AirTag Reviews: Smart and Capable for Those Already Living in Apple's Ecosystem

[JohnApples]

So what is to stop someone from tracking a spouse they suspect of cheating then?

As long as they come home every night, wouldn't that reset the timer?

That’s a specific scenario, and yes of course just like with anything, you can find a specific scenario loophole around it. But let’s just take this hypothetical scenario:

If someone drops an AirTag in their spouse’s purse for example, then the spouse leaves the home, the AirTag will detect that its A) separated from the owner and B) traveling along with an “unknown” IPhone. It will then alert the spouse’s iPhone that there is AirTag following them.

Now if the spouse does not have an iPhone, then yes- I suppose the AirTag “timer” would reset every time the owner came within range of it and would not be able to alert the android-owning spouse that they’re being tracked with an AirTag.

But you could do that with so many other trackers- it’s not limited strictly to AirTag. And if you were really dedicated to stealthily tracking your spouse you suspected of cheating, there are much more effective ways than buying a $29 AirTag.

 

[1258186]

August 2011. The date Apple stopped being a computer company and started becoming a fashion accessory maker. Very sad.

 

[MauiPa]

Interesting comments about the oft wrong verge: "It's just a little more expensive than the competition". airbags actually seem cheaper than the competition not more expensive. seems the commenter is comparing them to non-wide band trackers. Samsungs wide-band are $39. "It really only works with Apple devices". I guess in the free market, Apple is free to support their devices on android or not. Keep in mind Samsung doesn't even work with Android, just Samsung. "or tight grip on its APIs, depending on your point of view". hmmmm, didn't Apple announce that it's API was open to third party devices? oh yes they did. So Tile or Samsung could update its Trackers and join the program. "And since there's no Android version of Find My". Again, isn't it up to Apple to choose to write software for Android or not? How about a third party coming with their own better version, wouldn't everyone just use that? "An AirTag is a very Apple-y thing for Apple users who already live in Apple's ecosystem. They work great — and will be great at keeping you in Apple's world." I would say that is Apple's thing, products that work great together, but we know that, right? Free enterprise is supposed to work this way. I'd say come on Verge, but this is right along their usual, so that is kind of their thing anyway.

from The Verge's review:


This seems like a huge waste to me. One of the prime uses for this, in my household, would be to put trackers on common stuff like luggage or keys -- stuff which either my wife or I could be looking for, interchangably, at any given moment.

Leave it to the Verge to get it wrong. you apparently can share them inside the Family

 

[MauiPa]

Been using Tiles forever. Used them on my older iphones and on my new Pixel. This does nothing a Tile can't do. The Tile Slim fits in my wallet and has saved my ass several times. Tiles can ring my Android phone as well.

Not sure what the Apple differentiator is here other than "me too."

Privacy, price, its not a tile. in spite of some reviews getting it wrong, these are ultra-wide band and a good deal cheaper than the competition. about the same price as the non-ultra Widebands from other vendors.

 

[macsplusmacs]

The Verge "reporters" are high school art students pretending to be professionals.

They have to add things like this because they need to "Both sides" all apple matters.

 

[TrulsZK]

I wonder if you can opt out of having your iPhone participate in the air tags detection capability? As in I don't want my phone looking for others air tags and sending that data.

Yes you can opt out by going to Settings > Your Name > Find My > Find My iPhone > Find my Network
Keep in mind when this is off you will not be able to use offline finding (from other iPhones) to find your device. It’s either give and take or nothing.

 

[poorcody]

Mashable's Brenda Stolyar's video has her email and phone number showing when she pairs her AirTag to the iPhone. So much for AirTags being "stalker proof".

 

[MauiPa]

August 2011. The date Apple stopped being a computer company and started becoming a fashion accessory maker. Very sad.

the most valuable company in history - very sad, and they still make the best computers!

 

[MauiPa]

Mashable's Brenda Stolyar's video has her email and phone number showing when she pairs her AirTag to the iPhone. So much for AirTags being "stalker proof".

can you explain that? she is pairing her own airtags with her own phone, how is a stalker going to get involved? Are you just that much smarter than me or something, I'm not seeing it.

 

[PJWilkin]

Apparently AirTag easily scratches.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385225309537161227

time for either an AirTag screen protector

or in Blue Peter fashion - some sticky backed plastic film ?

 

[Eorlas]

This does nothing a Tile can't do.

Not sure what the Apple differentiator is here other than "me too."

tile will not point you in the direction of where your tracker is, it just has a "you're getting warmer, you're getting colder" which is not helpful if the item is in the adjacent room.

tiles also have a tendency to be fairly unresponsive; i've had my keys lost somewhere in my backpack, frantically searching for it meanwhile the app says "it's close and we're trying to connect to it." same thing has occurred with the wallet tracker, though i wont be retiring that one yet as for what i can tell, airtag is a bit too dense for my wallet.

then again, we can even further simplify the absurdity of your comment by pointing to tile's CEO who couldn't wait 5 minutes post event to start violently sobbing to anyone who would listen.

tile is welcome to make a better product if they want to stay relevant.

