Find My iPhone on iPhone without data

Question

Find My iPhone on iPhone without data

We have my daughter's iPhone set up to text and call, but it doesn't have any data. It does connect to wifi. We used to be able to see where she was when she was out and about with her iPhone through "Find My." Now, the "Find My" function only works to see her when she is connected to Wifi. This change happened when her phone was temporarily broken and she had to switch to another phone for a bit. How can I set up her iPhone so the "Find My" sees her when she is not connected to Wi-fi? I feel like a setting was changed somehow.

iPhone 8

Posted on Jul 6, 2022 05:11 PM

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Answer 1

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Lawrence Finch

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Jul 6, 2022 05:30 PM in response to kelleyviolets19

I don’t know, but it doesn’t use much. My phone shows 6MB of data for the past month for Find My. But the more interesting one is my wife’s phone, which I don’t reset statistics on. It shows 150 MB over the past 6 1/2 years.

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Answer 2

Jul 6, 2022 05:33 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Okay - I will have to test this with some more data to see if I can get it working consistently again. 13 year old kid out in the world for the first time after the pandemic - I like to know where she is!

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Answer 3

Jul 6, 2022 05:16 PM in response to kelleyviolets19

There has never been a way to see an iPhone in Find My without either a Wi-Fi or cellular network connection. If there is no Wi-Fi connection the phone must have a cellular network connection. You can set cellular data to be enabled only for Find My and for nothing else, but it needs cellular data. That is probably how it was done previously.

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Answer 4

Jul 6, 2022 05:24 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Okay - this makes sense - I actually do have the phone set up with data on only for Find My (her plan comes with a small amount of data) and I guess, in the past, it would kick in when she was out. I think her monthly amount was used up on her other phone, so that's probably why I'm not seeing it now. So my question is, does the data only get used when someone checks in where she is, or is it using it all the time she has her phone on?

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Answer 5

Jul 6, 2022 05:41 PM in response to kelleyviolets19

Darn! It's not lack of data as I checked her plan and provider for data usage and she has 250 MB and has only used 2 MB data this cycle. I'm going to check her settings again once she is home. Right now, it shows up whenever it connects to wifi (i.e. at her friend's house), but then doesn't show a new location again until she is on wifi again.

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Answer 6

Jul 6, 2022 05:38 PM in response to kelleyviolets19

I completely understand, as a parent emeritus (my youngest will be 40 this year).

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Answer 7

Jul 6, 2022 06:51 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

Thank you for your help!

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Find My iPhone on iPhone without data

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