Apple Reveals New AirTag Features Added in Latest Firmware Updates

[nickl99]

So again, to make this crystal clear, the intended purpose of an AirTag is to help you find your personal items that

* you've misplaced in familiar locations,
* you've left behind in unfamiliar locations, that
* a Good Samaritan could be helped to return to you,
* but are no use in the case of theft.

Is that a good explanation of their current purpose and value?

True, but the glaringly obvious fact Apple is missing, is 'What type of item do you not want to lose?' Answer: Items of value.

How many public would just choose to keep an item of value for themselves than return? (and of course remove or even take the airtag if they can reset them). This thought alone makes the airtag fairly useless. No guarantee you will ever find a lost item. In fact less than 25% chance you will get it back with an airtag. (50% of the public own iphones, and ~50% of ppl finding the item would return it).

 

[nickl99]

AirTag is NOT an anti-thief device, it is an anti-lose device.

For items of what? Value. How many items of value do you think, if found, would be returned?

 

[nickl99]

also, I', an android user, but use an airtag for my bike. I had to remove the speaker inside as it beeped all the time. This was fairly easy to do. About as easy as changing the battery. If stalkers really want to use them for stalking, they will do this too.

So Apple has lost 80% market share for stopping the least obsessive, least scary stalkers. Ridiculous in my opinion.

 

[mjs916]

I just want them to finally add family sharing of AirTag tracking so that everyone in a family can see where devices. Until they add that much needed feature, I won't be buying any more AirTags as I'd need to buy two for everything I want to track, which is dumb.

Two ideas I saw in this thread that could be options in future updates. What flaws do these ideas have? Should they be submitted to feedback at the feedback site?

1) Mark an AirTag as friendly (I assume during a “following you” alert)

2) Enable Family Sharing on AirTags so multiple people can locate them.

3) A third I just thought of, add AirTags/ Items to the Help A Friend option within the app/iCloud.com

 

[compwiz1202]

and, you know, the fact that I don't need to share the location of things like my keys and wallet with third parties

Wouldn't be so bad if you didn't always have the bad actor. It's great if everyone is honest and will return it. This has happened even before tracking devices. Call everywhere you remembered being and hope someone returned it and the person on the phone actually checks the lost and found

 

[compwiz1202]

Two ideas I saw in this thread that could be options in future updates. What flaws do these ideas have? Should they be submitted to feedback at the feedback site?

1) Mark an AirTag as friendly (I assume during a “following you” alert)

2) Enable Family Sharing on AirTags so multiple people can locate them.

3) A third I just thought of, add AirTags/ Items to the Help A Friend option within the app/iCloud.com

With #1 would be nice if you could select the owner if they're in your family group. And maybe a way that it could contact the owner with a message you composed without giving any contact info other than the parties provide

 

[compwiz1202]

True, but the glaringly obvious fact Apple is missing, is 'What type of item do you not want to lose?' Answer: Items of value.

How many public would just choose to keep an item of value for themselves than return? (and of course remove or even take the airtag if they can reset them). This thought alone makes the airtag fairly useless. No guarantee you will ever find a lost item. In fact less than 25% chance you will get it back with an airtag. (50% of the public own iphones, and ~50% of ppl finding the item would return it).

Sometimes the value could be your time. And some would just not return something they have no means of using just to be mean.

 

[bob24]

I'm afraid the law in pretty much every developed country is going against you. A general use "thief tracking device" is, in every practical way, identical to a "stalking" device. The only difference is in the internal workings of the mind of the person being tracked; the determination of which is beyond the capabilities of a $25 general use device in 2022. The fact that you are using it for a purpose that is being targeted by most governments is not a great argument for a refund.

It sounds like you misunderstood my post you quoted.

Apple released a device with a certain set of functionality. They are subsequently removing/changing functionality without letting users keep the original software version. All I am saying is that in some countries, consumer protection laws might allow purchasers to claim damage/refund for forcefully and meaningfully changing a product’s functionality after it has been purchased (regardless of the reason for which the manufacturer altered product functionality).

When you are saying that I am “using it for a purpose that is being targeted by most governments”, this doesn’t quite make sense to me. I just don’t want my lost items to start pinging random phones in the area and guide people to the item’s exact location with precision tracking. How is this a problem for any government?

I of course understand that the device is being used for stalking and this is partly why Apple is making changes. But if the original design was poor and is forcing them to cut/change legit functionality, it is Apple’s responsibility and not their customer’s.

I think the key point is that because some people are using a consumer product for nefarious purposes doesn’t justify altering the product functionality for existing owners who bought it based on a specific feature set and have done nothing wrong (an obvious exemple is that knives are used for stabbing way too often, but knife manufactures don’t recall their knives to make them less sharp).

 

[Aston441]

Delete

 

[Artemis70]

So again, to make this crystal clear, the intended purpose of an AirTag is to help you find your personal items that

* you've misplaced in familiar locations,
* you've left behind in unfamiliar locations, that
* a Good Samaritan could be helped to return to you,
* but are no use in the case of theft.

Is that a good explanation of their current purpose and value?

That is a very good explanation of why they are not as useful anymore. I would not spend $40 on a tracking device, and attach it to something that is no use in the case of theft. But I have already spent the money and am now trying to find a use case that works for me.

