Sometime in the last couple of updates, "Find My" is now partially broken. I'll be driving down the road with one or more of my iPads (we have three), and the phone will beep and say I left my iPad behind, several miles back. But it's still in the car with me. That has happened 10 or more times in the last few weeks. It never ever happened before this spring. What's the deal?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 18
olderTechnology wrote:
But it's still in the car with me.
What does “it” mean exactly?
Is the iPad WiFi only? Or WiFi+ Cellular? The WiFi-only iPads don't have GPS chips. They rely on WiFi for location services. So, if the care isn't in range of any WiFi networks, the iPad would appear to have been left behind at the last location where there was WiFi.
Note that the iPad doesn't connect with these networks, just gets the location information.
Have you set your home as a trusted location? This ought to fix it, but it didn't for me. It's not broken in the last couple of updates - it's been doing this, randomly, for me ever since Find My came out in exactly the same scenario. About ten minutes after leaving home in the car I get a message that I've left my iPad behind when I know it's in my bag. I've set up trusted locations so it's not supposed to report things left at home The first couple of times it happened I pulled in to check cos I needed it, but now I ignore it. I think it's an update rate, GPS inaccuracy or perhaps Car Play related. Or it might just not be very good.
1) It happens with both my wife's ipad (connected to her phone) and both of mine (connected to my phone). All three.
2) I get that Wifi iPads don't have GPS chips, but this NEVER happened before. You should NOT be notified that you left something behind unless you actually did.
[Edited by Moderator]
Yes, the home is a trusted location. The one variable is "when did this problem start"? You may be right, it may have been a permanent bug that I only just started noticing. But it was SO accurate before. Like when I would go into the grocery store, it would correctly tell me that I left it behind in my car. Now, it's useless.
olderTechnology wrote:
1) It happens with both my wife's ipad (connected to her phone) and both of mine (connected to my phone). All three.
iPads are "connected to iPhones" unless they are actively using the hotspot.
2) I get that Wifi iPads don't have GPS chips, but this NEVER happened before. You should NOT be notified that you left something behind unless you actually did.
You got lucky. Or you were always in range of WiFi. The system can only work with the data it has. If a location no longer registers for a device, it is assumed to have been left behind.
olderTechnology wrote:
Yes, the home is a trusted location. The one variable is "when did this problem start"? You may be right, it may have been a permanent bug that I only just started noticing. But it was SO accurate before. Like when I would go into the grocery store, it would correctly tell me that I left it behind in my car.
That's a different situation. What would be important to know is whether you ever got erroneous notifications in the exact same places you're getting them now.
I have the exact same issue as you. It's been happening since I updated my iPhone to iOS 18.4.1. It has never happened before that. Definitely a bug.
How do I fix false alerts from Find My on my iPad's and iPhone?
