Family - Where are the Official Instructions About how to Add an AirTag for a Family Member?

[Zabobon]

So, our AirTags arrived today but I have no idea how to setup the AirTags for anyone else in my family other that myself.

I am very surprised to not be able to find any official instructions from Apple about how to do this.

For myself it is easy - just hold the AirTag next to my iPhone and follow the instructions.

But what about for my wife and daughter? (My wife and I have our own iPhones and share the same AppleID. My daughter has her own AppleId but is part of our Family Sharing). Surely Apple must have an official way to add the AirTags for each member of the family? But I am wary of just holding the other AirTags next to my iPhone in case they get only linked to me and beep whenever I am not around...

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[alee]

Tags are paired to the Apple ID of the device that you set it up with. Items added with your phone in your case would be shared with your wife. Your daughter would have to setup the tags on her phone.

 

[tomda]

So, our AirTags arrived today but I have no idea how to setup the AirTags for anyone else in my family other that myself.

I am very surprised to not be able to fine any official instructions from Apple about how to do this.

For myself it is easy - just hold the AirTag next to my iPhone and follow the instructions.

But what about for my wife and daughter? (My wife and I have our own iPhones and share the same AppleID. My daughter has her own AppleId but is part of our Family Sharing). Surely Apple must have an official way to add the AirTags for each member of the family? But I am wary of just holding the other AirTags next to my iPhone in case they get only linked to me and beep whenever I am not around...

Does anyone have any advice?

It unfortunately is not possible to share it within your family. Just bonkers that my wife can see where any device is (iPhone, iPad, AirPods, etc) but not my AirTags. Seems like a major oversight to me...
Called Apple Support and they confirmed it is currently not possible to share and they were unsure if anything was on the roadmap.

(it does work on the same AppleID though)

 

[mrklaw]

Yep - your daughter sets up with her phone and ID, then she’s the only one that can track (or you sign in on the web with her detailed I guess)

it’s insane

 

[leebroath]

This is absolutely and totally bonkers!

So our scenario:

I work Offshore (Oil & Gas) and away 3 weeks / home 3 weeks, and I‘ve just registered 1 x Air Tag (on our car keys) to MY iPhone 12 Pro Max. Then when leaving for work, I need my wife to have the ability to also find the Car Keys if she cant find them. We have family sharing as she’s able to download apps and uses the 2TB iCloud service….

So your telling me, when I’m away there is absolutely no possible way of her to track the keys, even though she is registered to my family sharing?

If this indeed the case, then all my Air Tags are being sent back…. as this is completely nuts, Apple obviously haven’t thought of everyones various scenarios

 

[KittyKatta]

It unfortunately is not possible to share it within your family. Just bonkers that my wife can see where any device is (iPhone, iPad, AirPods, etc) but not my AirTags. Seems like a major oversight to me...

It seems that this is yet another instance where Apple does not know how a stable, happy, monogamous family works.

Some families actually do trust each other and aren’t hiding photos of the pool boy or the apartment keys to their secret family in Canada. Heck, some families even embrace sharing and actually want to have the option of their photos pooled into one bucket.

 

[Zabobon]

Yes, this seems badly implemented...

I can track my daughter's iPhone (with her permission) which is so useful when she is out late etc and we are worried. But I can't track her keys???

Seems like Apple has over-compensated for privacy worries over the actual day to day of how we all use our devices now as families.

 

[alee]

It seems that this is yet another instance where Apple does not know how a stable, happy, monogamous family works.

Some families actually do trust each other and aren’t hiding photos of the pool boy or the apartment keys to their secret family in Canada. Heck, some families even embrace sharing and actually want to have the option of their photos pooled into one bucket.

lol, it took Apple quite a while for HomeKit to recognize more than one person lives in a household. That automation for "when the last person leaves" and "when the first person comes home" changed everything for me.

I blame it on a bunch of bachelor product managers. That said, I would imagine "communal" tags are probably eventually going to be implemented, but I would imagine the challenge is how to you get opt-in trust from everyone to agree to track a tag. Unfortunately, you do have to design for the worst case scenarios with ill intent or you will have problems.

 

[alee]

Seems like Apple has over-compensated for privacy worries over the actual day to day of how we all use our devices now as families.

Unfortunately, what happens in the confines of your family are not necessarily reflective of all the wrong ways this could be used.

 

[Zabobon]

But... I had read this in several articles before buying:

"You cannot share AirTags — they are meant to be owned by one person. The only special privileges offered by people in your iCloud Family Sharing Group is that they can silence the “unknown AirTag nearby” alerts indefinitely. This makes AirTags useful for things like shared sets of keys or maybe even a family pet."

(The above was a quote from https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/22/f...BSmCclRyz1rDubqX5Z5K6wRnvs20nJuRKF3lpYofeG4GN)

That all sounds good. But what I can't find are any instructions on to how to actually do this. Has anyone achieved this?

