AirTags Separated From Owners for Three Days or More Play Audible Sound When Moved

[parseckadet]

Maybe where I live is quiet and peaceable?

My intended uses would be:
If I leave something behind - e.g. a bag in a cafe - I'd know where to go back or call;
If my luggage is checked in separately, such as hold baggage, that it is on the same aircraft! And has been unloaded and just about to arrive in baggage retrieval. Or not;
Slapped on my surfboard in case it gets separated from me. (Yes, would need a waterproof housing.)

Any half-way informed criminal will obviously know about tags (these and others), and look for them. Crunched under heel or thrown in a bin if found. So they might just help for the first few minutes - as something is picked up and taken but before the taker has had a chance to search.

Yes, these are my intended uses as well. Ok, not so much the surf board one. Not much use for those in Colorado. But the others yes. Others may include:

• My keys fall out of my pocket without me realizing
• My wife moves my keys to another part of the house without telling me (precision tracking coming in handy here)
• Going on a trip and wondering "Did I remember to bring X" where X is something with an AirTag attached. (Look up in the app and confirm that it's near me and not at home, thus saving having to dig through my bags to find it)
• Attaching it to less frequently used items that I forget where I left them, then using precision tracking to find them again.

And yes, I want this built into the AirPods case. I have had them fall out of my pocket before without realizing it. I have my name and phone number engraved on them for this very reason. Having a built in AirTag would be a big improvement.

 

[123]

maybe we can turn off the sound.

Of course:

1. You cannot officially turn it off as this would defeat the whole purpose of why the sound is played in the first place. Apple doesn't want AirTags to be used as spying devices, so obviously there can't be a way to just turn it off as the stalker would just do that.

2. Since the sound is played by some hardware component and that hardware component must not be sealed too well (otherwise you couldn't hear the sound), it is probably safe to assume that you will just be able to destroy it, disconnect or silence it yourself. Instructions will probably be posted soon after people get their hands on their AirTags.

 

[123]

The add clearly shows items lost.
No add showing anyone working as FBI

I think we all get that. But for 99% of the people this is not a useful feature/product compared to being able to track stolen items. It could have been so much more – in my case actually very useful to track my bike if stolen – but it is not, hence the whining.

 

[123]

I 100% agree that this isn't Apple's intended use case, but it is probably a lot more useful than what Apple is trying to sell AirTags for.

Exactly, people reiterating that this is not what Apple designed it for or how it is advertized are missing the point.

We know that their marketing targets the "oh, where could I have left my purse" use cases. But that doesn't mean we can't express our disappointment over Apple deliberately crippling such a promising product to make it (likely from what we gather) useless.

 

[Kev_D]

I also wrote this in another AirTag topic but I’m wondering how other people who travel a lot (pre- & post-covid) feel about this.

I wonder how this will work with long distance travel. There’s been a couple of occasions where my luggage was put on a different flight and it was sent to me 3-4 days later.

If I would use an AirTag in this case - it would be seperated from me, its owner, for a long time. So will it start beeping like crazy then while attached to (or inside) the suitcase? And will the luggage handler, who happens to have an iPhone, get a popup that an “unidentified” AirTag is near them?

 

[parseckadet]

I also wrote this in another AirTag topic but I’m wondering how other people who travel a lot (pre- & post-covid) feel about this.

I wonder how this will work with long distance travel. There’s been a couple of occasions where my luggage was put on a different flight and it was sent to me 3-4 days later.

If I would use an AirTag in this case - it would be seperated from me, its owner, for a long time. So will it start beeping like crazy then while attached to (or inside) the suitcase? And will the luggage handler, who happens to have an iPhone, get a popup that an “unidentified” AirTag is near them?

So there are some details cropping up today now that some reviews of AirTags are posting. Most interestingly, Rene Ritchie interviewed Kaiann Drance, VP WW Product Marketing, and Ron Huang, Senior Director of Sensing and Connectivity. One little tidbit I picked up on was this from Ron:

... every iPhone running iOS 14.5 will have built in logic to detect an AirTag that's been traveling with you, but without its owner. And it's really key that we only focus on cases where the owner's not there, because if you're traveling together on a bus we don't want to you iPhone to misdetect somebody else's AirTag as potentially tracking you, right, and so we detect that it's not with the owner and therefore it's potentially unwanted tracking. And what your iPhone's gonna do, actually, is to alert you right on the lock screen when you arrive home. And your home location's actually based on your address book, or learned from prior travel patterns, locally on your iPhone, right. And with the alert what you can do is go straight into the FindMy app and play a sound to actually locate that AirTag physically, right. And then the FindMy app even gives you instructions on how to disable the AirTag by taking apart the battery, for example.

