There you have it! I lost my keys a couple of times in the pre-AirTag days, and while I was fortunate enough to find them, it did take time. Also, had I left them in a cab, for instance — no chance at all.
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AirTag With New Chip and Improved Location Tracking Due Next Year
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I wonder if these new ones will work? I had an AirTag in my wallet set to notify me when it is left behind. Today was the first time I left it behind by accident and needless to say it did not notify me. It still hasn’t notified me. It is 157 miles away, I can see where it is at but it is 3 hours away. I would say it isn’t a feature unless it works reliably. Just another in long line of Apple failures I have been experiencing. I certainly will not be buying any more AirTags, new version or not.
Is this an AirTag on the AirPods case? Try having your partner share the AirTag with you.
Then Siri will notify you that you're leaving them behind when you're not together. But since they're in your Items list, you can turn off the Notify When Left Behind feature.
Sometimes when I try to Find an AirTag (such as the TV remote or the cat), I get a result saying it's "Far" or that it can't find the item and I should try moving to a different location. I move around and it eventually connects, and I find the item very near where I was at the beginning.
And often it works beautifully.
So if the update makes them more reliable, consistent, and accurate, I would be pleased.
I'm perplexed why there's no Find My on the Vision Pro at all. There may be a technical reason. Or maybe it's in Vision OS 2.0.
But if the Vision Pro could triangulate (quadrangulate?) the location of an AirTag, it should be able to place a flashing virtual beacon in 3D space at the exact location of the AirTag. Under the cushion of the couch. In the basement below your feet. Spatial Finder makes a lot of sense.
That would be better than following the arrow that points to the AirTag on your iPhone screen and trying to get the distance reading to go to zero. Sometimes it only goes down to about 10 feet, and the iPhone says maybe it's on a different level.
I'd hope that the newer iPhones at least will get a similar spatial finder interface as well. The virtual beacon could be displayed in augmented reality as you scan the area with your iPhone or iPad Pro.
I put one on a cat collar and it worked perfectly well several times when a wandering old guy would get lost in the neighbourhood. It's not that big.
Same. I was getting directions from 15 metres early on. Now it's rare that it goes over 6m even with new batteries.
That's what I think would be the best upgrade. I mean ultimately, all it needs to do is say "I am here". I'm cool with the form factor, but I can see others would prefer something thinner, although you will sacrifice the battery in doing so.
The Chipset in the AirTag is the nRF52832 which includes Bluetooth 5.4 but would be nice to upgrade to the nRF53840 that includes Matter, Thread & Zigbee, plus an extra antenna and has a 6.3 to 10 times theoretical range improvement.
Please educate me.
Let's say I purchase some airtags and want to use them to be able to find things that could get stolen.
So I place a few airtags on some expensive items.
Perhaps an Electric Bike, a desktop computer, my car etc etc.
Is there anyway to set these up so that the thief (who perhaps has an iPhone) cannot easily know that there is an Airtag on my item, and hence remove it, so I can't find my stolen item?
Let's say I purchase some airtags and want to use them to be able to find things that could get stolen.
So I place a few airtags on some expensive items.
Perhaps an Electric Bike, a desktop computer, my car etc etc.
Is there anyway to set these up so that the thief (who perhaps has an iPhone) cannot easily know that there is an Airtag on my item, and hence remove it, so I can't find my stolen item?
I love how people who just feel like talking, will ignore the purpose of something just to claim it renders a product useless.
Warnings that an airtag is following someone is not designed to alert a thief they've been thwarted, it's to protect humans from being tracked with a device that's barely larger than a quarter, that will discreetly phone home using a network of communication devices used by almost everyone on the planet.
No. Not what Apple made them for 🤷♂️.
They *can* be used for that to some extent, but it's not their intended purpose. Therefore:
- As there is no way for an AirTag or an iPhone to discern whether the person carrying an AirTag of other person is a thief or a potential stalking victim (or other), they get an alert after some time or near some locations IIRC(getting home etc.)
- Plus unmodified AirTag can make a sound on its own if moved when it's not with you for prolonged period of time
- You also get alert on modern Android OS devices
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Indeed it is unfortunate that it didn't notify you. However wasn't the information about where it was rather valuable? Depending on location it might obviate the need to cancel credit cards, do a credit score lock, etc.
But also I suppose there’s nothing really stopping anyone from taking an existing Apple Watch with cell service and attaching it to a dog collar for tracking purposes. Seems like it would work pretty well. Waterproof and everything.
Something smaller so it could be better integrated into something like a dog collar would be nice. The current one with a case is quite bulky even on my large Golden Retriever.
You mean that replaceable CR22 battery?I’ll upgrade when my airtag’s battery runs out.
Yeah, that kinda proves my point. Anytime somebody has to repurpose something to get a desired result, there is a market for it.
Yeah, I don't disagree. I know people who 100% treat their dogs like their kids, and spend TONS of money on them. If Apple or someone made a "canine fitness" collar, I could totally picture people buying it.
I'm just saying that in the here and now, an Apple Watch could make a decent dog tracker as a sort of "off label" use.
I reckon it’d need a gps locator in it. My sisters dog keeps chasing kangaroos and runs off for kilometres. Maybe if the roo had an iPhone it’s its pouch?
AirTags need other AirTags and iPhones near by to work. So they become increasingly useless as the local population becomes more sparse.