How to Disable an Unknown AirTag Found Moving With You to Prevent Being Tracked

[jhollington]

will my phone get a notification if the tag gets too far away from me? If so, how far away or how long until I get the notification? The smaller the number here the better.

No. That's simply not a feature of AirTags. They're not a "digital leash" per se.

if the tag is not near me, how close do other people's iphones need to be to the tag for them to get a notification? And how long from being away from me until the tag notifies other people? Or how long does it need to be near other people before they are notified? The larger the number here the better.

I think you may be misunderstanding how AirTags are designed to work. Other iPhones won't get a notification unless the AirTag is travelling along with them. This is solely a privacy feature designed to prevent AirTags from being used for stalking.

AirTags are not about alerting others to where your lost items are, but rather helping you to track your belongings by using other people's iPhones passively. It's basically the same in principle as Find My iPhone, but for other items. If you leave your iPhone behind somewhere, other people's iPhones don't get alerted that there's a lost iPhone nearby, but you can track its whereabouts by logging into Find My on another Apple device or at iCloud.com.

AirTags work in the same way, except that they use other people's iPhones — transparently and anonymously — to locate nearby AirTags. As someone is walking around, theiriPhone is scanning for other nearby AirTags, and if it finds one, it will silently and privately report that information back to Apple's servers. If you lose an item with an AirTag attached, you can open Find My on your iPhone and track its location in much the same way you would for a lost iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

 

[sqenixs]

No. That's simply not a feature of AirTags. They're not a "digital leash" per se.


I think you may be misunderstanding how AirTags are designed to work. Other iPhones won't get a notification unless the AirTag is travelling along with them. This is solely a privacy feature designed to prevent AirTags from being used for stalking.

AirTags are not about alerting others to where your lost items are, but rather helping you to track your belongings by using other people's iPhones passively. It's basically the same in principle as Find My iPhone, but for other items. If you leave your iPhone behind somewhere, other people's iPhones don't get alerted that there's a lost iPhone nearby, but you can track its whereabouts by logging into Find My on another Apple device or at iCloud.com.

AirTags work in the same way, except that they use other people's iPhones — transparently and anonymously — to locate nearby AirTags. As someone is walking around, theiriPhone is scanning for other nearby AirTags, and if it finds one, it will silently and privately report that information back to Apple's servers. If you lose an item with an AirTag attached, you can open Find My on your iPhone and track its location in much the same way you would for a lost iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

I understand how the air tags work, but I am trying to envision a way to make them work for my use case. They could have easily added a notification feature, and it has no privacy implications. Tile has this already, called "smart alert". At this point in time, the only benefit of air tags in my opinion (and it is a big one) is the size of the tracking network afforded by other people's iphones. Otherwise tile is better. So I think using both a tile and an air tag on all my items will do what I want. Sucks that I need both at this point in time.

Has anyone read through the terms of the find my third party certification? Can other companies put together a solution that allows for tracking? If I was Apple I would assume that all certified third party devices will not support tracking, only finding of lost items similar to air tags.

 

[KeithJenner]

Those who are concern that they are being tracked can just remove the battery till he/she gets to the police station. After all it is removable.

If tags can be easily disabled, airtag might not even serve the key purpose which is the recovery of lost items.

For example, if I left my wallet on a bus and found out mins later, I would like to be able to track where it is, maybe even take a taxi to retrieve it.

If anyone can disable it, it wouldn’t be too long before someone on the bus think that he/she is being illegally tracked and disable it.

If so, how does airtag fulfill the role of retrieving lost items?

I agree completely.

My post wasn’t about whether or how people can disable a tag, but was responding to the suggestion made by quite a few people that disabling a tag may mean just stopping the phone of the person who thinks they are being tagged from reporting the location. The fact that any other phone would still give the location of the tracked person means that this would be basically pointless (although could avoid giving away their exact house I suppose). If disabling is an option the. It can surely only be a complete disablement, meaning that no location tracking happens.

