Find My Alternatives: How to Track an iPhone with Other Tools

Have you ever encountered a situation where your Find My iPhone app loudly claims that you’ve stolen someone’s Apple device? Or when another person’s location hasn’t been updated for several hours? Let’s be honest: Apple’s Find My app is far from perfect.

Yes, the Find My app is convenient — it comes pre-installed on your iPhone and is ready to use. However, glitches and limitations can affect the experience. And in today’s market, where there are gaps, alternatives quickly appear.

That’s why the App Store is full of apps like Find My iPhone, offering device tracking, location sharing, and more.

We tested the alternatives to make your choice easier, whether you need to find your lost iOS device or search for how to find someone’s location on an iPhone without Find My.

Use Google Maps via Google Account

Google Maps isn’t just for navigation — it offers real-time location sharing and Timeline features, making it a simple alternative to Find My App. Two conditions are that you have a Google account and have enabled location history in Google Maps settings.

Then, to track the last known location of your lost iPhone, open Google Maps > Settings > Your Timeline. There you can watch places you’ve visited.

To locate someone, tap Location Sharing in settings and send a link to friends. When they do the same, you can see their location.

Limitations:

No location history unless enabled first. You can’t lock the phone or trigger an alarm.

Find Someone’s iPhone by Number

Want to track your kids, friends, or anyone else without sharing your location and using Find My? Use a phone number tracker.

Let’s take Scannero.io as an example. We made a Scannero review and can recommend it. It finds any phone by number — no permissions, any device compatibility, and complete anonymity. Besides, it has a Find Lost Phone Feature.

To use Scannero phone number tracker instead of Find My:

1. Sign up on Scannero.io. Choose a trial or a plan, and enter the phone number you want to track.
2. Select an anonymous message with a tracking link to send to the target anonymously.
3. Once the person clicks the link, you’ll receive their exact location.

The Find Lost Phone feature doesn’t help to locate a phone but lets you send an SMS with the suggested reward for someone who finds it and an alternative number to call.

Try Scannero.io

Limitations:

Scannero cannot locate any phone until the person clicks the link in the SMS.

Use Parental Control for Continuous Tracking

If you’re looking for a Find My alternative to track a child, use a professional parental control app. Eyezy is a solid iOS option, as our Eyezy review showed.

Unlike Find My, Eyezy offers location tracking, location history, geofencing, instant alerts, and detailed monitoring of all phone activity. It runs quietly in the background, so your kid won’t have complaints about parental guarding.

To use Eyezy on iPhone, sign up at eyezy.com, choose your subscription, and follow the guide for setting up the app on the kid’s iOS device.

Try EyeZy

Limitations:

Eyezy is not free. Still, with an annual subscription, it costs less than $10 and offers full parental controls.

Provider Apps like Find My iPhone

If you’re a customer of major US mobile carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon, you might have heard about their brand apps. Many of them have own phone locator features as well.

These services help families stay connected and track devices through the carrier’s network — no extra apps are needed.

These are AT&T Secure Family, T-Mobile FamilyWhere, and Verizon Smart Family. HeyLocate reviewed them and can recommend them for family usage. See what AT&T Secure Family can offer, how T-Mobile FamilyWhere works, and all the features of the Verizon Smart Family.

Check your carrier’s offers to find a suitable option.

Limitations:

Not all phone carriers have such locator apps. Besides, some are paid.

Use Messengers for Location Sharing

If you want to replace Find My with any app to share location with friends, use messengers. Facebook Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, and many others have the location sharing feature.

To use it, open a chat with a particular person and look for a clip or arrow icon. Tap it and share your location. Your friend can do the same, and you’ll get their position on a map.

Limitations:

The method doesn’t help to find your lost iPhone until you lose it while sharing your location with someone. To see someone’s location, they need to share it with you.

Comparison Table of the Find My Alternatives

And so you don’t get lost in all these apps, let’s compare them side-by-side in a table:

Conclusion

Find My is a good app, but it is not irreplaceable. There are different alternatives whenever you need to track your lost iPhone or see someone’s location on an iPhone.

Whether you’re a parent, traveler, or just prone to losing your phone, there’s a tool here to help. Pick what fits your lifestyle and gives you peace of mind.