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

What's the use case of AirTags as a convenience product as I don't typically lose things.

Luba

Luba

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 22, 2009
1,820
389
I don't typically lose things or misplace them because I do things that lessen the chance for it to be lost, for instance I don't take keys out of my pocket for that reason, even though in the summer it would be more comfortable if I did. Perhaps getting AirTags will allow me the freedom and convenience of taking my keys out of my pockets and not worry about finding them.

Any other convenient use cases for using AirTags?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Eithanius, hamburg040 and Spetsgruppa
Yep, find a reason to buy an Apple product. I have that too, ended up with 2 of Homepod mini.

I guess you can use them for..
- ask a trusted delivery guys to put it on delivered package on the porch in case stolen
- find where you parked your car
- message in a bottle
- urban wildlife research
- pigeon racing

That's all I can think of now.
 
  • Like
  • Haha
  • Love
Reactions: Nightfury326, ondert, shadyman and 4 others
Luba said:
I don't typically lose things or misplace them because I do things that lessen the chance for it to be lost, for instance I don't take keys out of my pocket for that reason, even though in the summer it would be more comfortable if I did. Perhaps getting AirTags will allow me the freedom and convenience of taking my keys out of my pockets and not worry about finding them.

Any other convenient use cases for using AirTags?
Click to expand...
Keys, definitely. But my first thought was hiding a bunch of these in my car. If it ever gets stolen, I’ll have an accurate way of locating it. You could tail the thief from afar without them knowing!

Outside of this, if I had a pet with a collar, this would be an automatic purchase.

Also automatic — luggage.

Definitely going to buy at least a 4-pack.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: kazmac, Luba and Spetsgruppa
Pro photographer here. I’ll stick one in my camera bag. Handy at weddings and other events where you might have to leave your bag somewhere while working.

My wife would use one in her handbag.

My son has a favourite soft toy he would be devastated to lose. I could stick one on a fob around his neck 🙂
 
  • Like
Reactions: PennHunter, SBlue1, SayCheese and 1 other person
Kierkegaarden said:
Keys, definitely. But my first thought was hiding a bunch of these in my car. If it ever gets stolen, I’ll have an accurate way of locating it. You could tail the thief from afar without them knowing!
Click to expand...
Except, if the thief has an iPhone, the Air Tags will start beeping. They'll soon be found and thrown out of the window.

And even if they stayed in the car, what good are they to find your car? They don't have a SIM card or GPS.
 
  • Like
Reactions: theman510
Luba said:
I don't typically lose things or misplace them because I do things that lessen the chance for it to be lost, for instance I don't take keys out of my pocket for that reason, even though in the summer it would be more comfortable if I did. Perhaps getting AirTags will allow me the freedom and convenience of taking my keys out of my pockets and not worry about finding them.

Any other convenient use cases for using AirTags?
Click to expand...

None I can think of for me.

I bought a pack of tile trackers many years back and found that I didn’t really have a use for them. Basically ended up tossing them into the trash a year later when their battery finally ran out.

I suspect they will eventually play a crucial role in AR glasses, but that’s another story for another day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sword86
this would be a great stocking stuffer for parents imo

except some would need a body-integrated tracker that can track their iPhone with U1 to find their phone.. to find their keys
 
  • Like
Reactions: levander
Going to buy a 4-pack. Two for each dog we got, one for my electric bike and one for my wife's purse.

When I'm happy with their functionality, I'll buy more to put in luggage on holidays or stick to other expensive stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hamburg040 and Coffee50
You have to think about use cases where a lost item would likely be around another apple device to be located. Briefcases, purses, car keys are all great use cases. I can see luggage, cars, and bikes also being a possible use case, but may not be as reliable.

I think using it as a pet tracker would be a waste of time. A lost dog isn't going to hang out in the range of the same bluetooth device for any long period of time, and if a stranger has malicious intent the first thing they're going to do is check for a tracking device. A GPS tracker would be the proper solution here.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sword86 and 4339142
Ahboyd said:
Yep, find a reason to buy an Apple product. I have that too, ended up with 2 of Homepod mini.

I guess you can use them for..
- ask a trusted delivery guys to put it on delivered package on the porch in case stolen
- find where you parked your car
- message in a bottle
- urban wildlife research
- pigeon racing

That's all I can think of now.
Click to expand...
Yes, in the car! I do lose that, especially in a garage. How less effective are the AirTags if you put one inside the luggage, that way you wouldn't need a luggage tag to hold the AirTag.
 
use case to locate my kids' and their backpacks in school.. Most teacher's have an iPhone in their desks on silent mode, this would use the signal from those iPhones to locate the kids' backpacks and help find lost ones. The find my network is the key to this, this is why the Tile solution is worrying, the Find My network out of the box destroys it in foot print
 
Anyone know what is the range you have to be in order to track? I was also thinking of getting one for my car in case I forgot where i parked but if the range is limited it won't be that useful.
 
Mildredop said:
Except, if the thief has an iPhone, the Air Tags will start beeping. They'll soon be found and thrown out of the window.

And even if they stayed in the car, what good are they to find your car? They don't have a SIM card or GPS.
Click to expand...
The AirTags would have to be hidden well in the vehicle. Would the non-owner just know that there is one, but not the precise location?

Doesn’t the location ping to iPhones around the tag and get relayed back to the owner? If you’re in a densely populated area, chances are there are plenty of iPhones that can relay these signals.

Might be a stretch, but worth an experiment!
 
Mildredop said:
Except, if the thief has an iPhone, the Air Tags will start beeping. They'll soon be found and thrown out of the window.

And even if they stayed in the car, what good are they to find your car? They don't have a SIM card or GPS.
Click to expand...
They only 'beep' to the owners phone not any iphone ....... however they would use the thiefs iphone to relay the signal .... my understanding is the tag communicates with any surrounding ios device so doesn't need a SIM or GPS ....... if there are no nearby devices then obviously it wouldn't work
 
ukms said:
They only 'beep' to the owners phone not any iphone ....... however they would use the thiefs iphone to relay the signal .... my understanding is the tag communicates with any surrounding ios device so doesn't need a SIM or GPS ....... if there are no nearby devices then obviously it wouldn't work
Click to expand...
This sounds sort of like the contact tracing APIs that Apple and Google built, seems like it's just a variation?
 
glenthompson said:
Apple Maps already does that for you as long as you have the iPhone connected to the car's bluetooth. See this article on how to use it.
Click to expand...
How do you get that to work? My phone doesn't connect via Bluetooth when it connects over USB. It'll only connect Bluetooth if I don't plug it in (wired CarPlay), but even when it does this I don't get parked location in Maps.

It is tempting to put one on my bike or car, turn off Bluetooth and location services on my phone, and drive around with the AirTag in lost mode to see how well it tracks. It shouldn't recognize that my phone is nearby with Bluetooth and location turned off. Either that or "accidentally" leave it on the subway and pick it up a few stations later.
 
jeepik said:
use case to locate my kids' and their backpacks in school.. Most teacher's have an iPhone in their desks on silent mode, this would use the signal from those iPhones to locate the kids' backpacks and help find lost ones. The find my network is the key to this, this is why the Tile solution is worrying, the Find My network out of the box destroys it in foot print
Click to expand...
Tile can use Find My network according to an article I read. It was the reason AirTags were delayed. But Tile supposedly doesn't want to use Find My. If Tiles can make their tiles work on both networks then their tags will superior. I'm guessing their network entails any type of smartphone that has the Tile app installed.
 
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