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Find My iPhone app will now steer you straight to your lost device

Find My iPhone gets driving directions. 

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Apple
Find My iPhone now includes driving directions.
  • By Matthew Shaer

For anyone who's ever had their iPhone snatched or lodged between the cushions of a couch a few neighborhoods away, Find My iPhone is a pretty good thing to have – an app that locates your Apple device on a handy little map, allowing you to retrieve it with the minimum amount of anxiety. (For more security-minded users, there's also an option to scrub your personal data or lock down your phone remotely.) 

The latest addition to the Find My iPhone App? Driving directions. Provided you've got an iPad or iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 6, beginning this week, you can fire up the app, click on the car icon, and receive driving directions directly to your lost device. 

It's worth noting that Apple recently booted Google Maps from iOS 6, and replaced it with Apple Maps, so those driving directions will be coming from the less-than-awesome Apple in-house mapping service. That's a reality that hasn't escaped the notice of pundits such as Leslie Horn of Gizmodo, who quips that "hopefully Find My iPhone doesn't get you lost in the process of retrieving your gadget, considering how directionally-challenged Apple Maps is." 

Meanwhile, over at The Verge, Chris Welch has a more specific worry. 

"This is one instance where the loss of Google's Street View technology could have a detrimental impact: pinpointing the exact building where your lost (or stolen) product has been taken could be a challenge" with Apple Maps, he writes. 

Tried out the new Find My iPhone app? What do you think? Drop us a line in the comments section. And in the meantime, why not follow us on Twitter? Find us @venturenaut.

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