VanMoof e-bikes and Belkin earphones become discoverable with Apple’s Find My function
Apple has opened up the Find My network to third-party manufacturers. This allows these manufacturers to make their products discoverable in the network when users have lost something. VanMoof, Belkin and Chipolo are the first companies to participate in Find My.
Participating products will receive the ‘Works with Apple Find My’ label. Apple says manufacturers must comply with “strict privacy measures” to be able to connect to the Find My network. Approved devices appear in the new Items tab in the Find My app. Find My works with a Bluetooth network consisting of users’ Apple devices.
Users can see lost products from other users in the app. When they click on such a product, a message appears and the contact details of the owner. The owner of the product can receive a notification again when a product has been found. Apple says this location communication is encrypted and that Apple or the manufacturer cannot track the location. The company plans to share specifications about Apple’s ultrawideband U1 chip with chipset manufacturers later this spring. This chip is present from iPhone 11 smartphones and allows devices to determine locations more accurately.
VanMoof is one of the first three third-party manufacturers to participate in Find My. All S3 and X3 e-bikes ordered from Wednesday, April 7 will support the Find My network. Users can put their bike in Lost Mode via the Find My app. Here they can also make the electric bicycle make a sound, in order to be able to locate it in, for example, a busy bicycle shed.
Belkin is all about the Soundform Freedom True Wireless bluetooth earplugs that get the Find My support. These are new earphones that will go on sale ‘soon’ and will receive support for Qualcomm aptX, a battery life of eight hours and a charging case that offers a battery life of 28 hours. This box can be charged wirelessly or via a USB-C port. The earphones are IPX5 certified. The latest product now entering Find My is the ONE Spot keychain tracker from Chipolo.