Will this be an option? We don’t really know for sure yet. The privacy section on the website doesn’t mention it as far as I can recall (it talks about locating it but doesn’t mention disabling). Others seem to have found more info but I’ve heard so many different things that it really just isn’t clear at the moment.

I absolutely agree that if people can easily disable them then it will take away from the ability to find lost items. I raised the bus left on a train issue myself a couple of days ago, and speculated that maybe it could treat things differently if the tag is close to a lot of people rather than just one (maybe a little longer to alert you). Perhaps it will only alert people if they and the tag leave a group (or get off the bus/train), but what about busy stations where lots of people get off?

It is interesting that Apple have been so vague about how long it will take before people get alerted. I’m hoping that this is because it depends on the circumstance. Maybe with a crowd of people (especially if you are on a train line, which are marked on the map) then it will take a long time, but one person by themselves will be alerted quickly? We just don’t know.

Im in two minds as to whether to buy these at the moment. I mainly want them for tracking baggage and it is a little unclear how well they will work in that scenario. I was going to wait and let others test them, but that hasn’t really proved a reliable way of deciding in the past, especially on this sige. Many of my favourite items (AirPods, watch) were purchased despite many voices on this website assuring everyone that they are useless (usually having been sent back) and I haven’t experienced any of the issues that others hated.

I think I’m just going to have to try them for myself.

 

[jhollington]

Great find. This is exactly how I believe and hope it will be implemented.

Meets both privacy and intended purpose to locate lost items.

Yup. I think many folks — myself included — got wrapped up in the assumption that a "Disable AirTag" menu option in the Find My app would be some kind of advanced digital thing, but of course that makes no sense for all of the reasons already described in this very thread.

It's also worth noting that the same Fast Company article describes how AirTags are "Pair Locked" to the original owner's iPhone, so somebody else who finds one of your lost items can't just decide to appropriate your AirTag for themselves.

 

[jhollington]

I understand how the air tags work, but I am trying to envision a way to make them work for my use case. They could have easily added a notification feature, and it has no privacy implications.

You're absolutely right that Apple could do this, but there's no indication that this will be a feature of the AirTag — at least not right now. It's certainly something that could come in a future software update. Of course there are no privacy implications to doing so — I was merely pointing out that the only alerts that Apple provides right now are intended to enhance privacy by preventing AirTags from being used by stalkers.

Even the Find My app as it's currently designed doesn't allow for this sort of thing, and it leads me to believe it's not a priority for Apple. For instance, I'd love a feature that would let my Apple Watch alert me when I've left my iPhone behind. In fact, the other day I got into my car, plotted a route on Apple Maps (thanks to Wireless CarPlay), and drove about two blocks from my house before it disconnected and I realized that I didn't have my iPhone with me 😂

As for notifying others, I can sort of see both sides, mind you, as there's value in not alerting every passerby that there's a lost item within proximity. As long as your iPhone can tell you where your lost item is, chances are you can retrieve it yourself, and you avoid the risk of it being found by a potential thief, or somebody who may not otherwise know what to do with it. For example, a few years ago a friend of mine left their keys at a restaurant. They had a Tile tag attached, so she knew where they were because Tile's network picked them up. However, by the time she got there to retrieve them, somebody else had found them and decided to turn them in to the police. She still eventually got them back, but it was way more of a hassle than if they'd just been left where they were.

Tile has this already, called "smart alert". At this point in time, the only benefit of air tags in my opinion (and it is a big one) is the size of the tracking network afforded by other people's iphones. Otherwise tile is better. So I think using both a tile and an air tag on all my items will do what I want. Sucks that I need both at this point in time.

I wouldn't say that's the only benefit. AirTags also provide the more precise UWB tracking, which is going to be great for folks who regularly leave things around the house but can't remember where they put them. Granted, Tile is working on that as well, but AFAIK Tile's UWB tags aren't here yet.

