How To Use The iPhone 15 To Find Your Friends Using Precision Finding

Ever wish your iPhone could lead you right to a friend in a crowded area? Now the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro can. Here’s how to use the new Precision Finding feature.

The new iPhone 15 series is packed with new technology including the A17 chipset and crazy good cameras. All the new features in iOS 17 also give the iPhone 15 series some serous punch.

But one of the lesser-known features of the iPhone 15 series is called Precision Finding. It allows your iPhone to act as a homing device for finding your friends in a crowd. Here’s what you need to know about the feature and how to use it.

iPhone 15 Precision Finding: What Is It?

In short, iPhone 15 Precision Finding is a new feature that allows you to track a route to your friends, even if they are obscured by large crowds. If you’ve every used your iPhone to track an AirTag, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what Precision Finding is like.

iPhone 15 Precision Finding works because the iPhone 15 series has a new second‑generation Ultra Wideband chip, which is more powerful than the first‑generation Ultra Wideband chip found in AirTags. And this Ultra Wideband chip is built into iPhone 15 models.

So essentially if you and your friend have Precision Finding-compatible iPhones, you can enable them to help find each other – in other words Precision Finding kind of turns your iPhone into a big AirTag that other people can use to lead them to you.

As a person used Precision Finding to find you, their iPhone screen will change color, letting them know they are heading in the right direction towards you. When they get close enough, their screen will show an arrow pointing in your direction and also give them an estimate of how far away you are. A checkmark will appear on their screen when they’ve found you.

iPhone 15 Precision Finding: How Is It Different Than Find My?

Precision Finding is actually part of Find My, which already lets you share your location with a friend. But location sharing in Find My simply works as a map with directions on it. 

Precision Finding is different because it can help you pinpoint a friend’s exact location in a crowded place, like a concert venue or at the beach. Precision Finding updates in real time, so if your friend moves, Precision Finding will tell you to change course and move you in their new direction, too.

iPhone 15 Precision Finding: How To Use It

Using Precision Finding is easy. Here’s how:

You can also tap the X button to cancel the Precision Finding or you can tap the Messages button while using Precision Finding to send them a quick text message.

iPhone 15 Precision Finding: Supported Devices

Precision Finding requires the second-generation Ultra Wideband chip. Currently that chip is only found in the iPhone 15 series. Supported models include:

Both you and your friend must have one of the iPhones listed above to use Precision Finding.

It’s likely Precision Finding will be a future of all iPhones going forward, starting with the iPhone 16 series next year.