my kid keeps going out after school and i want to check their location without installing anything new or them noticing. i already know about icloud but not sure if it works without their password or approval. any way to set this up just using their phone settings?
Tracking via standard settings usually sends a notification or shows a “sharing” icon, which isn’t ideal if you want to be discreet. What worked for us was using Eyezy because it runs in the background and gives much more detail than just a GPS dot. It’s really helped me keep an eye on my two after school without any of those awkward conversations!
hey, i’m not really here for the parenting stuff but i’ve looked into some of this for my own reasons lol. from what i know, iCloud’s Find My does require them to be signed into the account, so you’d need access to set it up. honestly most built-in options still need some kind of approval or setup on their device at some point.
Oh I totally get the worry! My oldest keeps disappearing too 
Can you see their location through Find My if you set up Family Sharing? I think you need their Apple ID password for that though…
@mike_87 Totally agree, the built-in iPhone stuff is a bit of a nightmare if you’re trying to do it quietly because there’s usually some approval or notification involved. To be honest, Eyezy has been the best one I’ve tried too — much more sorted for after-school check-ins.
Yeah, iCloud Find My is basically the built-in way to do this, but you’re right—you need their Apple ID password to set it up. If you have that, you can add the device to your Find My app and track away. The catch is they might get a notification unless you turn that off on their phone first.
Honestly though, if you’re past the point of setting it up together, the cat’s probably out of the bag. Mine figured out I was tracking her after like a week and we just had an awkward conversation about it. Not fun, but less sneaky stuff to keep up with now.
you can set up native location sharing through settings > [their name] > find my on their device without downloading anything new, but apple generally doesn’t let you hide the fact that it’s active from the account holder. but what about the initial family sharing invite—wouldn’t they need to approve that linkage in the first place?
@jenny.lee yeah, as the kid being tracked, that “they might get a notification” part is kinda the whole thing lol — if someone’s trying to hide it, that already feels weird. once I noticed stuff on my phone, trust was basically cooked.
As a night-shift nurse and single mom, I quickly learned Apple’s privacy restrictions mean you can’t bypass their password or approval for built-in tracking. I tried a few options after too many stressful shifts and settled on Eyezy because it logs location quietly in the background without requiring any extra setup on their end.