How accurate is ‘find my iPhone’?

[FluentAquaMoose]

Myself, my other half and my kids all have me on ‘find my iPhone’ - just as a safety thing as we live in the sticks and I travel to work across country.
Most Thursdays I have counselling and I leave work, takes approx 25-30 minutes with hardly anytime to spare apart from slow traffic as I hop onto the A1 for approx 5 minS. This will make more sense to those that are familiar with the A1 Grantham to Newark etc. So according to hmy oh, when I left for my counselling session on Thursday, at some point between long Bennington and Coddington, his phone showed my car outside a house in Fernwood and a couple of minutes later I was in Coddington!!!!! So he’s put 2+2 together and come up with 10! My ex now lives at Fernwood!!

He divulged this at 10:30 last night

Im just incredibly disappointed that he thinks that little of me. I’d never break his trust like that and before anyone flames me and says that I must be having an affair etc, I can hand on heart assure you that I’m not and most certainly didn’t make any kind of detour off the A1. I used to live in Fernwood ( huge estate) then moved 9 months ago and hardly been that way since only driving past on the A1 to and from work.

OH is really jealous of my ex ( there is serious bad history there even though we were together for approx 18 months. I was shocked to be honest and now wondering how accurate’find my iPhone’ is.

Well it’s not exactly the best signal round Newark is it? I love that when my husband is at exactly the same place as my son it shows then half a mile apart. I know they’re together as usually they send me a photo. You both need to make a choice - you trust each other or not?

Is he always stalking you electronically? DH, DD and I have each other’s locations electronically. We use them for finding each other in crowded places, timing dinner and emergencies.

He’s being very weird and controlling and I doubt this is the only time.

We started using Life360 instead of find my iPhone because its more accurate. Why was your OH checking up on you while he was at a dinner? We use ours for 12yo mainly or if the other is late home home to make sure theyre not stuck in an accident or something (husband uses a push bike). Never anything to hide so doesn't bother us having it. We barely use it.

I'd be deleting the app. I've never had it, partly because I've not got an iPhone but partly because I feel that way lies madness (I'm an incredible snoop).

I find it’s usually pretty accurate, however.. mine told dh I was in Rotherham once when I was in Wiltshire on a farm in a bit of a signal black spot so it’s not infallible!

Don’t indulge him. Tell him that you weren’t where he claims you were and that you’re not discussing it again. Shut him down. He knows his options. Indulge him and this will escalate- ask me how I know…

He sounds like a dick.

FML tech is going to be the death of us all…!! 🤪

It uses GPS when available which is the most accurate but when it isn’t available it will use WiFi & cell signals to try and locate you, which can be wildly inaccurate.

@FluentAquaMoose of course there can be blips at times .
This sounds more like a jealous accusation and testing you , rather than the truth from your b.f

Id be watching your b.fs behaviour very carefully .

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond and share your thoughts.
I've told him how hurt and disappointed I was and still am. I'm still smarting by the accusation although he did say that he wasn't accusing me. I don't believe that for one minute as he has accused me of all sorts before to do with my ex. All that has happened is that my ex moved onto the same housing estate that I used to live on and in such a location so that he could purposely see my car pull into the small shops carpark and bump into me - one of the reasons why I moved.

The upshot is that I have put myself onto Life360 and Google Maps timeline so if he ever tries that again, I can put him in his place. Only I can see those and he knows that, plus Life360 records the journey if I ever need it. I did look at my walk yesterday that I took with the dog and both had me walking across the fields instead of the actual bridleway path I took around the edge! I've suggested he seeks help for his incessant jealousy if we are to make a go of things as it's unhealthy with no informed basis.

In the past, we had an issue earlier this year whereby we had issues with thrush. I'm on HRT (i'm 52) plus was on and off antibiotics etc, he's diabetic and it seemed to be swirling around. We both went to the doctors on the same day, different doctors and his doctor told him that his issue was thrush whilst mine told me that it wasn't me and it was him with thrush issues. When we discussed it afterwards, he told me that he'd been googling STD's etc so I then told him that it wouldn't have been me because before I started seeing him, I'd had a sexual health check just to make sure that my ex hadn't passed anything on etc so I knew I was 'clean' going into the relationship. That shut him up. Yes huge red flag I know!

I do know that is more about his trust issues with me however there is no reason at all and it should be me having trust issues with him and yes I know I shouldn't be having these issues at all.

Do you want to stay with him?

Why is he checking up on you for starters. But no not accurate. My ex videocalled me from his sofa as I text him to say who do you know that lives in xxx road as that’s where he was showing. Unless he was on his wifi it was extremely inaccurate!

I find that the tracker wanders and sometimes lags on find my iPhone. My kids went out together yesterday in the same car ( I was worried and tracking them as they are teens) and they kept showing a couple of streets apart despite not exiting the car.

I’d worry your oh is the cheat projecting his behaviour onto you

I don't know tne stressors mean @FluentAquaMoose, but it can be inaccurate and slow to update in rural locations. It relies on the collective Bluetooth signals of nearby Apple devices. If there's not many around, it's not that good.

This is what Google says about its accuracy:

The accuracy of the offline location depends on the density of Apple devices in the area. In densely populated areas, the location will be more accurate because more devices can pick up the signal. In sparsely populated areas, the location may be less precise.

Love, you’re 52. You must know that the Accuracy of a location tracker is not the issue here.

This whole thing is nuts. Why are you putting up with this man?

He sounds very insecure. In our family find my iPhone has shown various family members to be in fields, in rivers, at random addresses we have driven past 10 minutes ago. It’s useful if you are stationary for a while but it’s not always accurate. He needs to learn to trust you and stop being so insecure

I know , I know. I've been through such a shite time, confidence has taken a huge knock and all i'm after is a quiet, simple life, to be loved and adored like I haven't experienced before....i am going through counselling to help me find myself again.

He isn’t this for you.

get out now- keep up the counselling. Good luck- you enjoy a life of peace .

The upshot is that I have put myself onto Life360 and Google Maps timeline so if he ever tries that again, I can put him in his place.

I'm really worried you're doing this. You say its for putting him in his place, but really what you've done is prove to him that he can bully you and you will try to appease him.

Don't go there. He can accept your word, or not.

@FluentAquaMoosewe had location sharing on for a vulnerable family member who would wander off - I once had to relay their location with the police on the other line and saw the dot jump around fields and roads far faster than they were moving on foot. If the phone can’t acccess gps it uses WiFi and phone cell towers - it can be incredibly inaccurate. My relative was never in the middle of a field and was walking slowly along a main road. Tell him to google inaccurate location on an iPhone.

First of all, please call it time on this relationship while going through counselling. Don’t add to the pile of stuff you have to unpack and process. Learn to love yourself then you will never accept crumbs of a relationship from a man ever again.

Secondly, I live in Lincolnshire. Anything that relies on GPS and mobile technology in this county is wildly inaccurate. The infrastructure is shocking. The amount of times my satnav shows me driving in the middle of a field or one of the huge drainage ditches, when I am most definitely on a road, is laughable.