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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Do you and your partner both have ‘find my friend’ enabled for each other?

308 replies

hopingforabrighterfuture2021 · 02/12/2021 19:05

I know this isn’t really an AIBU. Discussion with a friend.

Do you and your partner both have ‘find my friend’ (or similar tracking app) installed so you can both see where each other are?

Interested to see views!

YABU: don’t be silly, that’s really intrusive and unnecessary.

YANBU: it’s perfectly normal, especially if you have kids.

I’m somewhere in the middle, depending on circumstances, although we do have ours turned on most of the time.

OP posts:
GingerAndTheBiscuits · 02/12/2021 19:14

Also means he can “ping” my iPhone/iPad (they’re always on silent but you can make it play a noise through the “find my…” app) when I’ve put it down somewhere and can’t find it, or the kids have.

GreenCereal · 02/12/2021 19:15

We do, as DH cycles home so I check it to see what time to put tea on.

RaininSummer · 02/12/2021 19:16

I don't even know what find my friend is. Do you have to download some sort of app?

Justanotherquestioner · 02/12/2021 19:16

I've never even thought about it before. Most of the time neither me nor dh know where eachother are. I'm out and about for work and with the kids. He's sometimes in different towns for work. It just seems normal for us to have the independence. No find my friend here

SW1amp · 02/12/2021 19:17

@girafferafferaffe

We don't have it. If I need to locate him I'll call or text and he'll tell me where he is! I do have it enabled for my mum just in case of emergencies but I'm not entirely sure she knows how to use it!
If someone is driving, it’s a hell of a lot safer to passively check their location with an app than distract them with a call or message that requires a reply
CMOTDibbler · 02/12/2021 19:17

Ewww, no. And we both travel for work, cycle/run/walk by ourselves

OldWivesTale · 02/12/2021 19:17

Yes we have Life 360. DH goes out on his bike for hours so it's good for checking he's safe or knowing where he is if he has an accident somewhere remote
Also useful if you lose or leave your phone somewhere and can check where it is. DDs phone fell out of her pocket one day and we found it by using the app. It doesn't bother me at all that we can all see where we all are. I often forget we've got it. But I can see for some people in controlling relationships it could be a nightmare.

thaegumathteth · 02/12/2021 19:17

Nope

lazylinguist · 02/12/2021 19:18

No. It wouldn't occur to me to do this tbh.

ElevenOG · 02/12/2021 19:19

We use WhatsApp live location if one of us has a long journey to do but that's more down to having rather unreliable vehicles in case of a breakdown situation!

DontBuyANewMumCashmere · 02/12/2021 19:19

We have our location shared between each other on Google.

It's really useful, I think DH first set it up when he was going away walking in the mountains for the weekend. It's also good as I often go running in the evenings and it's comforting knowing he could see where I was if I didn't turn up when expected.

We barely use it for any serious use, but it's good to see how far away he is from home so I can get food ready/put the chocolate away etc Grin

NeverTheHootenanny · 02/12/2021 19:21

Yes, I have this with DH and I also have my sister set up so we can see each other’s locations. I set it up initially as a safety feature but do find it useful now to check on how close DH is when he’s coming back from work so I know when to start dinner --and how long until I can hand the baby over--

Lindy2 · 02/12/2021 19:21

We use Life 360.

For DH it's useful to see when he's nearly home.

For DD, who has SEN, it's useful to be able to see where she is. Yes I am watching her but as she's now a teenager but also more vulnerable than other children her age, I think it's a sensible compromise to allow her more freedom while keeping an eye on her to keep her safe. She knows about it and is fine with it. She watches where we are too particularly when I'm collecting her from somewhere so she can see if I'm nearly there or not.

It's a useful app for all of us in the event of a list phone too.

swashbucklecheer · 02/12/2021 19:22

We have it for when DH goes out cycling just in case ...

Cyclingforcake · 02/12/2021 19:23

Yes on Find my iPhone. No issues - both use it occasionally when we’ve gone out running and not back as soon as the other expected.

Idontbelieveit14 · 02/12/2021 19:24

We are all set up as a family (me hubby and two teenage children) on iPhones - I’ve never used it - never thought to, although it would have been useful the other day when DS wasn’t answering his phone and I didn’t know where he was. DD used it to track DS’s phone when it fell out of his pocket when we went on a walk, and she has told me she tracks me when I’m taking too long at the shops 🙄

TillyTopper · 02/12/2021 19:24

Yes we do - I have a long commute, often late at night or very early in the morning. I like having it enabled. I don't mind him knowing where I am at any time (very boring life here ha ha). He set it up so he shared his location with me too although he wfh now.

LindaBlinda · 02/12/2021 19:26

Yes.

We have it and are grateful.

DH and I find it very useful as it's a great way to check how long journeys etc are going without one of us needing to phone the other while driving etc. Pre-Covid he was often out late a night a week for work and I worried him driving home tired. Being able to check where he was on the road saved us both a headache.

I also have my mum and best friends on it. I've no reason to be bothered if anyone knows where I am at any point.

I love getting jokey texts from my friends like asking "I see you at Westfield again - what you buying this time" or "why you driving down my road and not coming to see me Wink" etc.

It's incredibly easy to not let someone track you if you don't want them to know. So I don't feel like I'm forcing anyone to let me spy on them.

Whosthebestbabainalltheworld · 02/12/2021 19:26

Yes, mainly to see where DH is so I know when to put on dinner, but now for the kids to see where they are on the way home from school. They get a train so it’s good to know if they’re on it or have missed it.

SpinsForGin · 02/12/2021 19:28

We use the 360 app.
I'm also in a 370 app circle with some close friends as we travel together a lot and it's come in very useful!

olderthanyouthink · 02/12/2021 19:28

Yes, we don't check it that much but it's handy when one of us is late hollow or we're trying to coordinate meeting up or figure out when to do dinner.

SpinsForGin · 02/12/2021 19:28

*life 360 obviously....

AnyFucker · 02/12/2021 19:29

Yes. Me, DH and 2 grown children have it.

LefttoherownDevizes · 02/12/2021 19:29

@cloudtree

Yes, whole family is linked on find my iPhone
Snap. Plus our house is such a hole we're forever losing our phones/iPads so we need it to find them. We're all in a household for Apple for purchases etc so we have it enabled as part of that.

And DD's phone is always on silent and she never ever picks up so I have to use find my phone to play a sound to get her to pick up (normally just to tell her that DP is picking her up from school to spare her an hour's journey)

YouaremySunshines · 02/12/2021 19:30

We have it switched on for the whole family for when someone thinks they've lost their phone! I

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