Killer feature missing.

[8CoreWhore]

It is way more valuable to me to tell me my keys or wallet just became separated from me and is now several feet away (while I'm away from home), than it is to try to lead me back to it at some unknown time in the future when I happen to realize I no longer have it.

Imagine being on the subway, getting up with your keys on the seat, you walk to the door as your stop is approaching and your iPhone tells you right then that you're separated from your keys.

Now imagine it doesn't tell you, what a difference that makes. I exit the train without my keys, walk 3 blocks to my building and only then do I realize my keys are gone. That train is headed north and God knows when or if I ever see them again and it's 10PM. That would really suck.

Or it leads me back to my wallet a few hours after losing it, only to find my cash and credit cards missing.

The iPhone always knows when the tag is close and would know immediately when that distance is increasing. Why not alert me? I can't think of any privacy or security reason for not doing this.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I agree. Hopefully, Apple will include this in a future update.

 

[Howard2k]

Battery life perhaps? I doubt that these are real time all the time. I could be wrong. I hope I am.

 

[matrix07]

Sounds like something easier said than done. It will need constant monitoring. Likely battery life of you phone will greatly suffer when do that all day.

 

[michaelb5000]

This is obvious and i think almost everyone would agree. Except this has been obviously true for the watch and the phone since day 1 and we are still waiting. So its hard to be optimistic.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Sounds like something easier said than done. It will need constant monitoring. Likely battery life of you phone will greatly suffer when do that all day.

I would be willing to replace the battery more than once a year to have this feature.

 

[Lihp8270]

Sounds like something easier said than done. It will need constant monitoring. Likely battery life of you phone will greatly suffer when do that all day.

Surely it could simply be a notification when the airtag disconnects from your bluetooth.

(assuming it auto connects to Bluetooth when in range)

 

[matrix07]

I would be willing to replace the battery more than once a year to have this feature.

I meant your iPhone daily battery life.

 

[matrix07]

Surely it could simply be a notification when the airtag disconnects from your bluetooth.

(assuming it auto connects to Bluetooth when in range)

It could I guess but we still don't have that with Apple Watch after all these years so there must be something..

 

[TimothyL]

I think it would be annoying in some ways for it to be constantly telling you what you are purposely walking away from sometimes. But I see your point that it could be handy too.

 

[magicschoolbus]

This would be a good feature as some sort of haptic tap in your Apple Watch.

 

[ouimetnick]

I think it would be annoying in some ways for it to be constantly telling you what you are purposely walking away from sometimes. But I see your point that it could be handy too.

The phone is smart enough to know where you are so those types of notifications wouldn’t be triggered at home or at work. You could perhaps put certain locations on a “do not notify if separated from” list.

 

[ukms]

It is way more valuable to me to tell me my keys or wallet just became separated from me and is now several feet away (while I'm away from home), than it is to try to lead me back to it at some unknown time in the future when I happen to realize I no longer have it.

Imagine being on the subway, getting up with your keys on the seat, you walk to the door as your stop is approaching and your iPhone tells you right then that you're separated from your keys.

Now imagine it doesn't tell you, what a difference that makes. I exit the train without my keys, walk 3 blocks to my building and only then do I realize my keys are gone. That train is headed north and God knows when or if I ever see them again and it's 10PM. That would really suck.

Or it leads me back to my wallet a few hours after losing it, only to find my cash and credit cards missing.

The iPhone always knows when the tag is close and would know immediately when that distance is increasing. Why not alert me? I can't think of any privacy or security reason for not doing this.

A great theory ..... By the time your iPhone tells you and you pay attention to the notification you would likely be off the train as it disappears into a tunnel.

I just think this is impractical and too much of a fine balance between being useful -v- annoying ....... I don't think the relationship between the iphone and tag is accurate enough or quick enough to make it useful.

 

[BlankStar]

I meant your iPhone daily battery life.

When I point my iPhone 12 towards a HomePod mini it immediately picks it up so it feels like the U1 is already active the whole time, or at least when my iPhone feels it's moving.

--------------

I can only hope that we'll see features like the OP mentions in iOS 15, and I hope airtags will get included in the shortcuts app so we can build automations around them.