 

[Crowbot]

That is a very good explanation of why they are not as useful anymore. I would not spend $40 on a tracking device, and attach it to something that is no use in the case of theft. But I have already spent the money and am now trying to find a use case that works for me.

I lost my keys a few years back. Fortunately it was at work and someone turned them into Security. But it would have saved me a couple of hours of scrambling if I had the AirTag attached to the ring as I do now. I also have one in my backpack and suitcase. Anti-loss is worth the $30 to me. I worry less about theft.

 

[DailySlow]

Someone please outline what the functional, intended purpose(s) of AirTag is at this point.

To find your stuff. Your bikes, your roll-around bag, your keys, your backpack, your toolbox, your grandmother, your cashbox.

 

[Artemis70]

I lost my keys a few years back. Fortunately it was at work and someone turned them into Security. But it would have saved me a couple of hours of scrambling if I had the AirTag attached to the ring as I do now. I also have one in my backpack and suitcase. Anti-loss is worth the $30 to me. I worry less about theft.

I'm happy that they are still useful for you and hopefully many others too.

 

[chucker23n1]

To find your stuff. Your bikes, your roll-around bag, your keys, your backpack, your toolbox, your grandmother, your cashbox.

Which is also why the app is called “Find My”, not “Track Thief”.

 

[beerseagulls]

I'm a little confused... what if I'm a baggage handlers at the airport?(or a gate agent who come in contact with gate-checked carry-on cases)

Will my iPhone now beep and beep all day long?

 

[SSTuner]

3 of my 4 AirTags updated to 2.0.36. Still waiting for the last one to update.

 

[mjs916]

I lost my keys a few years back. Fortunately it was at work and someone turned them into Security. But it would have saved me a couple of hours of scrambling if I had the AirTag attached to the ring as I do now. I also have one in my backpack and suitcase. Anti-loss is worth the $30 to me. I worry less about theft.

I’ve saved so much time and anxiety from the couple of times I’ve set my wallet and AirPods down in a place at home other than the nightstand I usually keep them in.

They also located my wife’s AirPods (the reason I bought the 4pk in the first place).

Even if I don’t immediately need the objects, it’s added peace of mind to know exactly where they are instead of the aforementioned scrambling when I failed to follow my own routine the night before.

 

[chucker23n1]

People keep mentioning the intended purpose. Personally, I don't really care what the intended purpose is.

Generally speaking, it’s useful to know a tool’s primary intended purpose. You can use a screwdriver to hit a nail into a wall, but a hammer might be a better fit.

A more useful purpose is anti-theft tracking and it is frustrating that they keep changing the functionality of AirTags to eliminate the additional benefit they provided.

Yes, but they have good reason to do so. Making it better for anti-theft tracking would inherently also make it better for stalking, and they’ve been fairly clear from the start that they don’t want that, and now that there’s stories out there of them being used for stalking, it makes sense that they distance themselves even further.

The other choice would be to discontinue the product altogether.

 

[bob24]

I'm a little confused... what if I'm a baggage handlers at the airport?(or a gate agent who come in contact with gate-checked carry-on cases)

Will my iPhone now beep and beep all day long?

I am wondering about this as well. Or what about a hotel receptionist working next to a storage room full of guests’ luggage? (or simply all the guest who happen to be having a drink at the hotel’s bar besides the storage room).

 

[beerseagulls]

I am wondering about this as well. Or what about a hotel receptionist working next to a storage room full of guests’ luggage? (or simply all the guest who happen to be having a drink at the hotel’s bar besides the storage room).

I assume the hotel bellboy or receptionist won't be affected? (since they are standing in the same spot while the bags are also sitting around the same area)

 

[bob24]

I assume the hotel bellboy or receptionist won't be affected? (since they are standing in the same spot while the bags are also sitting around the same area)

I am not sure I fully understand Apple’s latest stance on this, but if the bags are in storage in proximity to the receptionist’s desk, don’t the latest firmware change mean eventually the person’s phone will start displaying pop-up messages saying they are in proximity to AirTags which have been separated from their owners for a few hours? (and offering to use precision location tracking to find those AirTags)

 

[Crowbot]

I am not sure I fully understand Apple’s latest stance on this, but if the bags are in storage in proximity to the receptionist’s desk, don’t the latest firmware change mean eventually the person’s phone will start displaying pop-up messages saying they are in proximity to AirTags which have been separated from their owners for a few hours? (and offering to use precision location tracking to find those AirTags)

I do not believe any of this will happen unless the tag is logged as lost. Otherwise, everything stays quiet.

 

[bob24]

I do not believe any of this will happen unless the tag is logged as lost. Otherwise, everything stays quiet.

Isn’t the point of Apple’s latest anti-stalking changes that if the AirTag is separated from its owner’s phone for some time, it will start advertising its presence to other nearby phones? (regardless of being in lost mode)

What do you understand they are changing in terms of behaviour?

 

[Crowbot]

Isn’t the point of Apple’s latest anti-staking changes that if the AirTag is separated from its owner’s phone for some time, it will start advertising its presence to other nearby phones? (regardless of being in lost mode)

What do you understand they are changing in terms of behaviour?

I'll admit that I don't know all the ins and outs of this.

 

[T_a_rogers]

So, for those of us still wanting to use this as an anti-theft device is there a way to disable the UWB chip?