How to Use the "Find My Friends" App on an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad

“Find my Friends” is an app designed for the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad that does just what its name promises. It allows you to find out where your friends are and what they’re up to with the tap of a button. The app also allows you to get alerts based on a friend’s location. For example, you can get an alert as your friend gets closer to your home so you always know when they’re about to visit. Using the application is easy – you just have to configure it in the right way to take advantage of all the unique features it provides.

Step 1

Download the “Find my Friends” app onto your device (if you have not already done so). Though this is a first party application designed and released by Apple, “Find my Friends” does not come natively installed on the iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad. Open the “App Store” icon on your device, search for the application by name and tap the “Download” button to download and install the application onto your Apple device.

Step 2

Tap the “Find my Friends” icon to load the application. Sign into the application using your regular Apple ID and password. This is the same information you provide whenever you purchase a new song or movie from iTunes or sign into the iCloud service.

Step 3

Tap the “Add Friends” button. Type the Apple IDs of each friend you want to track into the box on screen. You can also tap the blue “Plus” button to add a friend from your list of contacts. Type a personal message to the friend into the box on screen and tap the “Send” button. This will send a request to each of your specified friends. Note that you will be unable to see the location of a friend if they do not accept your invitation, which also requires them to be using the “Find my Friends” app on their device.

Step 4

Tap the “All” button at the bottom of the screen to see the current locations of all of your friends. Tap on the name of a specific friend to find out more information about their location. You can also use this screen to set up permanent or temporary alerts based on this information. For example, you can set up an alert that lets you know whenever a friend gets close to your house or some other specific location.

Step 5

Tap the “Temporary” button to send temporary friend requests. This allows you to see the current location of a particular friend but only for a temporary amount of time. Tap the “Me” icon to see more information about your current location. You can give your location a label or choose to hide your location from your own followers. Tap the “Requests” button to manage all of your existing requests that other people have sent you in order to use the same service on their own devices.