Yes, that's what they do. They send out a Bluetooth data packet. In areas where there are a lot of Apple devices, an Airtag can send a ping about every minute or two. In areas with fewer devices, the pings will be less frequent.
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AirTag 2 Expected to Launch Next Year With 'Considerable' Upgrade to Item Tracking
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Especially if you have a mobile home
Even if these numbers some of you are pulling out of nowhere are accurate (very doubtful), Apple would likely face major public backlash and litigation if there were even a small number of cases of people being physically harmed because of people using AirTags to stalk. They are right to restrict how AirTags can be used, not only to protect themselves but because of what’s actually at stake. You’re talking about putting material stuff over people’s physical and mental safety. Even if it’s protecting one person’s life and losing 10,000 bicycles or whatever made up number of whatever material object, it’s worth it.
True there’s positive use cases too. Maybe they will go the way of Tile by forcing a terms and conditions toggle for disabling sound, but my assumption is Apple doesn’t want the liability nor do they want to complicate things, hence a kill switch. Of course, they could keep as is, essentially allowing the modification, but that just seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
They need to steal some ideas from the Samsung Tag 2. I love how you can track your Pets daily walks with theirs or give it some additional features by tapping on it.
Also, for the love of god, make it easier to open and close. The amount of times I almost broke my nail and yes I know you are supposed to just slide it to open but that 💩 ain’t working after a while
Also, for the love of god, make it easier to open and close. The amount of times I almost broke my nail and yes I know you are supposed to just slide it to open but that 💩 ain’t working after a while
1. The Momax Pincard Pro Mini is not cheaper. (At least not on Momax’s official website.) I see the price listed as $34.99 for one Momax Pincard Pro Mini, while one Apple AirTag is listed as $29.00 at the Apple Store. Maybe you can find the Momax cheaper at third-party retailers or in a bulk-bundle (as you can with the AirTags). But the official price of one Momax Pro Mini is 20.6% higher than the official price of one Apple AirTag.
2. The AirTags are rated for immersion in water as well. The Momax has a slightly higher water rating, but both are fine to be immersed in one meter of water. I’ve accidentally washed my AirTag in the washing machine (with laundry detergent — not the smartest thing to do). But it still functions like-new two or so years later after its full-cycle in the washing machine.
3. Flat, but larger vs. round, but smaller… that’s a matter of preference.
I didn’t pull any numbers out of nowhere. I said it was “unknowable” and “I have no way of knowing”. Although, yes, I was speculating that it might be a tiny, tiny percentage of users. I think that’s probably a fair observation to make. I certainly don’t think it’s a large percentage of users (although, again, I have no way of knowing that).
I also didn’t say Apple should or shouldn’t do it. I suppose I wasn’t saying anything insightful really. I was just musing about this specific news topic as one might do… and then transitioned to the recent drone/UFO sightings, lol.
And here I thought that a fraction multiplied by a fraction, still resulted in a fraction
Okay. That makes sense then. I was just confused because you quoted my reply when you made that comment. Cool. No problem then. 👍
I’m excited about the prospect of longer range for an odd reason; I have adopted a stray cat that lives mostly outdoors, and recently put an AirTag on her to keep track of where she spends her time.
It’s been fascinating to see how far she ranges in the middle of the night, and what paths she takes to get from one place to another, but of course I can only see a location when she passes by someone with an iPhone, which is usually infrequent. Sometimes her location will only update once every few hours.
If the range really is triple, that would make her AirTag vastly more likely to ping off of a passerby or a phone in someone’s house that she passes, so I’d get greatly improved resolution and update rates on her location.
I’d love to have location history so I don’t need to cyberstalk my cat in real time, but on the whole better range is the more important feature for this use case.
Interesting thing I’ve sussed out from this situation: if you share an AirTag location with someone, it generally will delay updating its location for you (only) if it’s with the person who you shared it with. I can’t find this documented anywhere, but it makes logical anti-stalking sense: you could, in theory, share an AirTag with somebody then later plant it on them. They won’t get notifications since it’s shared with them, but unless they look at the app they might not realize the tag is with them instead of wherever they expected it to be. Delayed updates in this situation mitigates this a bit, and in practice at least one of you can still see it in real time so if you’re actually looking for a lost item it’s still useful.
It’s been fascinating to see how far she ranges in the middle of the night, and what paths she takes to get from one place to another, but of course I can only see a location when she passes by someone with an iPhone, which is usually infrequent. Sometimes her location will only update once every few hours.
If the range really is triple, that would make her AirTag vastly more likely to ping off of a passerby or a phone in someone’s house that she passes, so I’d get greatly improved resolution and update rates on her location.
I’d love to have location history so I don’t need to cyberstalk my cat in real time, but on the whole better range is the more important feature for this use case.
Interesting thing I’ve sussed out from this situation: if you share an AirTag location with someone, it generally will delay updating its location for you (only) if it’s with the person who you shared it with. I can’t find this documented anywhere, but it makes logical anti-stalking sense: you could, in theory, share an AirTag with somebody then later plant it on them. They won’t get notifications since it’s shared with them, but unless they look at the app they might not realize the tag is with them instead of wherever they expected it to be. Delayed updates in this situation mitigates this a bit, and in practice at least one of you can still see it in real time so if you’re actually looking for a lost item it’s still useful.
Well I quoted you because although you didn’t claim any numbers, by conjecturing about that number, especially about the probable smallness of the number, it seemed apparent to me that you were implying some point, although not going so far as to state it. But if you say you had no point in mind, then I would take your word for it.
I would like to see:
- wireless charging (built-in battery)
- flat designs for use in wallet
- wireless charging (built-in battery)
- flat designs for use in wallet
Not in the most important way. If an AirTag is around a person who has an iPhone or other iDevice, you know where it is. I suspect that Momax devices will only find a lost item if, it is around someone running the Momax app.
I like the fact that in AirTag can last a year and a half or longer without recharging or changing the battery. You can't do that with a rechargeable device.
They send out an occasional ping. Mostly, they wait for another device to ping them, then they respond.
The problem with pet tags is, batteries are very toxic and pets have a tendency to chew off their collars.
It is a smaller fraction.And here I thought that a fraction multiplied by a fraction, still resulted in a fraction
I would not mind seeing an alternative device that is flat and rechargeable, but only if they keep the button version with replaceable batteries. For me, tags I need to pull out and recharge would make the devices unusable for me. I use them to track my luggage. Before I moved to Europe, I kept one hidden in my car. Being able to put the item in a bag, then forget about it for a year or three makes the device usable for me. They do make special wallets and passport holders with a place for your AirTag.
Attachments
Using museum putty to lock the bottom of the airtag to a flat surface usually makes it trivial to open.
Oh, okay. So you were talking about me then. Well, regardless, it’s perfectly fine.
Got one on my cat's neck, good for peace of mind if he gets sick of the endless free food and love and escapes one day.