Has anyone read through the terms of the find my third party certification? Can other companies put together a solution that allows for tracking? If I was Apple I would assume that all certified third party devices will not support tracking, only finding of lost items similar to air tags.

Just to be clear, by "tracking" I assume that you're referring to smart alerts that would let you and others know when a lost item is nearby?

I haven't read all of the details, but I've heard from several sources who have. The short answer would seem to be no, because they're required to use the Find My app. This feature would therefore have to added by Apple.

There may be a way for third parties to get around it by leveraging their own apps, but from what I've been told that's a grey area at best, as Apple's policy is "either/or." For example, if Tile were to join the Find My network, users would be forced to choose between using Tile's network or Apple's, as accessory makers can't support both simultaneously. However, that policy doesn't necessarily rule out an app that does nothing more than proximity tracking, as you're not using an alternative "network" in that case, but it may also be complicated by how devices need to be built in order to communicate with the Find My network in the first place (e.g. things like random Bluetooth IDs and encrypted connections).

 

[jhollington]

Will this be an option? We don’t really know for sure yet. The privacy section on the website doesn’t mention it as far as I can recall (it talks about locating it but doesn’t mention disabling). Others seem to have found more info but I’ve heard so many different things that it really just isn’t clear at the moment.

The only reference to disabling is found in Apple's lone AirTag support document right now, but after re-reading it more closely, I'm 99% convinced that this is simply referring to telling users how to remove the battery.

In fact, if you look very closely, you'll notice that the option Apple is referring to isn't "Disable AirTag" — it's "Instructions to Disable AirTag" (the capital "I" is easy to miss 😏).

To disable the AirTag and stop sharing your location, tap Instructions to Disable AirTag and follow the onscreen steps. If you feel your safety is at risk, contact your local law enforcement who can work with Apple. You might need to provide the AirTag or its serial number.

Similarly, in the fourth paragraph it says "If you detect an unknown AirTag, use the steps below to learn about the AirTag and how to disable it." (emphasis mine).

Again, I think many of us jumped on the support article, saw "Disable AirTag" and assumed that there would be some cool digital feature to switch it off, but that really makes no sense for all of the reasons that have already been discussed in this very thread. If you're holding the AirTag, you can simply pop out the battery and you're done, and if you're not holding it, you can make it repeatedly emit a sound until you do find it. If you're not holding the AirTag, you really have no business trying to disable it.

It is interesting that Apple have been so vague about how long it will take before people get alerted. I’m hoping that this is because it depends on the circumstance. Maybe with a crowd of people (especially if you are on a train line, which are marked on the map) then it will take a long time, but one person by themselves will be alerted quickly? We just don’t know.

I think Apple is being vague because it probably is circumstantial, even at a basic level. The notification is based on an AirTag "travelling with you," which suggests that it needs to be continually near you over a greater distance.

Based on the intended purpose of the notifications, I would guess that they also require close proximity. Nobody is going to be stalking you with an AirTag that's more than a car length away. In fact, in most cases it would be somewhere directly on the person's clothing or belongings. So an AirTag on the other end of a train car may not be considered a "threat" in this case.

However, I also suspect Apple is being deliberately vague in order to discourage stalkers from trying to find ways to circumvent these safety measures. Apple's execs have already made it clear that they'd much rather consider these features a deterrent to stalkers using AirTags in the first place.

I'm in two minds as to whether to buy these at the moment. I mainly want them for tracking baggage and it is a little unclear how well they will work in that scenario.

Tracking baggage does seem like it may be a bit of a grey area, but I think the worst-case scenario is that others might get inadvertent "moving with you" notifications, which could spook some people. However, I have to assume Apple has thought of this, and I doubt that's going to be a problem in most cases.

The most problematic scenario I can think of (which I noted earlier in this thread), is train travel, where the baggage area is at one end of a long train car, or possibly even in a separate car. In this case, it's possible that there may be other people who are much closer to my bags than I am.