As I said in my first question, Apple seems to say this is possible but is not giving any official instructions (that I can find). If anyone has a link to instructions I'd be very grateful.

 

[leebroath]

Taken from here: ttps://www.macrumors.com/guide/airtags/

Sharing AirTags​

If you plan to share an item with an AirTag on it with someone else, you can disable safety alerts if the person you're sharing it with is someone in your Family Sharing group. If they're not a part of your family, the person who borrows the item can temporarily disable alerts.

 

[canyonblue737]

Unfortunately, what happens in the confines of your family are not necessarily reflective of all the wrong ways this could be used.

fair, so you make it opt in by the rest of the apple id's in the family. my wife and i would gladly share keys, etc. and the ability to track them. just ASK, but they aren't allowing us to even do that. just to mute the alerts when family borrows the keys (even though, i view the keys to the family car as all of ours.)

 

[canyonblue737]

But... I had read this in several articles before buying:

"You cannot share AirTags — they are meant to be owned by one person. The only special privileges offered by people in your iCloud Family Sharing Group is that they can silence the “unknown AirTag nearby” alerts indefinitely. This makes AirTags useful for things like shared sets of keys or maybe even a family pet."

(The above was a quote from https://techcrunch.com/2021/04/22/f...BSmCclRyz1rDubqX5Z5K6wRnvs20nJuRKF3lpYofeG4GN)

That all sounds good. But what I can't find are any instructions on to how to actually do this. Has anyone achieved this?

As I said in my first question, Apple seems to say this is possible but is not giving any official instructions (that I can find). If anyone has a link to instructions I'd be very grateful.

so now i have airtags as of today and the "silence the "unknown airtag nearby" alerts indefinitely" looks even worse than i expected. unless i am missing something all i can find is in the Find My app, click the "me" tab and under notifications you can deselect "Item Safety Alerts." this then warns you ALL item safety alerts are turned off (unknown tag moving with you, owners of which can see your location) but it appears GLOBAL, not just limited to your family member's airtags. if this is what they are referencing it is crazy... why can't i just silence my FAMILY'S tags, but get alerts that a tag from someone outside my family is tracking me?

all i can think of this is all because apple itself doesn't match a tag to a person on its server side for privacy, that must be stored locally somehow on the ios device itself. i can't see why that information can't be shared with the family devices however locally?

 

[alee]

fair, so you make it opt in by the rest of the apple id's in the family. my wife and i would gladly share keys, etc. and the ability to track them. just ASK, but they aren't allowing us to even do that. just to mute the alerts when family borrows the keys (even though, i view the keys to the family car as all of ours.)

Apple is pretty tyrannical when it comes to stuff like this. For instance, Unlock with Watch doesn’t give access to stuff like Apple Pay, because Apple doesn’t feel it’s secure enough. When it comes to stuff surrounding security, they’re fairly rigid.

 

[rijc99]

I was hoping to be able to use my iPhone 12PM track my daughter’s tag attached to her AirPod case. She has a XS and can’t do precise location.

 

[Zabobon]

I was hoping to be able to use my iPhone 12PM track my daughter’s tag attached to her AirPod case. She has a XS and can’t do precise location.

Thanks so much, for all the replies and sharing what you have all found.

When I posted the first question in this thread I was hoping to get a simple answer as to exactly where Apple has put the instructions to:

The only special privileges offered by people in your iCloud Family Sharing Group is that they can silence the “unknown AirTag nearby” alerts indefinitely. This makes AirTags useful for things like shared sets of keys or maybe even a family pet."

But it seems we are all as confused as each other by this and what exactly Apple mean by special privileges offered by people in your iCloud Family Sharing Group (even though numerous articles have quoted this phrase) ☺︎

I expect there will be lots more on this over the next few days as MacRumours and other magazine sites get to use the AirTags in real life.

But it does make me nostalgic for the days when new devices came with actual instructions (some even with indexes). Nowadays I feel lucky to even find a single sheet "Quick Start Guide"...

 

[leebroath]

Yeh the whole idea for us, and many others in the world, is being able to track the Car Keys in case they are lost.

Even if my scenario above is unique, surely someone has given their partner the car keys and the partner has realised they can’t actually track the keys as it’s linked to the other persons phone…

1. Husband opens brand new Air Tags and registers one to his phone
2. Places one in the Belkin holder, then connects to only set of car keys
3. 8am Wife picks up car keys in morning, drives to work, husband goes to bed as on nightshift
4. 4pm Wife finishes work but can’t remember where car keys are, confused she looks into FindMy….
5. *Fail*

If your Husband and Wife are on the same iCloud Family sharing plan, then it should be possible for each person to see the Air Tag regardless of who’s phone it is.

 

[Zabobon]

If your Husband and Wife are on the same iCloud Family sharing plan, then it should be possible for each person to see the Air Tag regardless of who’s phone it is.

Yes, I'm beginning to get my head around this.

