Features unavailable with low battery

[Rydawg96]

So my AirTag finally has a low battery after receiving mine day one from Apple. The low battery notification says “Some features aren't available” yet it doesn’t say what features are not available nor does Apple’s website. Anyone know what features aren’t available?

 

[Lescar-B-EAU]

So my AirTag finally has a low battery after receiving mine day one from Apple. The low battery notification says “Some features aren't available” yet it doesn’t say what features are not available nor does Apple’s website. Anyone know what features aren’t available? View attachment 2031128

Same thing for me today. When I tap on Replace Battery, it says at the bottom of the page: “When AirTag battery is low, privacy protections are temporarily adjusted and AirTag may be trackable over Bluetooth.” I wonder in what ways privacy protections are adjusted and what it means that the AirTag is trackable over Bluetooth…

 

[BSben]

When I got a Low Battery alert I tried to check the batteries of all my AirTags, but none of them shows the battery status anymore, even after changing the batteries no more indication of the battery status.

 

[Lescar-B-EAU]

Yeah, I received the low battery notification twice for the same AirTag this week and both times it stopped showing low battery status a few minutes later. I guess it's hard for the AirTag to evaluate the battery level, but it must be getting low. It's been 14 months after all. My Panasonic replacement batteries are on their way.

By the way, in case you haven't seen Apple's article about it, make sure not to get a battery with a bitterant coating, like Duracell's, as it may not work in AirTag.

 

[RealPhone]

When I got a Low Battery alert I tried to check the batteries of all my AirTags, but none of them shows the battery status anymore, even after changing the batteries no more indication of the battery status.

After updating to PB iOS 15.6 and 16, you can no longer see the battery level of AirTags in the Find My App.

 

[compwiz1202]

Yeah, I received the low battery notification twice for the same AirTag this week and both times it stopped showing low battery status a few minutes later. I guess it's hard for the AirTag to evaluate the battery level, but it must be getting low. It's been 14 months after all. My Panasonic replacement batteries are on their way.

By the way, in case you haven't seen Apple's article about it, make sure not to get a battery with a bitterant coating, like Duracell's, as it may not work in AirTag.

Yea I got those at first. According to posts somewhere on here, sometimes it is just a sticker you can peel, or you can wash it off. Wonder why it only hinders AirTags though. Worked fine as a replacement in my car fob. Energizer ones worked fine in the AirTags

 

[Howard2k]

When I got a Low Battery alert I tried to check the batteries of all my AirTags, but none of them shows the battery status anymore, even after changing the batteries no more indication of the battery status.

Do they still work? Mine all updated instantly. There was a chime when I placed the shiny part back onto the tag, and then Find My showed updated status straight away.

 

[andreiru]

I’ve had the low battery indicator on for over a month or even two now. It appears to still track as normal.

 

[jonas_man]

I believe it disables the BT id rotation because the low battery message says that it will allow tracking over BT, which is only possible if the BT id is not changed.

• Rotating Identifiers: To prevent tracking of an individual, AirTags change their Bluetooth identifiers frequently.

 

[deeddawg]

impressive thread resurrection.

 

[MountainStorm]

I believe it disables the BT id rotation because the low battery message says that it will allow tracking over BT, which is only possible if the BT id is not changed.

• Rotating Identifiers: To prevent tracking of an individual, AirTags change their Bluetooth identifiers frequently.

Any sources on this? And does that mean a grocery store can know how many times I shop there?

 

[deeddawg]

Any sources on this? And does that mean a grocery store can know how many times I shop there?

Stores use a variety of ways to track shoppers and habits. Loyalty/discount programs, wifi/bluetooth, credit card, and even surveillance cameras tied to AI analysis.

Any sense of privacy you might have is an illusion unless you cover your face, use no store apps, power off your phone, and always pay with cash. Though in today's world that'd be unique enough to track you from the lack of tracking.

Retailers have so many ways to track you – Here’s how to fight back

Retailers use loyalty cards and other sneaky ways to track your every move. Here are some simple ways to make it stop.

www.komando.com

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/01/08/how-grocery-stores-use-surveillance-to-track-shoppers

How Stores Spy on You - Consumer Reports

Did you know that stores spy on you? Many walk-in retailers are taking spying to a creepy new level. Get information on how stores spy on you from Consumer Reports.

www.consumerreports.org

 

[MountainStorm]

Stores use a variety of ways to track shoppers and habits. Loyalty/discount programs, wifi/bluetooth, credit card, and even surveillance cameras tied to AI analysis.

Any sense of privacy you might have is an illusion unless you cover your face, use no store apps, power off your phone, and always pay with cash. Though in today's world that'd be unique enough to track you from the lack of tracking.

Retailers have so many ways to track you – Here’s how to fight back

Retailers use loyalty cards and other sneaky ways to track your every move. Here are some simple ways to make it stop.

www.komando.com

https://www.marketplace.org/story/2026/01/08/how-grocery-stores-use-surveillance-to-track-shoppers

How Stores Spy on You - Consumer Reports

Did you know that stores spy on you? Many walk-in retailers are taking spying to a creepy new level. Get information on how stores spy on you from Consumer Reports.

www.consumerreports.org

Thank you, those were very interesting reads. Cool to think that grocery stores had that much tracking even back in 2013 (coincidentally, my favorite year 😁).

I think you misunderstood my question. The user jonas_man said something interesting about the AirTag's ability to disable ID rotation, and I wanted to know if it was true and maybe learn more. I find it very interesting that we are carrying devices that have cryptographically secure functions that are essentially random oracles (they aren't true random oracles, but they haven't been able to be distinguished from random noise).

This is a really cool visualization of what the famous SHA256 hash function looks like (kinda amazing how they come up with stuff like that):

Sha256 Algorithm Explained

Sha256 algorithm explained online step by step visually

sha256algorithm.com

 

[erihp]

Thank you, those were very interesting reads. Cool to think that grocery stores had that much tracking even back in 2013 (coincidentally, my favorite year 😁).

I think you misunderstood my question. The user jonas_man said something interesting about the AirTag's ability to disable ID rotation, and I wanted to know if it was true and maybe learn more. I find it very interesting that we are carrying devices that have cryptographically secure functions that are essentially random oracles (they aren't true random oracles, but they haven't been able to be distinguished from random noise).

This is a really cool visualization of what the famous SHA256 hash function looks like (kinda amazing how they come up with stuff like that):

Sha256 Algorithm Explained

Sha256 algorithm explained online step by step visually

sha256algorithm.com

if you want a better understanding of how airtags work check out the documentation of openhaystack