Apple has introduced a new iOS feature named ‘Share Item Location’, to help users locate and recover misplaced items.
It is now available in the public beta of iOS 18.2 in most regions globally. It will soon be available to all users as a free software update for iPhone Xs and later.
As per the blog post of the company, Share Item Location is based on the Find My network, which is a crowdsourced network that uses Bluetooth technology to find missing items. The entire process is end-to-end encrypted.
Users can create a Share Item Location link from the Find My app. Recipients of a link will be able to access the website displaying the item’s location on an interactive map. With each new location, the website will automatically update and will show a timestamp of the most recent update.
Once a user is reunited with their item, the shared location will be disabled. Users can also disable it manually at any time. Although it will automatically expire after seven days.
As per the company, more than 15 airlines including Air Canada, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling will soon start accepting Find My Item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags.
The tech giant has worked with partner airlines to set up systems that privately and securely accept shared item locations. SITA, a leader in air transport technology, will incorporate shared item location support into WorldTracer, the baggage-tracking system used by over 500 airlines
