I have a few AirTags and generally they work well. However, I have noticed that if the item that is tagged is at home and I go out I do not get a notification from the AirTag. Similarly, if I take an item out that is linked for example to my wife’s phone and she is at home she does not get a notification. Notifications work at other times. We do not have any notification exception locations set.
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Fault or Function of AirTag?
- Thread starter MikeChrista
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Not getting notified when you leave items at home is by design. That would be a terrible nuisance. As for you taking your wife's items, I think that too is by design. The need for the alert only really applies when you're not at home, and that seems like the right way for it to work.
How does it know it is at home? Nothing set in the app. Moreover, if my wife is at home and I take the dog out (with its Airtag that is linked to my wife’s phone) my wife does not get a notification. Therefore, if the dog got out by itself she would not get a notification. Similarly, if I left my keys at home by mistake I do not get a notification - that seems wrong to me.
I get alerts for stuff I leave at home when I go out for a walk for example. Like my wallet and car.
When I get alerts for things I have left somewhere, I get the option to trust that location so that I don’t get any more alerts. Have you perhaps set that location as trusted? I have no idea how to check if it is set to trusted unfortunately.
This is incorrect. It asks if you want to add your home address (from your contact card) as an exclusion when you initially set up an AirTag by default. Since the OP doesn't have any exclusions set, he should be getting notifications.
I'm assuming you're taking your phone with you. Is your phone set to be your location? (This is the 'My Location' setting on the Me tab in Find My.) This setting is how it detects when you're away from your AirTags. If you have something else set to be your location, such as an iPad that always stays home, then you wouldn't get the notification because it thinks you're still home with the AirTags.
This may just be a semantics thing, but to be clear...the AirTags aren't linked to a device; they are linked to your Apple ID. Do you and your wife happen to share an Apple ID, or is it indeed linked to her own Apple ID? If you share an account, then it could be related to my previous comment above due how your Apple ID's location is detected. If they're separate, is your wife able to see the dog's location when you take it for a walk?
Otherwise for both cases, have you given it enough time for it to notify you? I've noticed it sometimes can take five minutes or more, and I'm already at least a block away.
Other things to check: Make sure you have Location services enabled, Bluetooth turned on, and your phone is participating in the Find My Nework (Settings -> Apple ID -> Find My -> Find My iPhone -> Find My network). This allows the phone to detect nearby AirTags and relay their location to Apple's Find My Network.
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Thank you. The ME tab is set to be my phone and locations services are enable on my and my wife’s phone. We have separate Apple IDs.
For clarity - I have been trying to isolate what is happening. The AirTags alert as expected for general locations. However, when the Phone is at Home it does not work. For example, I left my phone at home yesterday when I went for a walk and took one of the AirTags linked to my Apple ID with me. I was out for about an hour, inc in some fairly busy places, and expected to find an AirTag notification on my phone when I got home as the devices had been separated. There was no notification.
Similarly, I take my dog for a walk and the dog has an AirTag linked to my wife's Apple Id who stayed at home. She did not get any alerts from the AirTag. If we are out somewhere together and my wife and the dog is separated she gets an alert!
No they are totally separate.
An example of the AirTag behaviour - we went shopping today and left the dog at home. My wife got a notification that the dog had been left behind. However, if I do the reverse and leave my wife at home and take the dog away my wife does not get a notification. Similarly, if leave my golf bag somewhere I get a notification on my phone that it has been separated from me. However, if I leave my phone at home and take the golf bag somewhere there are no notifications on the phone.
This makes sense, I don't think AirTags work in reverse like this. I mean, it's called "Notify When Left Behind", not "Notify When Separated". So if you take that literally, you didn't leave your dog or golf bag behind; you left your phone behind. As far as I know, this only works when your phone moves away from the AirTags; not when the AirTags move away from the phone.
I haven't thought much of this until now, but I just realized I've seen the same behavior. I have an AirTag on my car keys. I went home to visit my parents one time, and my dad took my keys/car across town. I didn't get a notification that they were "left behind", but I was able to see where my keys were on the map. On the other hand, if I ride with them across town and leave my keys behind, then I do get a notification.
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Mmmm, may be. But if that is the case it makes their usefulness very limited. If someone takes my golf bag or my dog while I am at home then I will get no notifications - makes the airtag fairly useless.
Not really, you can see where they are
It all makes sense. You don't want to constantly get notifications for things you don't need. Plus there is more going on here than just simple stuff we've discussed.
If an airtag moves away from a phone, it isn't "left behind". It's borrowed or stolen. If you move your phone/cellular watch away from an airtag (except when that airtag is in a known OK location), you left it behind. Again, it all makes sense.
I wouldn't really think too much about it. Do you want your wife getting notifications that you took the dog for a walk?
We would want to know if the dog left the house without us and if my golf bag (or anything else with tag) was removed from the house…...Not really, you can see where they are
I wouldn't really think too much about it. Do you want your wife getting notifications that you took the dog for a walk?
Then go into FindMy - Items - select the item, then select Notify When Left Behind, REMOVE the exception listed (your home).
See how that works for you.
I believe the way that the notify when left behind feature uses sees a bluetooth connection to the airtag, and then looks at your current location. Then when it loses the bluetooth connection to the device it looks at your location again. If your location has changed it gives you a warning that you left something behind. If your location has not changed it does not give you the warning.
Do you really want to get a warning every time your phone loses the bluetooth connection? This would likely happen multiple times a day as you (or your dog) walk around the house. The bluetooth connection only has a range of around 33m (100ft) or something like that. And that is without interference, within your home it is likely less.
Do you really want to get a warning every time your phone loses the bluetooth connection? This would likely happen multiple times a day as you (or your dog) walk around the house. The bluetooth connection only has a range of around 33m (100ft) or something like that. And that is without interference, within your home it is likely less.
Thank you. My answer would be yes! If my dog leaves our location without us I want to know. Similarly, if my golf bag is removed from my house I want to know.
I'm not sure you fully read my response.
Say your golf clubs are in the garage, and your bedroom is on the other end of the house. Do you really want a notification every time you walk into your bedroom that your golf clubs have been left behind, even though they are still sitting in the garage?
Or every time your dog leaves the room you are in to go to another room you get a notification that he has been left behind, even though he is still in the house with you?
Because that is likely what would happen.
Now Apple could possibly add a new feature that would allow you to designate certain items to alert you if they ever left your home location without you. But that would not be the same as the left behind function. It would have to rely on other people's phones locating your property outside of your home without you travelling along with it. I believe this function would be much more likely to be used for nefarious reasons than everyone worrying about stalking. Imagine if a thief could put an airtag on your car and get an immediate notification when you leave your house, allowing them to know when to break in and rob you before you would ever get a notification that an unknown airtag was travelling with you.
Say your golf clubs are in the garage, and your bedroom is on the other end of the house. Do you really want a notification every time you walk into your bedroom that your golf clubs have been left behind, even though they are still sitting in the garage?
Or every time your dog leaves the room you are in to go to another room you get a notification that he has been left behind, even though he is still in the house with you?
Because that is likely what would happen.
Now Apple could possibly add a new feature that would allow you to designate certain items to alert you if they ever left your home location without you. But that would not be the same as the left behind function. It would have to rely on other people's phones locating your property outside of your home without you travelling along with it. I believe this function would be much more likely to be used for nefarious reasons than everyone worrying about stalking. Imagine if a thief could put an airtag on your car and get an immediate notification when you leave your house, allowing them to know when to break in and rob you before you would ever get a notification that an unknown airtag was travelling with you.
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I did read it and my answer is yes. Frankly, my bluetooth stays connected wherever I am in the house, but it is a small house!