To be fair it would be pretty easy to swallow the whole thing so getting upset about the battery seems a little alarmist. Kids need supervision.
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AirTag Removable Battery Sparks Child Safety Concerns
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If they had made the battery fixed - APPLE BUILT IN OBSOLESCENCE SCANDAL
Because they didn't, we now get this headline. The media is getting pretty tiring these days.
As others have said, kids will destroy/swallow/put up their nose practically anything they can. Move on
"screws or similar fasteners used to secure the door." I think people are missing this bit, no one is saying don't use replaceable batteries, only that the opening should be secured, I can't think of anything I own with this small a battery that doesn't require a tool or special technique to open it.
I'm all for individual responsibility but kids can't be watched 24 hours a day, safety caps on medication are there for a reason.
It's not about giving it to them. It's about them finding it. I can't have my airtag for my backpack on a keyring. I have to hide it inside the bag where my 2 year old can't get to it. Right now I'm looking into a secure way of attaching it to my Apple TV remotes as I'm worried about my kids getting it off and swallowing it. Hence why I haven't attached it yet.
Always something new to complain about. I still remember last weeks ifixit.com ‘s Teardown, where they wrote:
“All three trackers open up with finger power—no other tools required! That said, the AirTag is by far the most difficult, especially if you indulged in a snack earlier and have greasy digits.”
“All three trackers open up with finger power—no other tools required! That said, the AirTag is by far the most difficult, especially if you indulged in a snack earlier and have greasy digits.”
Man....seriously....I really think people are overblowing this.....first you have to hold down and twist it to gain access to the battery, just like you did with any OTC medication...and those haven't been removed from shelves!
Secondly, this is an electronic device...what responsible adult will give their child this device to play with? There is nothing that glows or twinkles or sparkles that will keep a child interested in this device.
Secondly, this is an electronic device...what responsible adult will give their child this device to play with? There is nothing that glows or twinkles or sparkles that will keep a child interested in this device.
It's not about giving it to them to play with. It's about them finding it. If I put one on my keys and kids find my keys/take them out of my bag they've also found the airtag. Which has a battery inside and kind of resembles a sweet.
I got my AirTag the other day, and put it in a 3rd party keyring holder. The battery randomly popped out three times whilst I was putting it in. Given I have a 4yo kid, my first thought was "I need to keep this away from my kid". Everything else in the house with batteries in, especially the coin batteries, has the back sellotaped shut, even though he's probably already past the age where he puts random stuff in his mouth.
Those who say "duh, just don't give let your kids play with airtags" are missing the point. You're either not parents yourselves, or you're an accident waiting to happen. Until you're a parent, you can't possibly imagine the ingenious, creative and frankly bizarre ways that kids can injure themselves. You can't eliminate risk, but you can minimise it. If my kid decided he wanted my AirTag, he'd bloody well get it. He can climb, stand on things, open locks and even use a whole range of distraction techniques. He is frankly smarter than I am.
No, I don't want Apple to not have a removable battery in the AirTags. For now, I have improvised a solution with cling-film to minimise the risk, and I'm on the lookout for an enclosed tagholder, which I am sure will appear on the market soon if it hasn't done so already.
TL;DR: Don't diss concerned parents, don't underestimate kids. But, FFS, chill.
Those who say "duh, just don't give let your kids play with airtags" are missing the point. You're either not parents yourselves, or you're an accident waiting to happen. Until you're a parent, you can't possibly imagine the ingenious, creative and frankly bizarre ways that kids can injure themselves. You can't eliminate risk, but you can minimise it. If my kid decided he wanted my AirTag, he'd bloody well get it. He can climb, stand on things, open locks and even use a whole range of distraction techniques. He is frankly smarter than I am.
No, I don't want Apple to not have a removable battery in the AirTags. For now, I have improvised a solution with cling-film to minimise the risk, and I'm on the lookout for an enclosed tagholder, which I am sure will appear on the market soon if it hasn't done so already.
TL;DR: Don't diss concerned parents, don't underestimate kids. But, FFS, chill.
**** Australia. This the same country that has criminalized it's citizens trying to return home from Covid infected areas.
Is this for real? Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
Minimise the risk for your kids by not buying such a dangerous device like AirTag.
I always wonder why do people act in a way like Apple forces people to buy their products?
If you still NEED it, then it's your responsibility to secure YOUR kids from it. That easy.
Apple can't win, can it?
- non-replaceable batteries = planned obsolescence outcry
- difficult to replace batteries = not user friendly enough outcry
- easy to replace batteries = dangers for the childrens outcry
They should sell Airtags that function without batteries, are built from organic rocks, don't need iPhones, tap into your brain and cost 1 dollar. And that children can't swallow.
- non-replaceable batteries = planned obsolescence outcry
- difficult to replace batteries = not user friendly enough outcry
- easy to replace batteries = dangers for the childrens outcry
They should sell Airtags that function without batteries, are built from organic rocks, don't need iPhones, tap into your brain and cost 1 dollar. And that children can't swallow.