Emphasis is obviously mine. They also mentioned that anyone who gets the alert can decide to silence the alert that pops up. The example provided was where you lend your keys to someone. First, you can set the AirTags to not alert anyone in your family in FindMy, so when you lend your keys to a family member they wouldn't get the alert at all. But a friend could elect to mute the alert for some set amount of time so they aren't constantly pestered by it. The interview can be found here:

 

[RedRaven571]

So, what happens when we go on a trip in my wife's car and I don't bring my car keys on the trip (because my car is being left home); after 3 days will my sad car keys make noise until I come home? Seems like that could cause early battery degradation?

 

[avalon68]

Apple's AirTag item trackers let you track things like your keys, wallet, purse, backpack, or luggage, and if an AirTag is separated from its owner and out of Bluetooth range, the Find My network can help track it down, thanks to its U1 Wideband chip.

According to Apple, an AirTag that isn't with the person who registered it for an extended period of time will also play a sound when moved, to alert anyone nearby so that it can be found, even without an iOS device.

Apple's documentation doesn't elaborate on what constitutes "an extended period of time," so Daring Fireball's John Gruber asked his sources at Apple for a more exact definition. They informed him that the timeout period is currently three days, but hinted that this could change in future:
If someone finds an AirTag after hearing it make a sound, they can use any device that has NFC, such as an iPhone or Android phone, to see if its owner marked it as lost and help return it.

AirTags‌‌ start at $29 each or $99 for a four-pack. Online orders open this Friday, April 23, with ‌‌AirTags‌‌ shipping April 30.

Article Link: AirTags Separated From Owners for Three Days or More Play Audible Sound When Moved

But say I put one on my bike in case it gets stolen - if it starts beeping then whoever stole it will just take it out and I won’t be able to track it anymore.......kind of limits it’s uses for me personally

 

[avalon68]

yes, I m thinking of placing one in my car and one hidden on my bike.

I wonder if the "separation alert" can be silenced? I'd like to hide one on my bike so if its stolen it can be tracked it without the perp knowing (and removing it) before I can rescue it. (like the old LoJack idea)



Hmmm, after seeing this https://www.macrumors.com/how-to/disable-an-airtag-found-moving-with-you/
Someone stealing a bike might know right away that the bike is 'tagged'. Maybe thats a deterrent, or maybe thats their cue to stop and look for the tag?

Using it on my bike would be the primary use for me - under saddle or in bars if it fits. An audible alarm makes it a bit useless tbh.....would just be found and thrown away preventing me from getting my bike back.

 

[avalon68]

I am assuming that the beeping feature will only get activated when you mark the tag stolen but if you leave on vacation and have a tag on your dog or keys or whatever, you can still locate the tag without causing it to beep, like you do now. I can open FindMy and see my daughter's iphone, ipad, airpods on the map but not make a sound. Unless I explicitly make it lost, then it will start beeping. Is my assumption correct?

I’m not sure - because what stops you dropping one in someone’s bag or something then and tracking them?

 

[avalon68]

Yes I understand. But this could have been a somewhat efficient and cheaper way.
LoJack is expensive.

also I have seen multiple people want to use it for dog tags. I think that’s. Great idea.

We won’t know until we actually get someone to play around with it.

Handy for remembering where you parked......lost my car for over 3 h once in a touristy town 😭

 

[parseckadet]

So, what happens when we go on a trip in my wife's car and I don't bring my car keys on the trip (because my car is being left home); after 3 days will my sad car keys make noise until I come home? Seems like that could cause early battery degradation?

Did you read the title of the article you're replying to?

AirTags Separated From Owners for Three Days or More Play Audible Sound When Moved

Not going to make a sound if they're just sitting right where you left them.

 

[123]

Using it on my bike would be the primary use for me - under saddle or in bars if it fits. An audible alarm makes it a bit useless tbh.....would just be found and thrown away preventing me from getting my bike back.

Yes, you got it, unfortunately AirTags seem to be useless for most people. I sometimes leave my stuff behind, but I never forget where I put it.

The sound can most certainly be disabled in hardware, but this still leaves you with the tracking notification. We have to wait and see how exactly it is implemented.

 

[DaveTheRave]

According to Apple, an AirTag that isn't with the person who registered it for an extended period of time will also play a sound when moved, to alert anyone nearby so that it can be found, even without an iOS device.

Does anyone know how close a tag needs to be to an iPhone to qualify as being "with the person who registered it"?

 

[DaveTheRave]

Can I permanently share a tag with my wife, so that if I put on our kid's backpack both of us can see it?

Can you check the location of a tag without reporting it as lost? Example: can I check the location of the tag during the day to confirm the backpack is still in the school, without creating a beeping sound, disrupting a class, etc?

