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iOS 15: How to Get Notified If You Leave an AirTag or Apple Device Behind

MacRumors said:
Of course, these alerts depend on you not leaving your iPhone behind (there's currently no equivalent separation alert available on Apple Watch for this scenario, sadly), so that's the device you won't want to forget, wherever it is you go.
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This is a huge mistake for me! Forgetting your iPhone when you're out and about (restaurants, bars, etc.) and being alerted on your Apple Watch seems like what this "left behind" feature was made for, yet they have left out that ability. Just plain dumb. Hopefully they will add that obvious capability on later.

The good news is it sort of saves me from buying an Air Tag for my backpack as my iPad Pro (that lives in my backpack) can act as an Air Tag and alert me before I drive away without my backpack!
 
scottct1 said:
You do. I installed iOS15 last week the next day I went out to lunch with my son. Left the restaurant and was just pulling out of their driveway when I get a message on my Apple Watch (Series 4 without cellular) that I left my phone behind.

I was shocked and happy.
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Is this a new feature of ios 15? Nobody mentioned it anywhere, or I haven't noticed if they did.
 
whsbuss said:
WOW! I have so many times left to do an errand without my iPhone. I just hate that.
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scottct1 said:
You do. I installed iOS15 last week the next day I went out to lunch with my son. Left the restaurant and was just pulling out of their driveway when I get a message on my Apple Watch (Series 4 without cellular) that I left my phone behind.

I was shocked and happy.
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Are you running the beta on your watch?
 
whsbuss said:
When will we get a notification on Apple Watch when I leave my iPhone behind!
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This is what I am waiting for. It makes so much sense for the watch to be the base item when it’s on. The. It can switch to iPhone when it’s not being worn
 
On a similar note to being alerted on your Apple Watch if you've left your iPhone behind, I've always found it strange that you can log into your Mac when wearing your Apple Watch, but it doesn't lock the Mac when you walk away.
 
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I wonder this allows one to leave an Airtag at a trusted location and avoid it sounding (anti stalking?) if it hasn't detected the phone in a few days (like an extra set of keys in a remote office, etc.)
 
dlondon said:
On a similar note to being alerted on your Apple Watch if you've left your iPhone behind, I've always found it strange that you can log into your Mac when wearing your Apple Watch, but it doesn't lock the Mac when you walk away.
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Because maybe you don't want it to go to sleep. Sign in with watch is just a convenience. But it could be a good option to lock when away.
 
Crowbot said:
Because maybe you don't want it to go to sleep. Sign in with watch is just a convenience. But it could be a good option to lock when away.
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I would expect it to be optional (just like excluding certain locations from alerts with the AirTags is optional). I wouldn't probably activate it for my personal devices, but I would activate my work device. Even if it locked at home, touching the keyboard, mouse or trackpad opens it quickly anyway.
 
Khedron said:
According to that screenshot even a small geofence is the size of several buildings?
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I'd guess that's because in some locations the hardware can't pin down location that precisely - watch the map for a while and in some locations the blue dot that represents your device will wander nearby. They can't really tell where your phone is in relations to the walls of your house. They're preventing a lot of false alarms this way.
 
Mine automatically notifies me, even if I leave them at home, except that it says I left them behind at some location a mile from my house, which isn't true at all. It's really glitchy right now.
 
bingeciren said:
Is this a new feature of ios 15? Nobody mentioned it anywhere, or I haven't noticed if they did.
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I posted it here a few weeks ago.

forums.macrumors.com

You Left Your Phone Behind

Unintentionally found a new iOS feature today. Went out to eat, and after eating paid and left. Was pulling out of the parking lot when my Apple Watch alerted me that I left my phone behind. I turned the car back around and retrieved it. Very cool feature!
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

I guess no one actually reads MacRumors anymore. I thought it was a big find. :)
 
Khedron said:
According to that screenshot even a small geofence is the size of several buildings?

So this wouldn’t work as a reminder that you left home without something until too late to quickly turn back?

So for smaller homes it would be better to NOT add the trusted location right?

What level of separation triggers the alert?
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Presumably the smallest range (in the absence of UWB) is essentially the range of Bluetooth. (ie I know the device has been left behind when the BT connection breaks.)

Which is not ideal, but is (for normal walls and buildings) about the size of a house, in my experience.
 
GadgetBen said:
So I've got macOS Monterey installed which is so stable it's unreal.

Are people finding the same with iOS 15 Beta?
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There's stable and there's "finally fscking works properly". Does it have the second?

For example
- Safari tabs in the cloud (has more or less never worked except for a week or two, since release years ago)
- Screen Sharing randomly decides that Command-Space should scope to the VIEWING screen rather than the screen being viewed
- connection of Books.app to HomePod randomly gets killed after a few hours of inactivity.

Big Sur is riddled with these paper cuts, and the worse thing is Apple seems to consider that they aren't really bugs, at least not enough so to fix, just "quirky behavior".
 
I want exactly the opposite of this.

What I want to know is when my airtag (on my dog) leaves me behind. I want to add a location and know whenever my dog leaves that area.
 
Apple should revive the ipod nano 6th generation and turn that into an active tag - clip it on you so if you forgot your iphone in the restaurant, the nono will beep and guid you back to your iphone.
 
You'd be up the creek if you lost your phone... Givin the fact it relies on Bluetooth, there is no reason why wouldn't be extended to Mac.
 
Maybe in a later version they can tie it in with the weather so it can remind me to bring my umbrella.
 
dlondon said:
On a similar note to being alerted on your Apple Watch if you've left your iPhone behind, I've always found it strange that you can log into your Mac when wearing your Apple Watch, but it doesn't lock the Mac when you walk away.
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It sounds convenient in theory but in practice, it's terrible. Dell has a feature on their Latitude laptops that uses proximity sensors in a similar fashion, and not knowing that, I was seeing that if I moved 10 feet away, the laptop screen turned off and locked the computer. Very annoying if you say, are standing at a large desk or bench and move away then come back, you have to log back in. It's terrible. And, Dell does not make it easy to turn it off. You can, but it ain't easy to figure out.
 
dmylrea said:
It sounds convenient in theory but in practice, it's terrible. Dell has a feature on their Latitude laptops that uses proximity sensors in a similar fashion, and not knowing that, I was seeing that if I moved 10 feet away, the laptop screen turned off and locked the computer. Very annoying if you say, are standing at a large desk or bench and move away then come back, you have to log back in. It's terrible. And, Dell does not make it easy to turn it off. You can, but it ain't easy to figure out.
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We have a similar system with shared computers at work but logging in is much slower on these devices (particularly as multiple users are logging in so you have to select profile). It's just me that uses my Mac and it logs immediately when I press keyboard/mouse/trackpad – no different from when the screen goes to sleep or screensaver comes on. I wouldn't want it to be a mandatory feature, but an option would be good.
 
Nice, but since updating to the latest beta my Tile is no longer findable by my iPhone, recently replaced the tile battery and it worked before the latest beta update. Any one has the beta installed and using Tile?
 
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