woman named Victoria O'Connor was already able to find her stolen car by using the Find My app on the iPhone, KCCI Des Moines reported.

Here's how it happened. O'Connor said she went inside a QuikTrip store and later went out to find that her car was already gone. She said she had left the engine running, and was only away for about five minutes.

O'Connor was worried. She had just lost her apartment in a fire in September, and is practically living in her sedan. She said all of the belongings she could think of was inside that car, including her wallet, and her iPhone.

O'Connor approached police, who tried to help her locate her missing car by using the Find My app to locate her iPhone. She got a signal at first, but lost it after the iPhone was turned off.

The following day, O'Connor told KCCI that the app started pinging again. They went to the location the app provided for them and found her car parked outside a Plaza View Apartments. The iPhone wasn't in the car. The car key was also missing. Nevertheless, the 19-year-old was just happy to get her car back.

Find My app

Des Moines police Sgt. Paul Parizek praised the Find My app's ability to track down stolen devices and belongings. He said the technology is “great” and helps the police “solve a lot of these crimes.”

Despite the app's apparent usefulness, however, Sgt. Parizek warns people that it's always better for them not to leave their keys in the car, and to take care of their belongings instead of having to spend a lot of time and effort locating them when they're gone.

Cupertino tech giant Apple's “Find My” app combines all the benefits of the older “Find My iPhone” and “Find My Friends” apps into one feature-packed app that can be used to locate lost devices even if they're not connected to the internet. It's an easy-to use feature that will help people find their precious Apple devices –and the cars or bags where they're placed– if ever they go missing.