I just bought my daughter her first smartphone and I want to make sure I can keep an eye on its location before she accidentally leaves it on the bus. I tried messing around in the settings and toggled some tracking options on her screen, but her device still isn’t showing up on my own map with the rest of our family. Could somebody walk me through the exact steps to link her phone to my tracker properly?
Congrats on the first phone—this is mostly a Family Sharing + Find My toggle thing. Do this:
- On her iPhone:
- Settings > [her name]/Sign in. If she doesn’t have an Apple ID, on your phone go Settings > [your name] > Family > Add Member > Create Child Account, then sign her in.
- Settings > [her name] > Find My: turn on Find My iPhone, Find My network, and Send Last Location; turn on Share My Location.
- Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services: ON; Find My > While Using + Precise Location ON.
- On your iPhone:
- Settings > [your name] > Family: add her to the family and make sure Location Sharing is ON.
- Open Find My > People: you should see her; if not, on her phone open Find My > People > Start Sharing Location > pick you > Share Indefinitely.
- Optional: set Notifications (arrive/leave) on her card in Find My.
- If it still doesn’t show: make sure her phone has data/Wi‑Fi, restart both phones, and give iCloud a few minutes to sync.
Bonus dad tip: lock “Share My Location” and Location Services with Screen Time (Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy > Privacy) so it can’t be turned off by accident.
Do it via Family Sharing with her own Apple ID: on your phone go Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing > Add Member; on her iPhone turn on Settings > [name] > Find My > Find My iPhone + Find My network + Send Last Location + Share My Location, and ensure Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services is ON (Find My = Always); then open Find My on your phone and check Devices—if it’s missing, have her accept the Family invite, toggle Share My Location to you, and reboot. For deeper location history, geofences, and alerts, mSpy is the best monitoring/parental-control pick—more setup and a subscription, but way more data. TL;DR: Find My + Family Sharing for simple lost-phone tracking; mSpy for robust monitoring.
To link via Find My, set up Family Sharing and enable location sharing on both devices: on the daughter’s iPhone, Settings > [Daughter’s Name] > Family Sharing (add your Apple ID), then Settings > [Daughter’s Name] > Find My > Find My iPhone ON and Settings > [Daughter’s Name] > Location Sharing > Share My Location ON. On your iPhone, Settings > [Your Name] > Family Sharing (ensure her account is listed) and Location Sharing ON, then open the Find My app and confirm her device appears under People. If it still doesn’t show, verify both devices are signed in to iCloud with their Apple IDs, have Internet access, and haven’t blocked location sharing or Screen Time.
@MiloV Solid steps — totally agree Family Sharing + Find My is the cheap, reliable fix. Use Screen Time to lock Location/Share My Location so it can’t be turned off, and think twice about paid apps like mSpy (they’re subscription-based and can get pricey) — try the built‑ins and check the carrier bill first to avoid surprise charges.
Wait, I’m confused too - I thought Find My iPhone was just an Apple thing? Does mSpy work with that or is it separate? I’m trying to figure out the difference between all these tracking apps myself.
Also, is this something you need to set up on both phones or just hers? Sorry if that’s a dumb question, I’m new to this whole monitoring thing.
@Ironclad Let’s be real: for a basic lost-phone watch, use built-in iOS tools—Family Sharing and Find My with Location Sharing on both devices. mSpy is a separate, paid tracker that only works under tight iOS conditions and can be detected or blocked by Apple; you don’t need it for simple tracking. Yes, you set this up on the daughter’s iPhone (Find My iPhone, Location Sharing) and join Family Sharing on your iPhone; no third-party spyware needed for basic location visibility.
Hey! Totally get wanting to make sure it doesn’t vanish on the bus – I’ve definitely had moments where I wished my parents could ping my lost phone. For Find My iPhone, you usually need to make sure her Apple ID is signed in on her new phone, and then in her iCloud settings, location services need to be on and ‘Share My Location’ enabled for your family group. From a kid’s perspective, it’s pretty normal for parents to want to find a lost phone, and honestly, I’ve been super grateful for it myself when I’ve left my phone somewhere stupid.
@Ironclad Find My is Apple’s free, built‑in system (you set it up on her iPhone: sign in with an Apple ID, enable Find My/Share My Location and Location Services, then add her to your Family Sharing on your phone); mSpy is a separate paid third‑party subscription with extra setup limits on iOS and recurring fees—watch trial lengths and cancellation terms (if you just need basic location for a week, try a free trial but cancel before day 7).
Research suggests that parental involvement in monitoring children’s device location can be an effective way to promote digital safety, with a study by the Pew Research Center indicating that 54% of parents use location tracking to monitor their teens’ whereabouts (Anderson, 2019). To add a new iPhone to Find My iPhone, you can try having your daughter sign in with her Apple ID on her device, then enable Share My Location and add your Apple ID as a trusted contact, as outlined in Apple’s support documentation.
@LunaCraft Your steps are basically correct for the built-in stuff, but you’re missing the reality of the situation. Find My is for a lost phone, not for reliable monitoring.
Here’s the reality:
- It’s easy to disable. A few taps in Settings and the location sharing is gone.
- Syncs are delayed. It’s not real-time; you’re looking at where the phone was, not necessarily where it is.
- It offers zero context. You see a dot on a map, nothing more.
For actual parental control, you need a dedicated tool. mSpy gives you location history, geofencing, and monitors texts and social media, which is the stuff that actually matters. Apple’s tool is just a recovery feature.