Confused about when an Airtag will start pinging

[ssledoux]

I've bought these for my daughters and soon-to-be daughter-in-law as stocking stuffers, along with a leather key chain (assuming that's the first smart item to tag based on their past histories). My question is how far can you get with your phone from your keys/Airtag before you'll get the pinging? I don't want them all to have their tags pinging during the night because they bring their phones to bed.

 

[fischersd]

I've bought these for my daughters and soon-to-be daughter-in-law as stocking stuffers, along with a leather key chain (assuming that's the first smart item to tag based on their past histories). My question is how far can you get with your phone from your keys/Airtag before you'll get the pinging? I don't want them all to have their tags pinging during the night because they bring their phones to bed.

Pinging actually means something else (ping is a network utility) - most people use the phrase pinging in everyday language meaning "to contact someone".

I'd recommend "chirping" as a more appropriate term for the sound that the airtags make.

The exact duration / behaviour, no-one knows anymore as Apple hasn't deemed to provide release notes for their firmware updates for the tags. It does appear that it's several hours after they've lost contact (in most cases, you would see bluetooth range up to 90 feet). Whether movement is required or not is uncertain now - I've seen stationary tags start chirping with no movement *shrug*.

 

[Pro Apple Silicon]

It is a random time interval between 8 and 24 hours. And it will start and stop chirping an indeterminate amounts of times after that point until the phone comes back within range.

Supremely annoying. They basically ruined a potentially useful device because their lawyers freaked out about stalking.

 

[valinda]

I have one, and I wouldn’t buy one again. Can’t seem to get it to work with my 13 pro. It worked with the 12 pro max I had before, but then again I was not very impressed with it.

 

[yass31]

I’d like to add that the AirTags should start playing the sound after a while ONLY if they are moved and are not in the presence of the associated iPhone.

 

[ssledoux]

I’d like to add that the AirTags should start playing the sound after a while ONLY if they are moved and are not in the presence of the associated iPhone.

I was just wondering if you have it on your keys, and they're in one room in your house, and you go to bed with your phone, if the Airtags are going to chime/chirp/whatever the actual noise. Does anyone have any idea the distance they're still considered close to the phone or "with" the phone?

 

[ssledoux]

Pinging actually means something else (ping is a network utility) - most people use the phrase pinging in everyday language meaning "to contact someone".

I'd recommend "chirping" as a more appropriate term for the sound that the airtags make.

The exact duration / behaviour, no-one knows anymore as Apple hasn't deemed to provide release notes for their firmware updates for the tags. It does appear that it's several hours after they've lost contact (in most cases, you would see bluetooth range up to 90 feet). Whether movement is required or not is uncertain now - I've seen stationary tags start chirping with no movement *shrug*.

I actually realized when I put it that the pinging is the action of locating the watch or whatever, not the noise itself, like when I use my watch to ping my phone so I can locate it buried under a pile of laundry. ;-p

At any rate, I just wondered if the item would chirp or chime within the range of the home, or if that would still be considered close enough for it to be "with" the phone. Just don't want girls going to be in their houses only to have their keys start chirping and waking them up, ;-p

 

[yass31]

I was just wondering if you have it on your keys, and they're in one room in your house, and you go to bed with your phone, if the Airtags are going to chime/chirp/whatever the actual noise. Does anyone have any idea the distance they're still considered close to the phone or "with" the phone?

In any case the keys don’t move by themselves at night it should be ok, even if the AirTag and the phone can’t find each other over Bluetooth.

On the other hand, if you want to see if the AirTag is still in the phone’s range, just open the Find My app on the phone to which it’s paired and if « With You » is written then they still communicate.

 

[xraydoc]

I was just wondering if you have it on your keys, and they're in one room in your house, and you go to bed with your phone, if the Airtags are going to chime/chirp/whatever the actual noise. Does anyone have any idea the distance they're still considered close to the phone or "with" the phone?

I have 7 items tagged and when I'm home I've never had them start making noise by themselves. They're not supposed to do that. They're only supposed to make noise if they're moving with someone else when the owner is not around.

I've got keys, wallet, briefcase and two AppleTV remotes tagged (our sofas like to eat the remotes), and they've never beeped when I've left the house or leave my phone upstairs. They don't make noise because they're not moving from their current locations.

I know some people have had the AirTags just start beeping when they shouldn't, but I'm not sure how to explain that. They're really not supposed to do that if they haven't moved out of their current locations.

Now, if I give my wife my keys and she leave the house with them, then they are supposed to beep after a certain period of time as the keys are moving along with someone who is not their owner.