GoKawiilThe Find My app is used by millions of people to find their misplaced devices in a pinch, and millions more use it to share their current location with close friends and family.
The iOS 27 software releases include a bevy of changes to enhance the Find My experience. Specifically, iPhone users who regularly go for a walk with just their Apple Watch will automatically benefit from smarter location sharing …
In iOS 26 and earlier, Find My location sharing solely depended on one device. In Find My settings, you can pick a single device to serve as your location, and that was it. For most people, that would be their iPhone.
Therefore, your location on the Find My map would be driven by wherever the physical location of your iPhone is. But if you are a hardcore Apple Watch user who regularly leaves their phone behind at home, this wasn’t the most useful behavior.
With iOS 27, Apple is improving this. Now, if you use Find My on your phone and have a connected watch paired, Find My will automatically use the watch’s location, when it is not nearby your phone. This means location sharing will actively update to represent where you actually are.
Automatic location sharing with Apple Watch is enabled for standard and cellular-enabled Apple Watches, but obviously the cellular watches are able to send their location to the Find My network more reliably.
watchOS 27 also includes a revamp of the Find My apps on Apple Watch. The previously separated Find Items, Find People, Find Devices app have been removed in favor of a new unified Find My app. The new app also features a brand new user interface which features a full-screen map layout, allowing the user to easily jump from item to item by scrolling the Digital Crown.
iOS 27 and watchOS 27 are currently in beta and will be released to all users as a free update later this fall, likely in September.