HomePod AirPods not sending signal when found

[GC251114]

Hope this is in correct forum. Please feel free to move if not.

To cut a story short I thought I’d lost my AirPods. Couldn’t find anywhere at all. Opened Find My Phone on phone & selected AirPods. It searched for them but said Offline. Pressed to send me a sound/Alert & after searching it said it was pending & would send a sound the next time the AirPods were connected to a device.

Daughter sent me a text earlier with a pic of the AirPods ! She’d accidentally packed them in her bag after visiting me for a few days last week. You can imagine my relief the fact they were found. Anyway , asked her to pair with her phone & start using. She did & sent me pic of them all paired & set up with her phone & pic of them in her ears.

Pressed find the AirPods again & to send tone/alert. Nothing worked at all. No location has been sent on the screen , & no alert sent at all. Have tried many times as just wanted to see it work , as per it does for phone , iPad , watch etc. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what I or my daughter does , it still continues to say offline & there’s nothing. This has been for last 40 mins.

I can’t see what I’m doing wrong , & surely this defeats the entire point of this ‘ Find my AirPods ‘

Has anyone else experienced this or know of any bug/problems. I’m running 11.3.1

Cheers

 

[Shanesan]

I too tried to find my AirPods. They were only identified 16 hours after I started the request, after I opened the case and popped them in my ears. Thankfully the alert didn't go off, only the notification.

Feature is definitely broken and a huge PITA.

 

[GC251114]

I too tried to find my AirPods. They were only identified 16 hours after I started the request, after I opened the case and popped them in my ears. Thankfully the alert didn't go off, only the notification.

Feature is definitely broken and a huge PITA.

Cheers pal , appreciate your reply.

As you say , a complete & utter PITA then. Not what you’d expect when looking for your lost iOS tech. I best put my phone on silent tonight when I go to bed , just in case my daughter uses them late & it sends the alarm !!

 

[yass31]

To cut a story short I thought I’d lost my AirPods. Couldn’t find anywhere at all. Opened Find My Phone on phone & selected AirPods. It searched for them but said Offline. Pressed to send me a sound/Alert & after searching it said it was pending & would send a sound the next time the AirPods were connected to a device.

The AirPods have to be out of their case for the Find my iPhone alert work. When they're in the case, they're off and charging.
I think it was more designed for when one fall of your ear and you look for it for example.

Pressed find the AirPods again & to send tone/alert. Nothing worked at all. No location has been sent on the screen , & no alert sent at all. Have tried many times as just wanted to see it work , as per it does for phone , iPad , watch etc. Unfortunately it doesn’t matter what I or my daughter does , it still continues to say offline & there’s nothing. This has been for last 40 mins.

When associated with her iPhone I think they became associated with her iCloud account.
Ask her to open Find my iPhone on her phone and try sending an alert with the pods out of their case.

 

[GC251114]

Yes they were out of the case. Between us we tried a few times , when they were in her ears & when they were out sitting next to her phone.

If I open find my phone it obviously shows my phone , iPad , Mac , watch & AirPods. With all the others it locates them straight away & shows me on a map.

Can’t think why the AirPods would or should be any different. On this occasion it was my daughter that accidentally put in her bag , or so she says . If they had been stolen , then like any other iOS device I wang to locate them , so I press the exact same button to locate them as I would the others. I understand that the person who has them actually has to use them for them to be online & be located. That’s no different to anyone that’s stolen your phone & needing to turn it on first before the location is sent to you. The person who’s stolen my AirPods isn’t going to open their Find My app & press to send me an alert , surely the detective work is all done my end. That’s why I’m certainly inclined to think this is a bug maybe.

 

[cynics]

Yes they were out of the case. Between us we tried a few times , when they were in her ears & when they were out sitting next to her phone.

If I open find my phone it obviously shows my phone , iPad , Mac , watch & AirPods. With all the others it locates them straight away & shows me on a map.

Can’t think why the AirPods would or should be any different. On this occasion it was my daughter that accidentally put in her bag , or so she says . If they had been stolen , then like any other iOS device I wang to locate them , so I press the exact same button to locate them as I would the others. I understand that the person who has them actually has to use them for them to be online & be located. That’s no different to anyone that’s stolen your phone & needing to turn it on first before the location is sent to you. The person who’s stolen my AirPods isn’t going to open their Find My app & press to send me an alert , surely the detective work is all done my end. That’s why I’m certainly inclined to think this is a bug maybe.

You aren't doing anything wrong and there isn't a bug. What you are doing is VASTLY overestimating their capabilities. They are just a fancy set of bluetooth ear pods with a bit of Apple tech. They are nothing like the other devices you listed.

They lack the capacity to be an activation locked device, they aren't even a standalone device. They can be reset just by holding down the button for 15 seconds. There isn't a way to enter a password to deactivate them or anything.

Find my iPhone is showing you the location of the device they were connected to last and where that was. The AirPod doesn't have GPS or anything. And you can only see YOUR devices. You will not be able to track your daughters devices.

Just like the parked car feature in Maps. While it may give the appearance my bluetooth pioneer head unit looks impressive its not actually transmitting its location to Maps on my phone. It was just a simple marker placed when the cars bluetooth disconnected when I parked. If my car is stolen it will not update where the thief parks it. lol

The AirPods inclusion into Find my iPhone is to see if you left them at the office (last location) or find misplaced bud by playing a sound. The reason the are even associated with an AppleID is so they can connect to all your devices via iCloud.

 

[chabig]

If I open find my phone it obviously shows my phone , iPad , Mac , watch & AirPods. With all the others it locates them straight away & shows me on a map.

Can’t think why the AirPods would or should be any different.

AirPods don’t have WiFi, GPS, or cellular radios. The can’t determine their location, and if they are out of range of yournApple devices, they can’t communicate since thy only have Bluetooth.

See https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207581

Cynics’ explanation is very good.