Find My working in South Korea — image credit: Apple
Apple has now officially confirmed that its iOS Find My feature has been enabled in South Korea, following years of public demand.
Just about the only place in the world where you couldn’t use Find My was South Korea. That was for reasons that were never stated but appeared to be related to local laws that arguably allowed the government access to location data.
Following public demand, Apple said in September 2024 that it would be bringing the service to the country. Then during the beta testing of iOS 18.4, Find My was enabled in South Korea.
Now that iOS 18.4 has been officially released, Apple has formally announced the availability of Find My in the region. The announcement does not mention how South Koreans have had to wait six years for it.
“Find My is an important tool that allows users to grasp the location of the most precious things to them, such as friends, family, and personal items, and I am very happy to be able to introduce this function to Korea,” said David Dorn, senior director of Apple’s service products, in a statement on the company’s local website (in translation). “When users are traveling with their device or when they meet friends, the ‘Find My’ function protects their personal information and allows them to keep connected and share information.”
The version of Find My that is now available in South Korea and continues to be worldwide, was formally launched in the US with iOS 13 in 2019. However, it really began as Find My iPhone as long ago as 2010.
Originally part of MobileMe — which would become iCloud back in 2011 — Find My was later expanded to be used for all iPhone users.
The usefulness of Find My was greatly increased in 2021 with the release of AirTags. The popularity of those meant that in 2024, Apple improved Find My, letting it track 32 items instead of the previous 16.
It’s likely that the instant success of AirTags is what prompted South Koreans to pressure Apple into launching Find My there.