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This is ridiculous.
It's like saying AirPod Pros are small enough that kids will swallow it. Maybe Officeworks should stop selling that too...
It's like saying AirPod Pros are small enough that kids will swallow it. Maybe Officeworks should stop selling that too...
Absolutely this.
All the commenters saying, “don’t give to children”, “supervise kids [every second!]” etc. seemingly have no concept how real life with children in your home can be (and that’s been multiplied during WFH, lockdowns, closed childcare/schools).
The point is that these coin cell batteries are particularly dangerous (usually irreversibly so if swallowed).
As @Shanghaichica points out, part of the problem is children finding the AirTags on items around the home.
Apple could have used screws. Or made AirTags sealed with wirelessly rechargeable batteries (+ maybe a credit for swapping at the Apple store for recycling when the battery life falls below a threshold).
My no-contact thermometer uses one of these batteries, and the battery compartment is not secured with a screw. Just a small clip that can be simply pressed to pop the lid off.
So these things are definitely out there.
Is it safe to feed AirTags to my children? How do I prevent the battery from falling out?
I didn't realise the danger before it arrived. I honestly wasn't expecting the battery to be removed so easily. And I'm hardly going to live a life of devoid devices that has coin cells. And if you read my post, you'd also noticed that I've now dealt with it.
PS: Don't ever have kids. I think you'd find them far too challenging with such a monochrome outlook.
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That explains the percussion performance in the next stall over!!
It's no joke. Look up what a button battery can do if swallowed, in summary they generate sodium hydroxide, caustic soda, and this is not due to leakage of the battery contents itself. My expectation is the ease of accidentally accessing the battery must be specified in various safety standards and presumably Apple products meet all relevant standards for their target markets, but it is wise to be cautious in this instance.
And yes, parents need to look out for their children but this is about accident outcome mitigation, the parent may not have brought the button battery powered device into the environment, it could have been dropped, brought in by family, friends or a visitor. Grandma could hand a toddler her keys to keep them entertained and junior fiddles with that shiny metallic disc because it is interesting.
And yes, parents need to look out for their children but this is about accident outcome mitigation, the parent may not have brought the button battery powered device into the environment, it could have been dropped, brought in by family, friends or a visitor. Grandma could hand a toddler her keys to keep them entertained and junior fiddles with that shiny metallic disc because it is interesting.
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To be honest, it shouldn't be apples job to make the users home child safe. Apple followed internation guidlines on this.
Saying that making this even safer is like asking car manufactures to ensure that kids don't run into the road...
Not sure everyone totally gets it here.
Swallowing a button battery can cause rapid, severe alkali burns due to an interaction between the battery and the moisture in the oesophagus. Children are more likely to have such issues because of their small anatomy and their likelihood to swallow these batteries (which look like lollies). The injuries can be life threatening within a couple of hours and intervention is difficult because often no one knows what has happened.
It’s not the same as swallowing a coin or an AirPod, as some have suggested. Those things could, I suppose, cause an obstruction, but are far less likely to be dangerous.
I haven’t seen the AirTag battery replacement process or played around with one. However, someone in this forum has already accidentally opened an AirTag a number of times.
Anyone saying “supervise your kids” either doesn’t have kids (to know how quickly they can do something stupid) or has kids who survived through luck. Or maybe they forgot what it was like when their kids were small.
Swallowing a button battery can cause rapid, severe alkali burns due to an interaction between the battery and the moisture in the oesophagus. Children are more likely to have such issues because of their small anatomy and their likelihood to swallow these batteries (which look like lollies). The injuries can be life threatening within a couple of hours and intervention is difficult because often no one knows what has happened.
It’s not the same as swallowing a coin or an AirPod, as some have suggested. Those things could, I suppose, cause an obstruction, but are far less likely to be dangerous.
I haven’t seen the AirTag battery replacement process or played around with one. However, someone in this forum has already accidentally opened an AirTag a number of times.
Anyone saying “supervise your kids” either doesn’t have kids (to know how quickly they can do something stupid) or has kids who survived through luck. Or maybe they forgot what it was like when their kids were small.
This.
I’ll reiterate that many in this thread appear to be childless. In the real world, kids are a total wildcard and no matter how on the ball you are as a parent, it’s simply not possible to stay on top of them every second.
I was surprised how easy it was to pop the battery out of the airtag. Like another poster, my first thought was ‘I need to keep this away from my kid’.
What if a family member is at my house and gives my keys to the kid (a common thing that people give babies to play with) and aren’t aware of the attached airtag?
This was the first thought I had when I read it was using coin cell batteries. Supervising your kids is your duty as a parent. Keeping swallowable batteries and toxic substances away from them is part of that. Hopefully Apple has been thoughtful when designing AirTags.