 

[matrix07]

When I point my iPhone 12 towards a HomePod mini it immediately picks it up so it feels like the U1 is already active the whole time, or at least when my iPhone feels it's moving.

It might be fast to interact but iPhone doesn’t have to check for HomePod location the whole day.

 

[Caliber26]

This is obvious and i think almost everyone would agree. Except this has been obviously true for the watch and the phone since day 1 and we are still waiting. So its hard to be optimistic.

Having left my iPhone in a Vegas casino, only to not realize it until much later, I was so annoyed that my Apple Watch didn’t alert me the instant it disconnected from my iPhone. Sure, the ‘red phone’ symbol came on but it’s completely useless if you’re not consciously checking for it every couple of minutes.

All that Apple needs to do is add a prominent haptic alert for when that red symbol comes on, the same way your watch dramatically alerts you when you’re down to 10% battery. Such an easy fix, FFS, and it potentially saves you a ton of time and hassle.

Fortunately, there’s an app called Phone Buddy that does exactly this and it does it flawlessly. It’ll even play a loud ass siren if you want it to. I can’t recommend it enough.

 

[KeithJenner]

I agree with people who suggest that it isn’t clear that this would work all that well for some scenarios.

If you leave your bag at work then it would be fine, but as has been said above, in the train situation it would very likely be too slow. Even the watch/phone is probably too slow for this. I just turned my phone off and it took a good 10-15 seconds for the red phone to appear on my watch. Equate that to moving out of distance of an airtag then the warning would likely be too late for you to do anything about it.

Also, the false warnings (being warned I have left my bag every time I move around the office or nip out at lunchtime). As people have said, it could be annoying at home when you don’t want your bag, but then other things (like your wallet) you may specifically want to be warned of you leave home without it.

That isn’t to say that this isn’t something that will come, but it is something which would potentially take a lot of setup and may not give a great user experience to start. I can see why they haven’t gone with it now, but maybe something for a later update.

 

[Yptcn]

Having left my iPhone in a Vegas casino, only to not realize it until much later, I was so annoyed that my Apple Watch didn’t alert me the instant it disconnected from my iPhone. Sure, the ‘red phone’ symbol came on but it’s completely useless if you’re not consciously checking for it every couple of minutes.

All that Apple needs to do is add a prominent haptic alert for when that red symbol comes on, the same way your watch dramatically alerts you when you’re down to 10% battery. Such an easy fix, FFS, and it potentially saves you a ton of time and hassle.

Fortunately, there’s an app called Phone Buddy that does exactly this and it does it flawlessly. It’ll even play a loud ass siren if you want it to. I can’t recommend it enough.

There is something I don't understand in Phone Buddy. In lost mode it does ring in my watch but it doesn't ring when I get closer to it even with Found Alert turned on.

 

[ActionMaN]

I often wish this to be on the apple watch with you phone or vice versa also.
When your phone becomes separated from watch a notification should go off

 

[Yptcn]

I often wish this to be on the apple watch with you phone or vice versa also.
When your phone becomes separated from watch a notification should go off

Must Phone Alerts always be on ? Distance alerts seem to be enough to remind you if your phone has been forgotten at home .

 

[ActionMaN]

I understand and whilst that is a good option it would be better for it to remind when being disconnected (forgotten) from watch when walking away automatically. (and vice versa if you forget your watch in gym etc)

 

[Feek]

Fortunately, there’s an app called Phone Buddy that does exactly this and it does it flawlessly. It’ll even play a loud ass siren if you want it to. I can’t recommend it enough.

I tried that but wasn't happy with the additional approx 25% battery drain I was getting every day. As far as I'm concerned, it was a waste of a fiver.

 

[macOS Lynx]

Battery life perhaps? I doubt that these are real time all the time. I could be wrong. I hope I am.

Sounds like something easier said than done. It will need constant monitoring. Likely battery life of you phone will greatly suffer when do that all day.

I meant your iPhone daily battery life.

My tile has this feature with zero impact to my device’s battery life. I don’t really need it now because I use the MagSafe wallet as my main wallet, but it was a godsend when I’d leave the house but forget my Wallet.

 

[macdisciple]

i anticipate a neural implant that links me to the internet and Find Me.

 

[Maconplasma]

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