Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Placing an airtag on a vehicle in storage

Hustler

Hustler

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 31, 2010
412
59
I’m interested in keeping tabs off a camper that I will have stored away from me. It will be by other houses so I assume there will be close by iOS devices. I’m mainly worried about tracking it if it winds up stolen. My biggest worry at this point is that I’ve read it beeps once it moves once I’m away from it for over 3 days. I will not be by it every 3 days so this may be an issue as a potential thief moves it and then follows the beeping.
Am I understanding it correctly that this is how the airtag will react in this instance?

I’m also exploring the possibility of a full stand along gps tracker. I’ve found one on amazon that is 140 or so with a 2 year subscription to att cell service included. The downside to this is battery life, while its one of the better ones I’ve found in this price point, its probably still not over a month if I have frequent gps updates as a setting.

Thanks for any insight!
Brad
 
AirTags are not really ideal as an anti-theft device. Yes it will start beeping after 3 days and a thief could easily deactivate it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Lemon Olive
Hustler said:
I’m interested in keeping tabs off a camper that I will have stored away from me. It will be by other houses so I assume there will be close by iOS devices. I’m mainly worried about tracking it if it winds up stolen. My biggest worry at this point is that I’ve read it beeps once it moves once I’m away from it for over 3 days. I will not be by it every 3 days so this may be an issue as a potential thief moves it and then follows the beeping.
Am I understanding it correctly that this is how the airtag will react in this instance?

I’m also exploring the possibility of a full stand along gps tracker. I’ve found one on amazon that is 140 or so with a 2 year subscription to att cell service included. The downside to this is battery life, while its one of the better ones I’ve found in this price point, its probably still not over a month if I have frequent gps updates as a setting.

Thanks for any insight!
Brad
Click to expand...
Yeah sadly it will beep if a thief steal it but if you hide it well you will get notify about it before the thief find your tag. I have a feeling when it moves it won't just beep but will notify you as well.
 
matrix07 said:
I have a feeling when it moves it won't just beep but will notify you as well.
Click to expand...
The AirTag cannot "notfiy" you by itself. An iOS device needs to be in BLE-range of the AirTag. When someone with an android device moves your car, your AirTag will happily chirp its alarm sound and nothing else will happen. You also won't get any notifications as long as you don't switch your AirTag to "lost mode"
 
skoops said:
The AirTag cannot "notfiy" you by itself. An iOS device needs to be in BLE-range of the AirTag. When someone with an android device moves your car, your AirTag will happily chirp its alarm sound and nothing else will happen. You also won't get any notifications as long as you don't switch your AirTag to "lost mode"
Click to expand...
Yeah I think I had expressed myself wrongly. Sleepy at that time I guess. It should be "Yeah sadly it will beep if a thief steal it but if you hide it well you could be able to check it on your Find My before the thief find your tag."
 
Similar predicament here.

I was hoping to place an AirTag in my car, which I only use on weekends and it sits in a parking garage during the week.

I don't want it chirping all week when I'm not near it; but I would like a notification if a valet ever decides to take a joyride in my car.
 
phillytim said:
Similar predicament here.

I was hoping to place an AirTag in my car, which I only use on weekends and it sits in a parking garage during the week.

I don't want it chirping all week when I'm not near it; but I would like a notification if a valet ever decides to take a joyride in my car.
Click to expand...
As stated by others, it won't make a noise all week as that only happens if it is moved.

However, I don't think that there is any way (at present) or you being notified if it does move. You would have to keep an eye on the Find My app to see if it moves.
 
phillytim said:
Similar predicament here.

I was hoping to place an AirTag in my car, which I only use on weekends and it sits in a parking garage during the week.

I don't want it chirping all week when I'm not near it; but I would like a notification if a valet ever decides to take a joyride in my car.
Click to expand...
Where did you get the notion that it does that? It doesn't. You have to be within Bluetooth range and manually activate the chirp yourself. Boggles my mind how so much misinformation is posted on MR.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: Seamaster, LeadingHeat and NM08SRT8
poorcody said:
From https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212227:
"When moved, any AirTag separated for a period of time from the person who registered it will make a sound to alert those nearby."


