When Airplane mode wifi and bluetooth are still turned on. So yes the AirTag will still know it is near its owner. If Airplane mode prevented that then it would also prevent someone to know there was an unknown AirTag near them. And AirTag itself does not have an Airplane mode only the iOS device. Airplane mode now only turns off the cellular radio.
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iOS 15.2 Beta: How to Use Find My to Locate Items That Can Track You
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A thief has always been able to do this. Just the regular reporting of an AirTag near you would notify a thief. Then they could just remove the AirTag and discard it, or remove the battery or just smash it. And Apple has always stated it's not for finding Stolen items. Yes I know it can be used that way but Apple says that for legal reasons.
They can't just turn them off. They would have to remove the battery. Or simply just Smash it with a heavy object
A prankster's dream. Stand outside the door and setoff a bunch of AirTags. Have to be a huge classroom though.
On my iPhone WiFi is off and Bluetooth stays on in airplane mode. The AirTag could still detect a phone or be detected if far enough away; although that would require a bag to be in the rear and owner up front or vice versa in most commercial a/c. Highly unlikely.
I'm not sure if this has changed but by default airplane mode would turn everything off, but you could indeed enable wifi and bluetooth if you wanted to. But here's another one: you can be an AirTag user with just a Mac, say you have an iMac at home and an Android phone. Then every time you leave home, your AirTag in your bag would not see itself as near its owner.
I believe this has changed more recently not sure which update changed it but at least for me bluetooth stays on when I enable airplane mode. Wifi does turn off though
As some one who works for the National Domestic Violence Hotline, I can assure you that this is a true problem. Apple is doing much more than most of the other companies who make similar devices to protect victims of DV/IPV. But evil exists in this world and is constantly trying to find new ways to use good technology for bad purposes. Vigilance is critical.
The article says Apple gives you instructions to turn it off. The whole point of AirTags was to hide them so that if your object was lost or stolen, you could track it down.
My issue is the random beeping when separated 8-24 hours. I bought a ton of airtags and have put them on different sets of keys, wallet, bags, dog collars etc.. But I really don't want these things beeping all the time if I'm not around one of them for a day. I routinely travel and don't bring everything with me all the time. So if I'm gone for a weekend are all these tags going to be beeping annoying my family at home?
Parents have not just a right to track kids, but an obligation to know where they are at all times.
If I have a find my on my child, and someone disables the AirTag, that’s close enough for me to consider it attempted kidnapping.
You can assign locations where they can be left alone, such as a house or hotel room.
I believe (hope) this is a precursor to allowing AirTags to be used by multiple people in a "Family Sharing" environment.
Good to know. Definitely don't want some random AirTag to track me.
- For modern devices, airplane mode only turns off the cellular signal; bluetooth and wifi remain on
- Even if that's not the case, if you're on an airplane, you'd also be in airplane mode and wouldn't be able to be linked to any tags yourself.
Consider it whatever you like, but realize there are clear and distinct legal definitions.
If you are going that route, why not just get one of those carrier family tracking plans or use Find My on their iPhone?
Agreed. Let’s get a precedent set.
I should be able to use AirTags to track all my things, but if there are rules about what I can and can’t tag than they are useless.
There is a noticeable difference in price between air tags and a phone.
Actually it's up to the user to enable wifi/bluetooth in airplane mode. You can toggle those from the control center (while in airplane mode) and whatever you configure is what the airplane mode is for you. Therefore it is possible for you to have wifi/bluetooth disabled while other passengers have it enabled. I know it's a bit of a stretch but it's possible. Also the other thing I said: you can be an AirTag user with just an iMac at home and an Android phone, then whenever you're on the go with your backpack and AirTag you won't be seen as near the device.
If you want to get Apple to change this behavior then everyone needs to file Feedback!
Click here: AirTag Feedback or https://www.apple.com/feedback/airtag/
Click here: AirTag Feedback or https://www.apple.com/feedback/airtag/
The instructions they give you is to disable them by removing the battery. You can't remotely disable an AirTag that you find nearby.
Change what behavior? The person still needs physical access to the AirTag to disable it (by removing the battery). Nothing really new here, they could do this all along...
I see where I can add a location as an exception for "Notify When Left Behind", which I do have my home and office added there. That keeps it from notifying me on my iphone when I leave it behind, but does this also disable that 8-24 hour window of beeping and alerting people near by if I'm not around for a few days? I can just imagine getting calls from my work mates or wife on my next trip when a dozen airtags at work and home are all beeping randomly because they haven't seen my iphone in proximity in 24+ hours. haha
While you all are bickering about the use case of find my and airtags, I literally can't get my iPhone to stop sending me notifications that my own airpod pros and brand new Macbook Pro are tracking my location. I've been dealing with this since upgrading to iOS 15 and I've tried unpairing / repairing. Unbearable to get these notifications every thirty minutes.
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Yes, but a ”lost” item is almost always a “stolen” item. if my back pack up and disappears, lost and stolen pretty much have the same meaning at that point. I just want to find and get my item back. Apple advertises it as such.