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Tumbleweed666

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 20, 2009
1,761
141
Near London, UK.
AIUI if an airtag is separated for several days it will bleep.
But what if you dont want it to because you did that deliberately ?
Say you go on a trip for a week or more and leave some things behind because you dont need them.
Is there a way to proactively prevent it bleeping? (other than take the battery out, because perhaps when you get back you forgot where you put them :) )
 
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Correct, it won't chirp if it didn't move.

Support article on the topic:

 
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AIUI if an airtag is separated for several days it will bleep.
But what if you dont want it to because you did that deliberately ?
Say you go on a trip for a week or more and leave some things behind because you dont need them.
Is there a way to proactively prevent it bleeping? (other than take the battery out, because perhaps when you get back you forgot where you put them :) )
I guess that means I'll need to remove the airtag from my Dog's collar before I leave her with a friend when we go out of town this summer.
 
I guess that means I'll need to remove the airtag from my Dog's collar before I leave her with a friend when we go out of town this summer.
If they have an iPhone, you could unpair that AirTag and pair it with their phone.
 
I guess that means I'll need to remove the airtag from my Dog's collar before I leave her with a friend when we go out of town this summer.
Or unpair it from your phone and pair it with theirs, assuming they have an iPhone. Hopefully Apple makes sharing these things easier in future software updates. It would be really nice to be able to choose who can see locations of which trackers, just like you can do with your phone's location.
 
This is my gripe with Apple, and tech in general. Many tech companies are staffed by younger, single people. It seems to me that sometimes the product development is from the perspective of an individual and not a family.

  • Want an Apple Watch for your kid? Then you need a separate iPhone to manage it (someone correct me if I'm wrong that its not 1 phone to 1 watch instead of many-to-one).
  • Multiple accounts/logins on iPad are reserved for educational clients in a poor attempt to take on Chromebooks. Want mutiple accounts at home? Out of luck, go buy a second iPad.
  • Want 2 adults in the same household to be able to track something? You'll need 2 AirTags attached to 1 item, each paired to a different phone.
  • On Mac OS, again correct me if I'm wrong but is there still no way to have the Photo program pull in pictures from 2 different Photostreams even if they're setup for Family Sharing of iCloud data?
 
This is my gripe with Apple, and tech in general. Many tech companies are staffed by younger, single people. It seems to me that sometimes the product development is from the perspective of an individual and not a family.

  • Want an Apple Watch for your kid? Then you need a separate iPhone to manage it (someone correct me if I'm wrong that its not 1 phone to 1 watch instead of many-to-one).
  • Multiple accounts/logins on iPad are reserved for educational clients in a poor attempt to take on Chromebooks. Want mutiple accounts at home? Out of luck, go buy a second iPad.
  • Want 2 adults in the same household to be able to track something? You'll need 2 AirTags attached to 1 item, each paired to a different phone.
  • On Mac OS, again correct me if I'm wrong but is there still no way to have the Photo program pull in pictures from 2 different Photostreams even if they're setup for Family Sharing of iCloud data?
While I absolutely agree with your main point (there's a reason Apple's new campus offers an on-site dentist but not daycare), your first bullet is no longer true. WatchOS 7 introduced Family Setup, which does exactly what you're looking for. Have a look: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020...-apple-watch-experience-to-the-entire-family/
 
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While I absolutely agree with your main point (there's a reason Apple's new campus offers an on-site dentist but not daycare), your first bullet is no longer true. WatchOS 7 introduced Family Setup, which does exactly what you're looking for. Have a look: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020...-apple-watch-experience-to-the-entire-family/
The Apple watch family setup is a game-changer for my family. I don't want my 11 and 8 year old boys to have phones yet, but I do want them to be able to contact me and for me to be able to find their location.
 
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Just open it and take the battery out if you're going to be gone for a week.

It's so simple.
And when it gets lost while you're gone? I have one on our living room TV remote. If I go on vacation, the ****ing thing is going to beep every time one of the other five people in my household uses it. If I remove the battery, then when they lose it somewhere (which happens frequently when you have kids in the house), we won't be able to easily find it, which is the whole ****ing point of these things.

