Find My Friends has become a thing in the Sparks household. My wife, kids, and a few other relatives have been using it since it premiered and while I don’t find myself looking in there every day, I certainly do it often enough. It is great when my kids are out or if we are just trying to find each other in the middle of Disneyland. I also use it with friends on a temporary basis when we are getting together. For example, I’ll be part of a large Find My Friends circle when I’m at Macworld at the end of the month.

One feature a lot of people don’t realize exists with Find My Friends are its notifications. While in Find My Friends, with a friend selected, tap on the Notify Me button and you will get options to have a notification provided to you when your friend or family member leaves or arrives the selected location. My oldest daughter is now a teenager and drives. I set this up sometimes when she is out so I know what time she leaves and can expect her to get home. While I acknowledge that sounds creepy, you try having a teenage daughter and see how you feel about it. Also, I know she prefers that over me constantly bugging her with text messages about when she’s going to leave. What is good for the goose is also good for the gander. I can also, inside Find My Friends, give notifications to the rest of my family when I leave or arrive at a location. As an example, if my wife wants to talk to me as soon as I leave work, I’ll set up Find My Friends to notify her when I leave. If you have started using find my friends with your family, take a minute and explore the notification options. They really are useful.