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"Though the AirTag is priced competitively against Tile trackers, it should be noted that in most use cases, users will need to buy additional accessories to attach the AirTag to an item, which pushes up the overall cost considerably." this is blatantly false, there is no requirement to purchase an accessory. Many uses (most use cases, I would say), the AirTag can be placed inside a backpack, purse, suitcase, etc. - no accessory required. Keychains, certainly require an accessory, But Amazon will be flooded with more than adequate ones for not much money. Last I checked, 29 is cheaper than 35 which I believe has Wideband, although the article states "Tile does not have, Ultra Wideband,"). so not a direct comparison, one works great, one gets you in general vicinity.

An important question is whether or not Tile will add it's products to third party tracking. Seems like a good thing if the purchaser want to use it, and they also get more privacy because their data is not sold or given to other companies. It is scary to think, of Tile selling your privacy data, or worse, selling it to Facebook.
 
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To me, the reason I never bought into Tile years ago is the obvious user tracking they do. Location tracking is kept by Tile and is sold to third parties.

Absolutely unacceptable, and I’m glad Apple is not doing this.
 
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I still wonder why no one really considers the upcoming Chipolo ONE Spot as an alternative to AirTags and Tiles. It seems to be a fairly good alternative to AirTags and works with FIND MY. Which is great. It might not have all the functionalities but it surely is better integrated in the Apple Ecosystem than Tile and offers more privacy than the latter.
I ended up buying the Chipolo Card and One Spot the other day instead of an AirTag or the Tile Performance Bundle. I've been very impressed with the trackers and their app compared to the Tile tracker I bought a couple of years ago. I really hated the Tile app because it would constantly pop up and ask me to change my tracking permissions even though I had it set to allow tracking all the time. You also had to subscribe for "out of range" alerts.

The Chipolo Card is much smaller and thinner than the Tile Thin and the One Spot is much smaller than either of the Tile keyring trackers. I would've loved to get an AirTag if they also had a wallet/thin tracker but maybe that'll come in the next iteration. Apple should also take a clue from Chipolo and include a keyring hole built in. Kind of ridiculous that you need to spend a minimum of $15 more for a case/keyring, even from a 3rd Party like Belkin.
 
My Tile used to nag me daily to say that it was out of battery when it got to 9 months old. It lasted for another 10 months before dying.
Same here. My original tile slim was only supposed to last 1 year. 2.5 years later, the battery finally died, after almost 2 years of asking me to replace it.
Even after all the nagging, I still need to have a tile slim. Airtags are just too thick for a wallet.
 
I’m actually disappointed that Chipolo decided to make “their version” of an AirTag instead of a wallet version that works with Find My.

I would’ve instantly picked up a Chipolo One Slim that works with Find My alongside the AirTags. But right now there’s no reason for an iPhone user to wait for Chipolo over AirTags… unless you REALLY want that built-in keychain hole.
 
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Will actually be doing both. My wife absentmindedly drops her phone throughout the house, often in non obvious locations, so the Tile "make your phone ring" feature will be very helpful (without the rest of the family having to provide an assist every single time) - she'll be getting one of those to try.

I'll try a AirTag on the set of keys for one of our cars (my wife lost the other key previously). We'll see how they work.


Same here. My original tile slim was only supposed to last 1 year. 2.5 years later, the battery finally died, after almost 2 years of asking me to replace it.
Even after all the nagging, I still need to have a tile slim. Airtags are just too thick for a wallet.

So does the slim seem to actually work? I love the form factor, but was wondering if it was practical / usable.
 
Hopefully Airtags will come in credit card form factors as well. My wallet is probably the thing I waste most time looking for and I fear Airtags won't confortably fit in there.
This. I just purchased a tile slim because I lost my wallet at home. Don’t think the airbag would fit in my wallet. Bummer.
 
Hopefully Airtags will come in credit card form factors as well. My wallet is probably the thing I waste most time looking for and I fear Airtags won't confortably fit in there.
I'm holding out for that. I was gifted the regular Tile Pro and it fit in my wallet, but it was awkward. I always wanted to get the "credit card" one, but just never got around to it.
 
