Monday, October 31, 2011

iOS 5 Tips: FIND MY FRIENDS makes you log in one way or another

CRChair and I have been enjoying playing around with Apple's new FIND MY FRIENDS app, which lets you track the location of friends and family (but only with their express permission, revokable at any time). One detail that has been confusing us is the fact that every time he uses FIND MY FRIENDS, it forces him to provide his Apple ID password, where everytime I use it, it drops me right into the app without any friction. What's the difference?

It turns out FIND MY FRIENDS forces you to log in every time for security reasons. (This way a stranger can't pick up your phone and start stalking your friends.) If you have a passcode to unlock your iPhone, FIND MY FRIENDS requires no additional validation. But if you DO NOT have a passcode to unlock your iPhone, it will ask you for your Apple ID password every time.

There you go. To turn on passcodes, go to SETTINGS, GENERAL, Passcode Lock.

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