Based on the assumptions I already noted above about the reason for these notifications, however, I suspect the range at which an AirTag considers itself as being away from its owner is far greater than the range at which somebody else's iPhone should consider it a problem. It makes sense that it would try and stay latched onto its owners iPhone for as long as it possibly can, and on the other side it's not really being used to track somebody else until it's within a few feet of them.

These are all assumptions, of course, but again I'm pretty confident that Apple has considered these angles. They've certainly had long enough to think about all of this, since we know they've been working on these tags for at least two years — and probably been thinking about it for way longer, considering that Find My iPhone has been around for over a decade now.

But like you said, the only way to know for sure is to try them for yourself. I've already pre-ordered a bunch, and I'm eager to see how they actually play out under real-world conditions.

 

[KeithJenner]

I went for it as well. I was going to wait, but came out of a meeting just as they went on sale so went online to check and grabbed a pack of 4.

There is a lot less cash at risk here if they don’t work than on many Apple purchases. Now, on to considering the new iMacs.

 

[rwh63]

can i put one on my animals collar in case? be nice to know where it is in the woods.

ok, lets see if i have this straight. the airtag uses the "find my phone" ability to "find my airtag" on an item i attach it to. provided it doesn't fall off or get destroyed, whenever my item comes within an approximate distance (30 meters?) of an iPhone (or other device) with its ability turned on, i will be pinged that at a certain time and date my item was identified. so, it's a little like ground radar, if my animal passes through that ID space, i would be notified. even if it drifts away from any personal radar zone, i will at least know where it last was.

a wandering urban animal will be much easier to continually track than a rural one. however, even intermittent pings would be very helpful in finding it. and the battery lasts for a year? might be a good compliment to the under skin ID tags common today.

 

[KeithJenner]

ok, lets see if i have this straight. the airtag uses the "find my phone" ability to "find my airtag" on an item i attach it to. provided it doesn't fall off or get destroyed, whenever my item comes within an approximate distance (30 meters?) of an iPhone (or other device) with its ability turned on, i will be pinged that at a certain time and date my item was identified. so, it's a little like ground radar, if my animal passes through that ID space, i would be notified. even if it drifts away from any personal radar zone, i will at least know where it last was.

a wandering urban animal will be much easier to continually track than a rural one. however, even intermittent pings would be very helpful in finding it. and the battery lasts for a year? might be a good compliment to the under skin ID tags common today.

You won't be pinged, but if you look in the find my app you will see its last location and the date.

Maybe if you mark it lost then maybe you get a notification (never had to mark an item as lost), but in general use you have to specifically look at the app for locations rather than it notifying you.

 

[timmehh]

What if the person being tracked uses an Android smartphone? How they will get a notification that an Airtag is moving with them?

the AirTag will play an audible sound.

however, i plan on breaking the speaker in my AirTags, so i’ll still be able to track an Android user who’s stolen my stuff and smash their face in for doing so.

 

[timmehh]

They will just mute the alarm they are getting on their own device. The AirTag still keeps working.

how about you actually read Apple’s website about the product instead of spreading misinformation?

AirTag is designed to discourage unwanted tracking. If someone else’s AirTag finds its way into your stuff, your iPhone will notice it’s travelling with you and send you an alert. After a while, if you still haven’t found it, the AirTag will start playing a sound to let you know it’s there.

Of course, if you happen to be with a friend who has an AirTag, or on a train with a whole bunch of people with AirTag, don’t worry. These alerts are triggered only when an AirTag is separated from its owner.

 

[timmehh]

"Even if you don't use an iOS device". How does this work? How can an Android user receive a notification about unwanted tracking?

who cares, they’re just an Android user.

 

[mossie3]

Would it be possible for the speaker to be disabled putting it into a stealth mode? Will someone else's airtag show up on your iphone in the bluetooth settings?