I have tiles on my car FOB's and they worked flawlessly over the last years and I prefer their form factors. I hope apple learns from that and makes airtags with loops built in to avoid the need for accessories. I feel bad for tile since the Airtags will cut their business in half. But this was expected. Their community based tracking never took off to a degree that it would protect their market position. I will replace my tiles over the next year with Airtags.
I live in a major metro area with millions of people I lost my keys at a gas station it took a week for someone with a tile app to come in and find my keys. I have been 6 inches away from my tile and the app could locate the tile. Tile tracking reliabilty is not great. I own about 6 tiles and they are going to be replaced. For the complainers they don’t have a hole there are already several choices on Amazon between $4 and $8. I even read someone saying you can loose it if it’s on a luggage tag _ You should have no problem finding your lost Airtag😁
 
Why the heck does the Tile app need my health and fitness info? To see if I can walk to retrieve the item? :(
 
I’m actually disappointed that Chipolo decided to make “their version” of an AirTag instead of a wallet version that works with Find My.

I would’ve instantly picked up a Chipolo One Slim that works with Find My alongside the AirTags. But right now there’s no reason for an iPhone user to wait for Chipolo over AirTags… unless you REALLY want that built-in keychain hole.
Same. I have a feeling that’s coming from Chipolo though. I guess I don’t care as much though since I have an iPhone 8 Plus so it doesn’t have the U1 chip anyways. It would be cool for when I eventually upgrade though.
 
Having been an early adopter of Tile, I gave up on them after two years. Customer support was just awful, even with in-warranty tiles. Half the time, the tiles lost connection with my iPhone 7 (new at the time) and I just gave up on it.

I'm really looking forward to the AirTags.
 
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Yes is it not expected that tile will release new versions that are Find My compatible?? That seems obvious and makes this ridiculously long post irrelevant.

Any tracker device like this is DOA at this point if they are not Find My certified.
This is exactly why Tile has a big problem. They have no revenue stream. Originally the tiles had no replaceable battery and the whole unit had to be replaced after a year. This did not go over well and they eventually switched to a replaceable battery. But how do you survive selling a $15 device that last years? Their solution was the premium subscription service.

Apple has a completely different motives. They can sell you a device that lasts forever and still make money from it because they're selling an entire ecosystem. If Tile joins Find My, they cut off their revenue stream. If they don't, what iPhone user would buy one? Their only real hope would be to sell an iPhone version and an Android version, but I'm just not sure they'd make any money at all on the iPhone side.
 
Same - however - I then pressed the Tile button for 10s and it re-established the connection. I had to do this to 4 of them.
The support documents say this, but I’ve had no luck. Tried all the usual logging in and out, deleting app and so on. The Tile sings away to me, but just will not connect.

AirTag time!
 
As far as battery life for the Tiles go, I'm finding that the CR 2032 in the Tile Mate and Tile Pro averages eight months, not twelve (I write the replacement date on the top of the battery with a Sharpie). I use Eveready batteries, which are usually high quality.

The most annoying thing about the Tiles is the button to find your phone, which I seem to be pressing inadvertently way too often (like when my keys and Tile are in my pocket). Sure, you can buy a pouch for the Tile, to prevent that, but now the Tile is even more bulky to carry. I'm looking forward to getting my first AirTag.
 
This is exactly why Tile has a big problem. They have no revenue stream. Originally the tiles had no replaceable battery and the whole unit had to be replaced after a year. This did not go over well and they eventually switched to a replaceable battery. But how do you survive selling a $15 device that last years? Their solution was the premium subscription service.

Apple has a completely different motives. They can sell you a device that lasts forever and still make money from it because they're selling an entire ecosystem. If Tile joins Find My, they cut off their revenue stream. If they don't, what iPhone user would buy one? Their only real hope would be to sell an iPhone version and an Android version, but I'm just not sure they'd make any money at all on the iPhone side.
If they can offer a version for 20 bucks that is find my compatible (even without U1 chip), that would still be a pretty compelling alternative to the AirTag.

But as you said, maybe that is just not enough margin to be a viable business.

I'm not sure how much revenue their subscriptions were generating, but if their entire lineup was Find My compatible tomorrow, they could sell a lot of devices.
 
Reckon the review, whilst good, should mention the sharing/family side too. The current airbags have no real means it appears of sharing the tags whereas Tile does. This is the one feature which is keeping me from switching over.
 
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I already have the watch, and it is quite the different feature. A few quiet pings vs. a continuous loud musical ring. That being said, I am sure you are right that this is how Apple thinks...
Exactly. Protect your £300 car key with a £30 tracker that needs a £700 phone which if you can’t find needs a £500 watch 😂
 
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