 

[poorcody]

can you explain that? she is pairing her own airtags with her own phone, how is a stalker going to get involved? Are you just that much smarter than me or something, I'm not seeing it.

Having your phone number exposed on the Internet can lead to various forms of stalking... but it was meant as just a joke.

 

[Kabeyun]

I’m curious how it works if someone steals an item with an AirTag attached, then gets an alert that an AirTag not belonging to them is traveling with them...

I’m guessing it works like this:
1. Bad guy finds and discards AirTag
2. AirTag owner finds garbage can

 

[randfee2]

the 'privacy feature' makes it useless to track a stolen bag for instance if all the thief has to do is carry an iPhone, all air tags I've hidden in the bag will deactivate themselves...
same for my bike.

bags and bikes were my initial usage scenario... --> useless for those then

 

[zorinlynx]

Wow. This really reminds me of the silver back iPods now!

"HEY we have this dusty old machine in the corner that we used to use to make the back of iPods. Let's just use this for the AirTags!!"

"YEEEEEESSS. THIS IS WHY WE PAY YOU THE BIG BUCKS."

 

[8CoreWhore]

I want my iPhone to tell me I dropped my wallet and it is now several feet from me.

 

[aknabi]

If I were a more motivated guy I'd have sketched up a sleeve for the Apple TV Remote (new and old) with a sleeve for the AirTag so that you could find your remote (which is what the new remote should have in the first place)...

But I'm sure someone will have it soon...

 

[Kabeyun]

the 'privacy feature' makes it useless to track a stolen bag for instance if all the thief has to do is carry an iPhone, all air tags I've hidden in the bag will deactivate themselves...
same for my bike.

bags and bikes were my initial usage scenario... --> useless for those then

Where did you read that AirTags deactivate themselves?

And some people here dont understand that an AirTag isnt the same thing as a padlock. It’s an item tracker, not a stop-a-thing-from-getting-stolen-er. If a bad actor wants your crap, they’ll take it and toss the AirTag. Its not magic.

 

[k2director]

Ridiculous that these guys have had the Airtags for less than 48 hours, and yet are writing "reviews". You need to use a product longer than <48 hours to write with authority. These should be called previews or first-looks, etc. But everybody has to race to be first....

 

[Razorpit]

Oh, I hope that stupid pop-up doesn’t keep coming up like it does with the AirPods.

It’ll probably be exactly like AirPods. Pops up every time except when you try to get it to pop up. ?

ay those are bigger than I thought. I was thinking about putting one on my dog but in that size ... he will not be having it

Simple, get a bigger dog.

Isn't the air-tag more precise than the tile, at least with a U1 device? While I'm still using an iphone XR, wondering if i may want to upgrade to get this capability. From the video seems like there's a huge adavantage over the 1/2/3 circles on the tile, and I would like to be able to find it without making it ring (like when my spouse is still sleeping)

I do use my current tiles a lot (locating keys/wallet), but sometimes they don't ring until i get very close, the 'last location' seems pretty dicey, and the tile app seemed to drain my phone battery like crazy when i originally let it use do background tracking.

I'm also a little miffed that it didn't do a good job of telling me when my {previous} wallet tile had a dead battery, so when i lost my wallet i had no idea where it was last, and never recovered it. $#!@#$

? how often do you misplace stuff?

For those worrying about scratching/damaging tags, I’m sure the $450 Hermès luggage tag will provide ample protection.* ?



*The Hermès AppleTag sheath has officially replaced the Mac Pro Wheels meme.

 

[_Spinn_]

from The Verge's review:

You cannot share AirTags — they are meant to be owned by one person.

This seems like a huge waste to me. One of the prime uses for this, in my household, would be to put trackers on common stuff like luggage or keys -- stuff which either my wife or I could be looking for, interchangably, at any given moment.

Yeah it feels like AirTags should work with Family Sharing. Maybe that will come in a future update ?

Apparently AirTag easily scratches.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1385225309537161227

I know that's the metal back but it makes me question engraving the front since that is just plastic.

 

[FelixDerKater]

If it only had a hole for a keyring. Then again, that wouldn’t allow the hole tax…

 

[T-R-S]

The differentiator is the mesh network for items you lose out there in the big wide world. Suddenly every iOS device is looking for your item rather than just everyone who has the Tile app running. I'd guess that increases the chances of locating your item at least a thousand-fold.

I agree 100% I have been an avid Tile user for a long time - having to rely on another tile user is taking a chance I lost a set of keys at a gas station it took over a week for another tile user to walk into that same gas station to find my keys. iPhones are everywhere so this is no brainer for any Apple user who want to use something like this.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I always wonder, does Macrumors not get these perks of receiving Apple goodies?

I believe MR gets (at times) testing models. Given that MR doesn't have the YouTube following that many of the influencers do, MR has to wait their turn.

 

[Apple_Robert]

If you’re traveling with an AirTag that isn’t yours, you’ll get a notification and a way to disable it. Does this mean that if someone steals your AirTagged belonging, they’ll be able to prevent you from tracking it?

That is an excellent question. I hope a rightful owner won't be prevented from tracking.