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Apple’s new Find My feature lets you share the location of lost items with more than 15 airlines

Published Nov 11th, 2024 11:30AM EST
iOS 18.2 helps locate lost luggage with new AirTag feature
Image: José Adorno for BGR

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Today, Apple officially announced a new feature coming in iOS 18.2: Share Item Location. This Find My function lets users share their AirTag or third-party item tracker location with someone or an airline.

BGR already reported on that feature being available with the previous iOS 18.2 beta, but Apple has now confirmed it will play a big role in this future software update.

Apple says over 15 airlines will offer support for this Find My feature, including Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic, and Vueling.

That being said, these airlines will begin accepting Find My item locations as part of their customer service process for locating mishandled or delayed bags. Cupertino says more airlines will be added over time.

“We’ve worked closely with Apple to incorporate Share Item Location into our baggage recovery process and are excited to make this feature available to our customers soon,” said David Kinzelman, United’s chief customer officer. “We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind. We plan to accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025.”

While adding airlines might take a few months, the iOS 18.2 Share Item Location feature will still be useful for those sharing an item for a brief period.

Suppose you lose your keychain in a restaurant. You can offer a link using Share Item Location to the place’s manager, and they can track your AirTag using their iPhone 11 or newer with Precision Find.

Additionally, you can already share your AirTag location with friends and family members using the Find My network.

Apple says iOS 18.2 will “soon be available” to all iPhone users. Below, we have gathered everything we know about this future software update so far.

José Adorno Tech News Reporter

José is a Tech News Reporter at BGR. He has previously covered Apple and iPhone news for 9to5Mac, and was a producer and web editor for Latin America broadcaster TV Globo. He is based out of Brazil.