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MacUser09

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 26, 2009
295
60
UK
This morning, my next door neighbour stopped me and asked if I had any AirTags. I just bought my first one this week.

He told me that he was woken at 01:30 by an alert, and asked if I knew how to stop it. which I didn't.

I did a search and told him he could disable alerts in Find My, but he is concerned that that will turn off all alerts.

This is what I told him to do: Find My > Me > Toggle Off Safety Alerts > Disable

Does anyone know if the info. I gave him was correct??

TIA
 
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fischersd

macrumors 603
Oct 23, 2014
5,380
1,942
Port Moody, BC, Canada
Yep, that's the correct way to disable the alerts. You should report this to Apple. It really shouldn't be giving your neighbour alerts while it's still in contact with you.

 
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orange23

macrumors regular
Oct 14, 2020
118
176
She has the right not to disable the alert, as someone may put a Airtag inside his bag/car/room to track her secretly...
 

fischersd

macrumors 603
Oct 23, 2014
5,380
1,942
Port Moody, BC, Canada
She has the right not to disable the alert, as someone may put a Airtag inside his bag/car/room to track her secretly...
"the right"??? Really? Love the sense of entitlement. The OP has "the right" to use their electronic devices as blessed by the FCC. This means they could be a good neighbour and help them eliminate the alerts (as described) or tell them to get stuffed and deal with it.

Most condos / apartment complexes there's considerable bluetooth overlap. They shouldn't be getting tracking notifications though, as the AirTags aren't actually moving with them.
 

waw74

macrumors 601
May 27, 2008
4,768
1,003
they got the alert because their phone was close to your tag, I don't know the cutoff, but it should be around or less than 20 feet.

is it possible you had you tag sitting on the other side of the wall from where they keep their phone, such as both on your nightstands in your respective bedrooms?

it should only alert if the tag was moving, what do you have tagged?

the "tag following you" alert also shouldn't happen if the tag senses it's owners phone. where do you keep your phone at night? was it close to the tag?


If you've tagged your pet, its possible they wandered close to a shared wall, while your phone was in the other room. and your neighbors phone was close to the shared wall.
 

MacUser09

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 26, 2009
295
60
UK
they got the alert because their phone was close to your tag, I don't know the cutoff, but it should be around or less than 20 feet.

is it possible you had you tag sitting on the other side of the wall from where they keep their phone, such as both on your nightstands in your respective bedrooms?

it should only alert if the tag was moving, what do you have tagged?

the "tag following you" alert also shouldn't happen if the tag senses it's owners phone. where do you keep your phone at night? was it close to the tag?


If you've tagged your pet, its possible they wandered close to a shared wall, while your phone was in the other room. and your neighbors phone was close to the shared wall.
I only have a backpack tagged for travel.
There is only a dividing wall between our two apartments. So presuming neighbour's bed is against that dividing wall, there might have only been a foot or two between his iPhone and my AirTag.
Must have been annoying for him to get woken by the alert(s) and not knowing how to stop it.

i will send a report to Apple as poster #2 suggested.
 

hammie14

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2010
247
145
UK
they got the alert because their phone was close to your tag, I don't know the cutoff, but it should be around or less than 20 feet.

Surely that's can't be correct? My wife's phone is about 5ft away from my AirTags most nights and she has never had an alert about my AirTags.

As said if OP phone is in range of the AirTag it should not alert anyone else. I would reboot your phone just incase its losing connection with the AirTag and maybe a reboot will help. Also keep the AirTag near your phone and make sure that the AirTag has updated to the latest firmware (1.0.291). You can find this by going to find my on iPhone > select AirTag / item > touch the battery icon.

If this still gives false alerts, maybe delete the AirTags and repair.

Good luck :)
 
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