Query Apple's FindMy network with Python

How does that work woth your friends? Always on access or just occasionally?

Always on. You can see where your friends are at both in Find My and under their contact photo in your iMessages chat.

Always on, works as a great way to check in on close friends or have them check in on you (like someone going on a first date)

Personally I do not find the idea comforting that someone (anyone) may know where I am at all times. I would not even trust Apple either.

It's a virtual leash for couples.

Blame the emotionally dysfunctional, not the tool. It’s only a problem if it changes how you would live your life or pressured or coerced (in which case, say no).

This is actually one of the big differences between generations. It’s not just the norm for young people to share locations, but rather almost expected, with real social consequences for not. Yes it’s probably a little weird to have someone’s precise location 100% of the time, but since you’re sharing it with me there’s a good deal of trust implied (though this is not always the case as it has become more normalized). However, if we stop sharing locations, that usually implies a divorce of the relationship. People will shut you out of their life if you stop sharing your location with them, no matter the reason. From that lens, the choice is simple. You’ve gotta share your location, even if it’s a bit icky from a privacy perspective or you risk losing an entire cohort of friends. I will admit, there is a strange level of intimacy for having done it. In a world increasingly dominated by the pixels on this 4x8 screen, it is a nice reminder that the text bubbles on my phone actually come from real people that I can show you on a map.

(Obviously you can find friends who don’t care for it and you can live a normal life and be just fine. I’m privacy conscious but I still share my location with a handful of friends for the above reasons.)

> Always on access or just occasionally?

You have quite a few granular choices.

> You can share your current location once, temporarily share your location while you're on the way to an expected destination, or share your ongoing Live Location... for an hour, until the end of the day, or indefinitely.

In Messages, you can use Check In to share your location... Your location is shared only if there's an unexpected delay during your trip or activity and you're unresponsive.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/105104

you can control who you share your location with and for how long. I think the options are, just once, for an hour, for the day and forever.

> People will shut you out of their life if you stop sharing your location with them

Is the implication of this that such people just don't interact with Android users? That seems like a significant self-imposed limitation. Or are Android phones just extremely unpopular in your area?

Yeah, I switched to an iPhone solely for the blue text bubbles. Among young women in my bubble, 98% have iPhones. I’d get sneers at bars from girls when my first text on their phone was green. People would complain openly about my phone ruining their group chats. While I preferred android tech, switching to iPhone was a no-brainer because it removed a lot of friction in social settings.

It’s a bit sad that these days I can’t say if you are joking or not.