Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Enhancing AirTags Anti-Stalking Measures With Android App and Shorter Sound Intervals
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
To my mind apple’s Android Tags app should also expand the network of 3rd party devices anonymously reporting on tags.
But your original point seems correct.
IF it’s even stated in there, that doesn’t automatically mean it’s legally correct. At least not in the EU.
Well I know where I put my stuff. Theft is much more important for me. So this becomes a completely useless device now which I’m glad I never bought.
Seems like AirTags aren't a good product for you then. Note that this would have been a problem even before these changes. Also, you or your roommates can take the battery out if the very quite chirping is bothering them. And I think you or they can turn off the alerts when they get a notification on their phone.
It’s a shame because that’s the specific instance that AirTag would give me most peace of mind but I’m not prepared to say to guests they might get beeped at because I think they might lose the keys.
Or, if I understand the functionality correctly, the roommates can just leave the keys alone and they won’t make any sound because they haven’t been moved.
We just share keys sometimes. Also the dog is watched by parents and this chirping after 8 hours is annoying. An alert on a phone is not a big deal but a chirp.
Also I know it’s not meant for pets but still.
The problem is when you are so worried about people misusing your product that you end up creating a useless product. Safe, but useless.
It’s like if a company that makes knifes was so worried people would use them to kill other people that the knife company ended up creating a “safe” sharpless knife.
The ones we use to track our delivery vans are $50 for the device, and then ~$140/year for the subscription that has a slick web portal and lets you view the asset live on a map as it travels, like some CIA/NSA level stuff lol
It has a micro-USB port on it that you can attach to an external battery or just wire it straight into the car's USB port
And stalked people can file a complain with the police and identify the owner of the airtag with the serial number and present charges against him. The fact that the airtag can be used for unlawful purposes does not mean that it should be crippled in functionality so that people cant find and recover their stolen property which is perfectly reasonable use. Apple could implement stronger security measures such as for example link the airtag only to verified Apple ID with credit card, so that the true owner of the airtag used for committing crimes can be easily identified.
Few can compete in the pretty-small-tracker combined with very-long-battery-life category. But did you see the cooperation with Amazon that Tile has struck up, which presumably adds all Amazon Echos as well Ring Doorbells and the like to the Tile tracking network?
Yeah, how Apple dare care about the concerns of others and not mine. It’s almost as criminal as Apple not offering iMessage to Android users.
Seems as if you really don't know how the AirTags function. I say that because they haven't been materially changed at all. I'd be willing to bet no scenario that would cause the AirTags to beep actually applies to your use cases.
Your keys wouldn't make any sound at all if they are left alone. The only way they'd beep is if your roommates picked up the keys and carried them around with them. Beep requires absent tag owner (you) and movement of the tracker with an unassociated phone.
This also most likely wouldn't result in any beeping. The tag would have to be detected following the unassociated phone. Just being in the proximity of the tracker would not set it off. Lost luggage isn't really moving all that often. It's mostly stationary.
An airport employee carrying a lost bag through the airport could potentially trigger an alert they are being followed by an AirTag. But it would seem the logical conclusion for that employee to reach is the bag they're holding has an AirTag attached.
The scenario you envisioned wouldn't happen.
Apple deciding not to enter the anti-theft tracking market even though they have the technology to do so is really them siding with thieves.
Apple is on the side of not-wanting-to-enter-the-market-of-no-holes-barred-tracking-devices. Sometimes one has the technology to create a certain product but one decides not to make/sell it because one thinks it isn’t a good idea for such a product to exist or one just doesn’t want have anything to do with that field. Think of what Apple could bring to the world of sex toys?
That is not fully correct. It is either (with different time limits that trigger each):
- Absent tag owner (you) and movement of the tracker -> beeping of the tracker
- Absent tag owner (you) and movement of the tracker with an unassociated phone (iPhone or Android with the new app) -> notification on said phone (I think when you get such a notification, you then have the option to make the tracker beep)
I doubt that is illegal in the EU to sell trackers that beep on their own after some time limit. At worst, Apple might be required to make that behaviour clearer in its product description.
The places where luggage is handled tend to be pretty noisy to begin with.