The Apple and Paw

Apple has introduced several new apps along with yesterday’s uncorking of iOS 5, but one of them looks more fun to me than any of the rest.  It’s the Find My Friends app, available as a free download from App Store.  Find My Friends takes social networking to a whole new level by allowing you to request permission from friends and family members to view their locations.  The app only works on devices with iOS 5, so if you want to take it for a spin you’ll need to upgrade first.  You will also need to sign up for a free iCloud account, as you’ll need that to log in.

Find My Friends works in a similar fashion as Find My iPhone and Find My Mac.  It can show you the location of your friends as long as they are carrying their iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch — and can even help you find misplaced, lost, or stolen devices.

So, why on earth would anyone voluntarily allow friends and relatives to know their location?  If you think about it, this really pushes the envelope for social networking by making your whereabouts available — but it’s still private, since you control when you can be found, and by whom.  This app would come in handy when a relative is traveling out of town, or when you’re with a group of your pals darting off in separate directions for a day at the mall.  You can easily find out where everyone’s at and arrange meet-ups with no hassle.  You could invite nearby friends to join you at a quaint restaurant or bar, or set up a checkpoint along a hiking trail.  To me, this is just a fun idea that has been a long time coming.

Let me know what you think of Find My Friends.