Apple just patented a way to track your family and friends in real-time

Whether this is really cool or really creepy depends on your social habits, but Apple has patented new geo-fencing and location sharing technology that, should it be implemented in future iPhones, could allow you to track your family and friends in real-time. This could prove to be useful for families, particularly for parents who want to keep an eye on their kids, but the part about tracking your friends is still a bit creepy to me. 

Future generations of iPhones could be used to track friends and family in real time. Apple is trying to steal a march on its smartphone rivals by submitting patent applications for location sharing and geofencing technology. It could mean, for example, that parents could keep track of their children, receiving notifications when they leave school. Knowing where families and friends are would have a host of other possible uses such as making it possible to add to a shopping list when a family member is known to be at a supermarket. Rendezvous would be easier with an array of custom notifications, such as saying how far somebody was from a meeting point. Updates could be sent by text, email or even a telephone call. The application has been submitted to the US patent office by the company from its headquarters at Cupertino, California. A second patent application, using geofencing, would make it easier to track people when they are indoors, such as in a shopping centre. It is likely to use developing technology, known as iBeacons which send messages to comparable devices such as iPhones – via an app.