Apple to Combine Find My iPhone and Find My Friends Apps, Launch a Personal Item Tracking Device: Report

Apple is reportedly planning to combine its Find my Friends and Find my iPhone apps to create a new app. The unified app will support an upcoming hardware product, a physical tracking tag, that the Cupertino, California-based company is currently working on. The consumers will be able to attach this tag to any object, including non-Apple devices, to track their location. Apple's unified app is codenamed “GreenTorch” and is currently being tested by the company's engineers. It is said to be coming to both iOS and macOS platform.

9to5Mac writes, citing people familiar with the development, Apple's upcoming unified app will have the same features as the existing Find my Friends and Find my iPhone apps. It will also reportedly pack an improved ability to find a user's devices.

“Called “Find Network”, the feature allows devices to be tracked even when not connected to Wi-Fi or to a cellular network,” explained the publication.

Among other features, the app will allow the user to share their location with friends and family. Similarly, the users will be able to send location sharing requests to others. Additionally, “when a friend is sharing their location with a user, they're be able to create notifications for when this friend arrives or leaves a specific location,” 9to5Mac added.

Further, the unified app will be able to locate all devices belonging to a user and their family. It will also let the users put devices in “lost mode.” Apple is also building ability to track not just Apple devices but other objects as well in this app, using the company's currently in development hardware product.

Codenamed B389, the device is said to be similar to Tile's tracking tags. This device will be paired with a person's iCloud account by its proximity to an iPhone or AirPods. The users will be informed if the tag gets too far away from a paired device. Additionally, the users will be able to store their contact information in the tag, which will be readable by Apple devices when the tag is put in the “lost mode.” Moreover, the location of a tag can also be shared with friends and family.

There is no word on when exactly this upcoming device will be available to the consumers, however 9to5Mac speculates that we might see it along with new iPhone models in September.