Apple needs to update their software to allow sharing and tracking with anyone, not just family members. Not everyone in my household is on or will be on my Apple family. Yet there are several items that everyone in my household ought to be able to find when they go missing.

Edit: And I don't want to hear It'S a PrIvAcY iSsUe either. You can share your phone's location (which is your personal location 99% of the time) with anyone you want to, but not the location of your remote control, keys, or wallet? Come on now.
 
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And when it gets lost while you're gone? I have one on our living room TV remote. If I go on vacation, the ****ing thing is going to beep every time one of the other five people in my household uses it. If I remove the battery, then when they lose it somewhere (which happens frequently when you have kids in the house), we won't be able to easily find it, which is the whole ****ing point of these things.

Apple needs to update their software to allow sharing and tracking with anyone, not just family members. Not everyone in my household is on or will be on my Apple family. Yet there are several items that everyone in my household ought to be able to find when they go missing.

Edit: And I don't want to hear It'S a PrIvAcY iSsUe either. You can share your phone's location (which is your personal location 99% of the time) with anyone you want to, but not the location of your remote control, keys, or wallet? Come on now.
Here’s another simple answer.

Whoever isn’t gone for a week, let them insert their AirTag in the remote.

Jesus man.

There’s simple solutions to a simple problem until Apple offers more with these things and going on a total rant while cursing is just pitiful.
 
Here’s another simple answer.

Whoever isn’t gone for a week, let them insert their AirTag in the remote.

Jesus man.

There’s simple solutions to a simple problem until Apple offers more with these things and going on a total rant while cursing is just pitiful.
I don't think you understand the situation. They don't own any AirTags. I do. None of them have any interest in buying their own. They just want to bitch and moan when they can't find the remote. Any solution I give them to help them find it has to be easy and simple, because they're idiots. And this whole swapping tags/multiple tags/have someone ping it from afar is NOT easy and simple.

Edit: And, I was just using me leaving for a week as an example. There's four adults in my household, who all have different work and sleep schedules. Are you saying that each time one of us sits down to watch TV, we should put our personal AirTag that we apparently carry around with us for just such an occasion on the remote? Or are all the AirTags in a little container on the coffee table and labeled as to who's is who's? What about when one person forgets to take theirs off then is asleep when the remote goes missing? What if the remote goes missing because one of the 5 year olds took it to their play room in between when people were using it, so there's no tag attached? Anyone who honestly thinks swapping AirTags is a good solution is either insane or dumber than a sack of hammers.
 
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I don't think you understand the situation. They don't own any AirTags. I do. None of them have any interest in buying their own. They just want to bitch and moan when they can't find the remote. Any solution I give them to help them find it has to be easy and simple, because they're idiots. And this whole swapping tags/multiple tags/have someone ping it from afar is NOT easy and simple.

Edit: And, I was just using me leaving for a week as an example. There's four adults in my household, who all have different work and sleep schedules. Are you saying that each time one of us sits down to watch TV, we should put our personal AirTag that we apparently carry around with us for just such an occasion on the remote? Or are all the AirTags in a little container on the coffee table and labeled as to who's is who's? What about when one person forgets to take theirs off then is asleep when the remote goes missing? What if the remote goes missing because one of the 5 year olds took it to their play room in between when people were using it, so there's no tag attached? Anyone who honestly thinks swapping AirTags is a good solution is either insane or dumber than a sack of hammers.

What I am saying is that of four adults can’t figure out a solution for not losing a remote control, then maybe don’t use an AirTag that has limited sharing capabilities.

There are other options in this world and this is Apple’s first week of AirTag being available. So who knows what they will change.
But ranting with profanity on a forum isn’t the most adult option.
 
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I think the really key feature is that those folks you left behind will have to text you that they have lost the remote, and then you will use findmy to play a sound on the airtag remotely. I assume that will work?
 
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