 

[Pimmp]

Can I permanently share a tag with my wife, so that if I put on our kid's backpack both of us can see it?

Can you check the location of a tag without reporting it as lost? Example: can I check the location of the tag during the day to confirm the backpack is still in the school, without creating a beeping sound, disrupting a class, etc?

It feels like it would be easier to tuck an cheap iphone with a battery pack and use family sharing than buying a 29$ tag for that purpose. I understand the stalking protection but in my case i have the complete same scenario and realize airtags might not be the solution.

 

[RedRaven571]

Did you read the title of the article you're replying to?

Not going to make a sound if they're just sitting right where you left them.

Thanks, I guess I overlooked that last part...

 

[Jana_CZ]

Let me type it again since you just jumped on the ONE example presented: There are enough legitimate reasons in which an equipment may be moved by someone other than the owner.

And, no, you're not gonna use Apple Family with your flatmates, in the boarding school, etc.

After the first notification, the wife or whoever can dismiss the airtag with a “don’t notify me about this airtag anymore”. But it’s her decision, and only after she’s made aware of the tracker. If she already was aware of it and doesn’t mind having it in the car, then you’re good, I suppose.

 

[rdy0329]

We definitely need to better understand this feature: if I hide an AirTag inside my car and then I'm flying somewhere for a week, I don't want it to play any sound

it wont beep if not moved from original location where it lost contact with your phone.

Quite intuitive esp in countries with low theft or for extended storage situations.

downside is, you need to remove it if you are lending or having someone maintain a certain item (that moves a lot)

 

[iAmRenzo]

Okay, so a lot has been written about stalking. My father in law has dementia and looses his keys all the time. He has an Android (but almost never uses it or takes it with). We thought AirTags to the keys is easy. If he calls that his keys are lost, the children can find them and point him to the store, the harder, wherever.

But after three days the AirTags will beep. But how often? Every hour? Every day?
And is there anything to do about it? Or is the only way either removing the speaker or have an iPhone at his home to reconnect (which would be quite pricy).

 

[DaveTheRave]

Okay, so a lot has been written about stalking. My father in law has dementia and looses his keys all the time. He has an Android (but almost never uses it or takes it with). We thought AirTags to the keys is easy. If he calls that his keys are lost, the children can find them and point him to the store, the harder, wherever.

But after three days the AirTags will beep. But how often? Every hour? Every day?
And is there anything to do about it? Or is the only way either removing the speaker or have an iPhone at his home to reconnect (which would be quite pricy).

After 3 days the AirTag will beep ONLY if it is moved. If they are lost under the couch (sitting still) or wherever they will not beep. And if there is no iOS device in range, the message from your phone to put them in lost mode or wherever in his home will not be be picked up by the AirTag.

 

[crudersteeler]

I bought one and put it on my cat who leaves the house several times a day. I wanted have more peace of mind while I was on holidays (he goes crazy if locked inside for more than day) but if this is true, it means I can't put him the airtag for more than 3 days or he will hear non-stop noise (is the sound non-stop?). I wonder if the sound will still go off even though he stays within close range so technically he "doesn't move". What if I turn off Find My before I leave and until I come back so at least I can find him when I come back in case he got lost? does anyone know if turning off Find My works as a bypass since it doesn't know my current location?

 

[DaveTheRave]

I bought one and put it on my cat who leaves the house several times a day. I wanted to be able to track him while I was on holidays but if this is true, it means I can't leave him the airtag for more than 3 days or he will hear non-stop noise. I wonder if the noise will still go off even thoug he stays within close range so technically "doesn't move". What if I turn off find my until I come back so at least I can find him in case he got lost? does anyone know if turning off find my bypasses the 3 days stuff?

I can't test this, but if you had another iOS device on your account, like an iPad, that you leave at home, then its possible that if he comes into range at least once every three days then that might count as being "with you" and would reset the 3-day timer. Of course, if you're away from home then how would the cat get in/out (maybe a small cat door?)

 

[crudersteeler]

I can't test this, but if you had another iOS device on your account, like an iPad, that you leave at home, then its possible that if he comes into range at least once every three days then that might count as being "with you" and would reset the 3-day timer. Of course, if you're away from home then how would the cat get in/out (maybe a small cat door?)

Thanks for the reply! I just had the same tought, I guess I'll buy a cheap iphone se 2016 and leave it at home. Yep we have cat doors so he's free to go and come back. This sucks for lost pets cause it means that if I don't find my cat within 3 days the thing will go off and annoy him to death (specially in the countryside)

 

[iAmRenzo]

I read that you can put the airbag in lost mode, and it seems that it doesn’t make a sound then. Can someone confirm?