Apple may offer iPhone tracking app

 

A new iPhone feature could let you track other iPhone-owning friends around the country.

Apple iPhone users may one day be able to track each other directly from the smartphone’s screen.

Apple has applied to the European Trademarks and Designs Office to patent a new iPhone feature called “Places” that, according to a report by website Patently Apple, will “assist in locating people using GPS”.

It seems Places would act a little like a social networking website, but also let you add iPhone-owning friends and track their physical location from your phone in real-time.

Google has already launched a similar app - Google Latitude - that lets friends track one another from their smartphones.

Simon Piper, business development manager at Mobilechoices.co.uk, said: “Apple Places has the potential to be a really fun and useful iPhone feature.

“But Apple will need to work hard to overcome fears about personal security and stalking.”

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