Luckily my wife and I share the same AppleID (we like to have a joint Photo Library etc). So... I'm assuming that both our iPhones will be able to track the AirTags (as they are both on the same iCloud account).

(Of course the disadvantage of sharing a single iCloud Account is that Siri thinks we are one person and calls my wife by my name...). Are all Apple Engineers single? Kind of confirms the Nerd stereotype of Software Designers ?

Actually, just realised I can test this with the single AirTag I have registered to my iPhone - I will see if I can find it using my wife's iPhone and report back here. (Where the instructions are confusing is it talks about registering the AirTag to a specific iPhone - rather than a specific iCloud Account). I suppose as long as the AirTags are near to one of our 2 iPhones they won't start beeping after three days.

I will test this out this morning and report back on the results...

 

[leebroath]

Tried this earlier, the wife looked into Items and could see nothing...

I will probably keep the pack of 4 as I'll def use a couple for tracking my Offshore bags when working abroad.

Complete fail though regarding my post #17

 

[Zabobon]

Yes, I'm beginning to get my head around this.

Luckily my wife and I share the same AppleID (we like to have a joint Photo Library etc). So... I'm assuming that both our iPhones will be able to track the AirTags (as they are both on the same iCloud account).

(Of course the disadvantage of sharing a single iCloud Account is that Siri thinks we are one person and calls my wife by my name...). Are all Apple Engineers single? Kind of confirms the Nerd stereotype of Software Designers ?

Actually, just realised I can test this with the single AirTag I have registered to my iPhone - I will see if I can find it using my wife's iPhone and report back here. (Where the instructions are confusing is it talks about registering the AirTag to a specific iPhone - rather than a specific iCloud Account). I suppose as long as the AirTags are near to one of our 2 iPhones they won't start beeping after three days.

I will test this out this morning and report back on the results...

UPDATE So, I have added my Wife's AirTag to our Shared iCloud Account. Both sets of keys can now be seen by either iPhone.

However - one little quirk - during the setup process of the second AirTag I used her iPhone and a message popped up saying did I want to switch to this iPhone for all the AirTags or to keep them all associated with my iPhone. So only one iPhone can be the Primary one. This seems really dumb.

 

[leebroath]

Ok so I need to put the Tag beside her phone, but do I need to then authorise all tag to be linked to her account?

Can I not cancel this and remain on my iPhone but she also can find the Tags?

 

[Zabobon]

Ok so I need to put the Tag beside her phone, but do I need to then authorise all tag to be linked to her account?

Can I not cancel this and remain on my iPhone but she also can find the Tags?

Well, I think it makes no difference which iPhone you use to add the AirTags to the iCloud Account.

But there was an option to make her iPhone the one that is used for distance tracking from the AirTags. But it seemed to apply to all the AirTags and to be an either/or option so I think it would have switched my AirTag to her iPhone too. So, I didn't enable that. But maybe I should have enabled it?

Reading it carefully it is saying to "switch" from my iPhone not to "add" her iPhone so, I think I was right not to enable this.

But now I am left wondering how I implement the mythical:

special privileges offered by people in your iCloud Family Sharing Group is that they can silence the “unknown AirTag nearby” alerts indefinitely. This makes AirTags useful for things like shared sets of keys or maybe even a family pet."

(Which is even mentioned in the Official Apple Launch Video). I just can't find the setting for this anywhere in the Find My App or even in the main Setting on the iPhone.

 

[Zabobon]

Can I not cancel this and remain on my iPhone but she also can find the Tags?

Yes, that works and is what I have done. Both iPhones can see and track both sets of keys.

The unknown is what will happen after three days if we are not together. I think as it stands her keys will start to beep.

 

[Zabobon]

special privileges offered by people in your iCloud Family Sharing Group is that they can silence the “unknown AirTag nearby” alerts indefinitely. This makes AirTags useful for things like shared sets of keys or maybe even a family pet."

(Which is even mentioned in the Official Apple Launch Video). I just can't find the setting for this anywhere in the Find My App or even in the main Setting on the iPhone.

I am now wondering if this setting only appears once the AirTag starts to beep... that would explain why I can't find it anywhere.

Anyway, I've exhausted myself trying to figure this out. Someone cleverer than me needs to post the answers. I'm sure in the next couple of days there will be lots of YouTube videos telling us how to do it ?

 

[mrklaw]

Apple is pretty tyrannical when it comes to stuff like this. For instance, Unlock with Watch doesn’t give access to stuff like Apple Pay, because Apple doesn’t feel it’s secure enough. When it comes to stuff surrounding security, they’re fairly rigid.

Right. But in family sharing each member of the family can choose to share location of their devices - expensive iPhone which is likely on their person (so tracking them), their expensive ipad, their expensive MacBook.

All we need is for those same family members to have that same ‘share location’ option with items like cheap keys or backpack

this is pretty broken for many family setups right now and doesn’t even utilise existing sharing and privacy options they already have