Ironic.
Click to expand...
Ironic indeed because you didn't fully read it. Firstly the chirps only work after an extended period of time, not instantly so it doesn't matter if someone goes "joy riding" in your car. If they're not gone long enough there's no chirping. Furthermore as I mentioned activation of the chirp can be controlled by the owner of the Airtag, so it's not like you can't prevent it. Lastly the Airtags are not designed for theft prevention. That's on you if you decide to use them for that but Apple ain't taking no responsibility for it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Deliro and TinyChip
Maconplasma said:
Ironic indeed because you didn't fully read it. Firstly the chirps only work after an extended period of time, not instantly so it doesn't matter if someone goes "joy riding" in your car. If they're not gone long enough there's no chirping. Furthermore as I mentioned activation of the chirp can be controlled by the owner of the Airtag, so it's not like you can't prevent it.
Click to expand...
No, the chirping cannot be prevented by the AirTag's owner. Otherwise non-iPhone owners would have no way to know they are being tracked by an AirTag. The chirps activate after three days according to John Gruber (controlled by Apple and they can change it in the future).
 
  • Like
Reactions: phillytim
poorcody said:
No, the chirping cannot be prevented by the AirTag's owner. Otherwise non-iPhone owners would have no way to know they are being tracked by an AirTag.
Click to expand...
Fair enough. I stand corrected, although Apple is not supporting theft.
poorcody said:
The chirps activate after three days according to John Gruber (controlled by Apple and they can change it in the future).
Click to expand...
Yes and that's what I meant by if a valet decides to go joy riding in someone else's car with an Airtag in it the chirps won't activate immediately. Thanks for the clarification.
 
My response here is “out there” but read me out. Partly a poor attempt at humor but with a slice of intended solutions…

If it is really important to you, since you only really need an iPhone for the tracking purposes to prevent it from beeping and only a newer iPhone for the U1 turn by turn locating, why not this idea?

Buy an older iPhone, set it up as family sharing on your account, plug in a external battery source like a Jackery (if shore power not available at the storage facility), and hide it along with the airtag. You would have to periodically go by your camper to recharge the Jackery but should get a week or so per charge. Of course a thief could make off with your camper, airtag, old iPhone, and Jackery. :)
 
  • Haha
Reactions: diamornte
Maconplasma said:
Fair enough. I stand corrected, although Apple is not supporting theft.

Yes and that's what I meant by if a valet decides to go joy riding in someone else's car with an Airtag in it the chirps won't activate immediately. Thanks for the clarification.
Click to expand...
Well not immediately, but quite quickly and much earlier than three days. After three days it will chirp if moved at all regardless if anything else is near it. However, before then if it starts moving and is near an iOS device when moving (so if the valet has an iPhone) then it will start making noises AND alert the owner of the iOS device. It looks like it will do that alert somewhere between 30 and 240 minutes.

So, if the thief has an iPhone then the thief themselves will be alerted very, very quickly via both noise and an alert on their own device.

Basically, it’s designed so that if some lowlife in a club slipped an AirTag into someone’s bag without them noticing then that person would be alerted that they were being tracked before they got home. If you think about how the whole system must work to allow for that scenario to be supported you’ll quickly realize that AirTags are in no way useful for tracking or preventing theft. They are only useful for helping you find lost items and that’s all.
 
Maconplasma said:
Where did you get the notion that it does that? It doesn't. You have to be within Bluetooth range and manually activate the chirp yourself. Boggles my mind how so much misinformation is posted on MR.
Click to expand...
Just as you have found out, having posted misinformation yourself, AirTags are new and we are all just trying to learn as much about them as possible - without yet having them to test for ourselves. Let's be kind, ok? ;)

Based upon the information here, I have cancelled my order for 4 of the 8 AirTags that I originally placed.

Thank you guys for clarifying some usage points.
 
Last edited:
MTShipp said:
My response here is “out there” but read me out. Partly a poor attempt at humor but with a slice of intended solutions…

If it is really important to you, since you only really need an iPhone for the tracking purposes to prevent it from beeping and only a newer iPhone for the U1 turn by turn locating, why not this idea?

