Submitted by Frank Macey on
Apple has finally brought Find My Friends into the iOS 7 fold with a complete redesign. Say goodbye to the skeuomorphism that once adorned the free location sharing app with stitched leather and colored textures. In its place is a flat, simplified look that matches the rest of the clean iOS 7 interface.
Version 3.0 is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 7 and later. This means if your device is running an earlier version of iOS, the redesign will not apply. Other improvements are not listed under Find My Friends on iTunes, so it's possible the update is entirely cosmetic.
In any case, all of the familiar functionality that Find My Friends users have become accustomed to is still in place. The iOS devices of friends and family can be located from anywhere if they have accepted your invitation. Location-based alerts can also be set to notify you automatically when a contact arrives or departs from a specific location using geofencing.
Find My Friends continues to track and share your location when these options are configured, with optimized code to avoid draining the battery too quickly. Location can be temporarily shared for specific events for a discrete time period, or turned off completely for privacy with a simple toggle. Parental restrictions make it possible to lock settings as well.
Besides iOS 7, Find My Friends requires a free iCloud account. With sans-serif orange text on a white background, the redesign is a big departure from the previous look of the app.