Lost your luggage? iOS 18.2’s Find My will let you temporarily share the location of a tracker with an airline employee who can help you find it.
Introduction: Imagine arriving at your destination only to realize your luggage didn’t make it with you. With lost luggage piling up at airports and the pressure on airlines to help travelers retrieve their belongings, Apple is stepping up to make recovery easier. Apple’s new Find My feature, launching with iOS 18.2, introduces a way to share the location of a lost AirTag with trusted individuals or even an airline—opening up a whole new level of support for tracking down missing belongings.
Here’s everything you need to know about how Apple’s innovative Find My enhancement could make reuniting with lost items faster and more convenient.
Share Item Location with Anyone—Including Airlines
The standout addition in iOS 18.2’s Find My app is the “Share Item Location” feature, which allows AirTag users to temporarily share the location of a missing item with a wider circle of people—including airlines. Previously, location sharing for AirTags was limited to a few trusted contacts. Now, the game has changed: travelers can create a link to the AirTag’s location and share it with anyone who might be able to help.
For Apple device users, the link opens directly in the Find My app, displaying a live location view. Non-Apple users, meanwhile, will see a web-based map that pinpoints the item’s last recorded location. This flexibility makes the feature accessible to a broad audience, ensuring that you can reach anyone who might lend a hand in recovering your belongings—even if they don’t use Apple products.
Temporary Access for Extra Security
Apple’s attention to privacy and security remains central with this update. The Share Item Location link is designed with an expiration feature, meaning access to your AirTag’s location is temporary. The link automatically expires after a week or as soon as your item is marked as “recovered,” preventing ongoing access to your location data. This balance between convenience and security lets you temporarily share location details without the worry of forgetting to revoke access later on.
A Seamless Experience for iPhone and Non-iPhone Users
This new feature bridges the gap between Apple and non-Apple users in a convenient way. Sharing location via Find My was traditionally limited to those within Apple’s ecosystem, but this feature now offers a similar level of utility to anyone. For non-iPhone users, the generated link opens a web page that displays the last known location on an interactive map, making it as simple as possible for anyone involved to help you track down a missing item.
The versatility of the feature is particularly useful for airline staff, who can quickly access the link and locate misplaced luggage—even if they’re not using Apple devices. It’s a small touch with a big impact, as it broadens who can assist in locating your missing item during those high-stress moments at airports.
Track Interactions and Share Contact Details
To streamline communication between you and whoever might find your missing AirTag-equipped item, Apple has also included a “Show Contact Info” option. When creating a Share Item Location link, you can choose to attach your contact details—phone number, email, or both—so that if someone finds your item, they can reach out directly.
A handy link interaction tracker lets you monitor how many times your link has been accessed. This visibility can give peace of mind, knowing that someone has indeed viewed the information, and can even inform you of whether your shared link has garnered attention.
Extending the Reach of AirTag Location Sharing Beyond Family Circles
This latest feature builds on Apple’s September 2023 update, which introduced the ability to continually share AirTag locations with up to five people. That update made it easier for families to track shared items like pets, vehicles, or other essential items across multiple devices. Now, Apple is taking it a step further, expanding the functionality to allow temporary location-sharing with more people—ideal for those times when you’re enlisting extra support from airline personnel, hotel staff, or other trusted contacts.
Why This Feature Matters for Travelers
Lost luggage and misplaced items are a part of modern travel’s reality, and Apple’s new feature aims to make those mishaps a bit less stressful. Whether it’s your suitcase, backpack, or other valuables, this added layer of assistance helps travelers tap into a broader network of helpers, including customer service agents at airports.
Moreover, with the flexibility to share your AirTag location temporarily, the feature is both secure and convenient, catering specifically to those who might need help tracking down items on a short-term basis. And since the link expires automatically, there’s no need to worry about extended access, enhancing both privacy and peace of mind.
Conclusion: Apple is Making Lost-and-Found Efforts Smarter
With this latest enhancement to the Find My app, Apple is transforming the way we handle lost belongings, especially during travel. By allowing users to share an AirTag location with airlines or any other trusted contacts, Apple has created a powerful tool that could redefine lost-and-found services in real time.
So, the next time your suitcase goes astray, you might have a quicker, more efficient way to get it back—thanks to Apple’s forward-thinking update to AirTag sharing in iOS 18.2. This Find My update is more than just a convenience; it’s a tool that could make a difference in getting you and your items reunited, faster than ever.