Buy an older iPhone, set it up as family sharing on your account, plug in a external battery source like a Jackery (if shore power not available at the storage facility), and hide it along with the airtag. You would have to periodically go by your camper to recharge the Jackery but should get a week or so per charge. Of course a thief could make off with your camper, airtag, old iPhone, and Jackery. :)
Click to expand...
If you have a powered iPhone in the camper, why not just find the phone in the app? What value does an airtag add?
 
  • Like
Reactions: parseckadet, NightFox and BlankStar
phillytim said:
Just as you have found out, having posted misinformation yourself, AirTags are new and we are all just trying to learn as much about them as possible - without yet having them to test for ourselves. Let's be kind, ok? ;)

Based upon the information here, I have cancelled my order for 4 of the 8 AirTags that I originally placed.

Thank you guys for clarifying some usage points.
Click to expand...
Well that was your choice. Not sure why you needed to tell me you cancelled your order. The sale or no sale won't make or break Apple either way. About me posting misinformation, it really doesn't matter because some people here are trying to encourage others to use these Airtags to protect their cars from being stolen and Apple doesn't support that or any type of theft prevention, so that's misinformation being posted by others as well. Enjoy.
 
  • Angry
  • Sad
Reactions: canyonblue737, diamornte and Deguello
Hustler said:
I’m interested in keeping tabs off a camper that I will have stored away from me. It will be by other houses so I assume there will be close by iOS devices. I’m mainly worried about tracking it if it winds up stolen. My biggest worry at this point is that I’ve read it beeps once it moves once I’m away from it for over 3 days. I will not be by it every 3 days so this may be an issue as a potential thief moves it and then follows the beeping.
Am I understanding it correctly that this is how the airtag will react in this instance?

I’m also exploring the possibility of a full stand along gps tracker. I’ve found one on amazon that is 140 or so with a 2 year subscription to att cell service included. The downside to this is battery life, while its one of the better ones I’ve found in this price point, its probably still not over a month if I have frequent gps updates as a setting.

Thanks for any insight!
Brad
Click to expand...
If a thief steals your camper he would have to tow it, right? I'm guessing he wouldn't hear the beeping if the tag is hidden deep and he's driving.
 
  • Like
Reactions: phillytim
DaveTheRave said:
If a thief steals your camper he would have to tow it, right? I'm guessing he wouldn't hear the beeping if the tag is hidden deep and he's driving.
Click to expand...
Yeah but even if he can't hear it, if the thief has his own iPhone then he will get an alert straight to his own iPhone quite soon after he starts moving. If you are looking to track a camper van you'd be better off buying a product specifically designed for that type of tracking (there are plenty of vehicle trackers out there). AirTags aren't designed for this use and Apple aren't advertising or claiming that they are designed for that scenario.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Maconplasma
skoops said:
The AirTag cannot "notfiy" you by itself. An iOS device needs to be in BLE-range of the AirTag. When someone with an android device moves your car, your AirTag will happily chirp its alarm sound and nothing else will happen. You also won't get any notifications as long as you don't switch your AirTag to "lost mode"
Click to expand...

but honestly, how long until it comes within range of an ios device with bluetooth, heck the thief might have an iphone in his pocket.
 
I just love nonsensical thinking in this thread of people buying the Airtags for theft prevention, especially when discussing cars. Apple does not support this and that's not the point of the Airtags at all. Furthermore if one is so concerned about their car being stolen that they are buying the Airtags for it then it's more the fault of the owner of the car being stolen than the fault of the thief. Car theft is not a common occurrence. Breaking into a car IS common. And I'm saying it's more the fault of the owner for the car theft because these people are obviously placing their car in harms way or making it too easy for thieves to steal it.
I can't wait in the coming weeks for MR's front page news of people stupidly TRYING to sue Apple for the Airtag chirping and tipping off thieves so they can disable the Airtag and proceed with driving off to Lala land with the "victims" car. 😂
 
  • Like
Reactions: parseckadet and Runs For Fun
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back