 

[jhollington]

Would it be possible for the speaker to be disabled putting it into a stealth mode?

Well, there is no "stealth mode" so no.

Will someone else's airtag show up on your iphone in the bluetooth settings?

No, since once it's been associated with somebody's iPhone or iPad, it's no longer in "pairing mode." It's the same reason you don't see other people's headphones in your Bluetooth settings either.

That said, you'd certainly be able to pick it up with a specialized Bluetooth scanning app, like this one, since those look for all nearby Bluetooth devices, whether they're in pairing mode or not. Notably, however, AirTags don't appear to identify themselves in any meaningful way, so you'll just see a whole bunch of unknown devices around that could be just about anything...

 

[mossie3]

I know there isn't a stealth mode. I was wondering if the speaker was intentionally damaged, disconnected, disabled some kind of way, whether it would have no sound but continue to work.

 

[jhollington]

I know there isn't a stealth mode. I was wondering if the speaker was intentionally damaged, disconnected, disabled some kind of way, whether it would have no sound but continue to work.

Ah, I see what you mean. I mistakenly read the word “by” into there 😄

Based on iFixit’s teardown, this seems like it would be more difficult than it would be with most other tags, since the AirTag doesn’t just use a little piezoelectric speaker. Instead, there’s a bit magnet in the center that drives the entire plastic casing as the speaker diaphragm.

I suppose it might be possible to rip this out, but it certainly doesn’t sound like it would be easy to do, and it wouldn’t surprise me if Apple had built the AirTag to fail without it.

 

[mossie3]

According to iFixit the speaker can be disabled and it will still function. Good for not alerting someone who stole your property you are trying to locate, bad for someone to use for stalking.

"So, back to speaking—what if a malicious someone disabled the speaker in an AirTag before sending it off to track? We investigated, and feel it’s important to share: there are a couple relatively easy ways to disable the speaker and keep the AirTag functional. For obvious reasons we’re not going to get into how one would accomplish this."

 

[jhollington]

According to iFixit the speaker can be disabled and it will still function. Good for not alerting someone who stole your property you are trying to locate, bad for someone to use for stalking.

I guess that answers that. Thanks.

That said, I don't think it's a huge problem, since right now an AirTag will only audibly notify somebody after three days anyway — and that's only if that person doesn't have an AirTag-compatible iPhone (that is, one running iOS 14.5).

That's plenty of time for a stalker to find out whatever it is that they need to know. If anything that alert should come much sooner, and perhaps Apple will adjust it at some point. In fact, as one advocacy group pointed out, in the case of victims of domestic abuse, it could create a scenario where the alert never actually sounds — if a person lives with their stalker, they might never be out of range of the stalker's iPhone for more than three days.

However, it's also fair to say that the ability to track a non-iPhone user with an AirTag is considerably more limited, since it's dependent on other iPhones or iPads being around to report the location. For example, if I drop an AirTag on an Android user and they live in a house or apartment with no other iPhones nearby, I'm not going to be able to figure out where they live. Based on the testing I've done so far, AirTags also require at a couple of minutes in reasonably close proximity to an iPhone before their location is reported, so it's not like the location will be tracked by everyone you pass on the street.

Of course, the chance of being tracked in this way definitely isn't negligible, but it's far less than if the target is actually carrying an iPhone. An iPhone user with an AirTag on them will be reporting their location in near real-time (updating every 2-3 minutes, much like Find My Friends works). That's why the "Unknown AirTag Moving With You" iPhone notifications are significantly more important.

 

[fabrum]

I disabled Find My. Will the Find My app still notify me when an airtag is moving with me?

 

[Tumbleweed666]

the AirTag will play an audible sound.

however, i plan on breaking the speaker in my AirTags, so i’ll still be able to track an Android user who’s stolen my stuff and smash their face in for doing so.

Was that for stealing your stuff, or being an Android user?