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How accurate is Find My iPhone?


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How accurate is Find My iPhone?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2011-07-14, 12:24

Does it show exact locations in a house, or just a general "it's somewhere in this 20-25 foot radius" idea? Having trouble finding mine and where it's showing isn't where it is. But when I view it again (refresh) the blue dot has moved. I'm the only one here and nobody has it and is moving around with it. But it was showing in one area earlier (technically outside, viewed from the satellite view), but then into what appears to be the kitchen part of my house, a good 40-50 feet away from the first "find".

Just curious how accurate/reliable this feature is, tracking an iPhone 4. I know it's somewhere in this house...just can't really go by the crazy blue-dot locations I'm being shown so far.



FWIW, I have WiFi in my place, and a strong AT&T signal (four full bars). I don't know if that matters with this stuff, but I'm including it just in case.

EDIT: Just ran/refreshed it again, and it showed the thing (the blue tracking dot) smack dab in the middle of the backyard pool. Refreshed it 20 seconds later and the blue dot moved to the other side of the pool. Unless a cat has tied it around its color, the thing isn't outside, wandering around...

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bassplayinMacFiend
Banging the Bottom End
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2011-07-14, 12:27

Here's an explanation of general GPS accuracy. --> http://users.erols.com/dlwilson/gpsacc.htm

Also, you can use Find My iPhone to cause your phone to make a high pitched sound. Have you tried this?
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2011-07-14, 12:34

No. I was just doing the message/alert thing. It's somewhere in this damn room, I just know it.
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PB PM
Sneaky Punk
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Vancouver, BC
Send a message via Skype™ to PB PM 
2011-07-14, 13:38

Do you have another phone available, if so why not just call it? That's how I find my phone around the house.
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bassplayinMacFiend
Banging the Bottom End
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2011-07-14, 13:41

Quote:
Originally Posted by PB PM View Post
Do you have another phone available, if so why not just call it? That's how I find my phone around the house.
Except for when the wife's phone was left on vibrate and I'm calling it looking for a light to turn on.
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spotcatbug
Veteran Member
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Clayton, NC
 
2011-07-14, 13:59

If it helps, mine is always where my keys are... where ever the hell that is!
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psmith2.0
Mr. Vieira
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Tennessee
 
2011-07-14, 14:51

Found my phone. It was in the house, as I suspected. However, it was nowhere close to some of the crazy-ass locations being shown by the blue dot earlier (the pool, the other side of the yard, etc.). And the link above (explaining GPS accuracy) is so far over my head, I nearly exploded trying to read it.

I'll just assume that the short, simple answer to my initial question is "not very". It'll get you in the ballpark, but it might not tell you which table in which room it's on?
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chucker
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: near Bremen, Germany
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2011-07-14, 15:04

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
I'll just assume that the short, simple answer to my initial question is "not very". It'll get you in the ballpark, but it might not tell you which table in which room it's on?
Correct. Even assuming good GPS reception, you'd still have an accuracy of several meters, so you could be in the entirely wrong room. Given that the iPhone was inside a house, there probably was poor (if any) reception, and it used cell tower trilateration instead; this puts typical accuracy in the ballpark of dozens of meters.

(This applies to anything location-based on iOS — and, generally, smartphones/other mobile devices at large — , not just to Find My iPhone.)
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ironlung
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: "Chambana", IL
 
2011-07-15, 11:46

Quote:
Originally Posted by pscates2.0 View Post
Found my phone. It was in the house, as I suspected. However, it was nowhere close to some of the crazy-ass locations being shown by the blue dot earlier (the pool, the other side of the yard, etc.). And the link above (explaining GPS accuracy) is so far over my head, I nearly exploded trying to read it.

I'll just assume that the short, simple answer to my initial question is "not very". It'll get you in the ballpark, but it might not tell you which table in which room it's on?
By the way whenever I lose my phone in my room I use google voice to call my phone. Free google voice calls in the US for another year I think.
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