Find My: Apple extends support to third-party devices
Apple has extended support for its Find My network and Find My app to third-party devices, enabling products by other manufacturers to use the finding capabilities Apple offers.
The new products that work with this Apple technology include those from Dutch-based electric bikes manufacturer VanMoof, missing item-finding device company Chipolo and connectivity devices maker Belkin.
Bob Borchers, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, said in a company update, “For more than a decade, our customers have relied on Find My to locate their missing or stolen Apple devices, all while protecting their privacy.”
He added, “Now we’re bringing the powerful finding capabilities of Find My, one of our most popular services, to more people with the Find My network accessory program. We’re thrilled to see how Belkin, Chipolo, and VanMoof are utilizing this technology, and can’t wait to see what other partners create.”
Third-party manufacturers can connect existing as well as new products with Find My. However, they will have to ensure the products they are connecting adhere to all the privacy protections of the Apple feature.
Even devices that can’t or don’t connect to the Internet can be located using the feature.
Products that are approved will get a badge that says “Works with Apple Find My” and can be added to the new Items tab in the app.
The first group of third-party products that work with Find My include the Chipolo ONE Spot item finder (starting shipping in June), Belkin’s SOUNDFORM Freedom True Wireless Earbuds (also starting shipping in June) and VanMoof’s latest S3 and X3 electric bikes (available for purchase, but delivery time for S3 is within 9 to 11 weeks and for X3 is within 18 to 20 weeks).
Apple explains what is the Find My network and how it works, saying, “The Find My network is a crowdsourced network of hundreds of millions of Apple devices that use Bluetooth wireless technology to detect missing devices or items nearby, and report their approximate location back to the owner. The entire process is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so no one else, not even Apple or the third-party manufacturer, can view a device’s location or information.”
