Will Airtags work if I have find my network disabled? + Other Q's

[CrappleTree99]

I apologize if this question was already asked, did a quick search but couldn't find an answer.

I'm interested in purchasing a tag for my keys as I have butterfingers and frequently drop items.

1. Upon opening your brand new air tag, does it force you to enable Find My Network?
2. After setting up the Air Tag, if you disable Find My Network will the AirTag continue to function? Can I still find an Air Tag without FMN enabled?
3. I prefer to leave my bluetooth OFF unless I need to turn it on for a specific reason, does this interfere with the use of an Air Tag? ie. I would turn BT on if I needed to find the air tag, but turn it off when I'm not trying to find it.

I have an iPhone SE 2022, and was wondering how much battery drain does an Air Tag cause the associated phone when the Tag's item is within range of said phone. I have read some other Phone users like the 14+ get a 9% overnight drain, which seems high to me?
My SE usually drains no more than 2% overnight and something as high as nearly 10% would concern me.

Once again I apologize if these questions were asked already somewhere, but I want to make sure the $$ I spent isn't a waste. Thank you!

 

[Bigwaff]

There is the "Find My" service (called the "network") and then there is activating a device so it can be part of the "Find My" network. AirTags use Bluetooth so you will at least need Bluetooth enabled to associate the AirTag w/ your iCloud account and activate it so it can be part of the "Find My" network. Once part of the "Find My" network, you can turn off Bluetooth on your iPhone, however, the location of the AirTag will only be as accurate as the nearest iPhone w/ Bluetooth enabled. For example, if you're taking a walk w/ your keys w/AirTag and iPhone and lose your keys, because your iPhone has Bluetooth disabled, the location of your lost keys will only be communicated back to the "Find My" network if someone w/ an iPhone w/Bluetooth enabled happens to be in range of your keys. AirTags communicate w/ any iPhone in range to announce their location. This is why the "Find My" network is large and accurate; millions of iPhones contributing to where items are located. AirTags use Bluetooth LE (Low Energy) so having Bluetooth enabled on your iPhone connecting to AirTags shouldn't drain your battery noticeably. Leave Bluetooth on and pay it forward and the luckless schmoe who loses his keys will silently thank you for it.

 

[Fruit Stand]

I apologize if this question was already asked, did a quick search but couldn't find an answer.

I'm interested in purchasing a tag for my keys as I have butterfingers and frequently drop items.

1. Upon opening your brand new air tag, does it force you to enable Find My Network?
2. After setting up the Air Tag, if you disable Find My Network will the AirTag continue to function? Can I still find an Air Tag without FMN enabled?
3. I prefer to leave my bluetooth OFF unless I need to turn it on for a specific reason, does this interfere with the use of an Air Tag? ie. I would turn BT on if I needed to find the air tag, but turn it off when I'm not trying to find it.

I have an iPhone SE 2022, and was wondering how much battery drain does an Air Tag cause the associated phone when the Tag's item is within range of said phone. I have read some other Phone users like the 14+ get a 9% overnight drain, which seems high to me?
My SE usually drains no more than 2% overnight and something as high as nearly 10% would concern me.

Once again I apologize if these questions were asked already somewhere, but I want to make sure the $$ I spent isn't a waste. Thank you!

Enabling or disabling Bluetooth will have little to no effect on battery life in the way that Apple has designed the hardware and software to work.

If your iPhone is losing battery life fast disabling features and functionality is not the path to solving the issue.

Consider getting your phone looked at and possibly reinstalling the iOS on your phone.

 

[CrappleTree99]

Enabling or disabling Bluetooth will have little to no effect on battery life in the way that Apple has designed the hardware and software to work.

If your iPhone is losing battery life fast disabling features and functionality is not the path to solving the issue.

Consider getting your phone looked at and possibly reinstalling the iOS on your phone.

I don't disable bluetooth for battery reasons, its for connectivity interference with other devices. Aside from that, I wanted to know what the drain is on my phone for using an air tag would be given its an SE 2022.

 

[Bigwaff]

I wanted to know what the drain is on my phone for using an air tag would be given its an SE 2022

I have iPhone SE 2020 and 5 AirTags in the household. They don’t effect my battery at all.

 

[waw74]

not 100% sure about this, but...

if the tag is moving (just physical motion/vibration, it has no GPS on it's own) and can't determine it's with the owner (which it does by using bluetooth back and forth with your phone), It will probably go into "anti-stalker" mode and start making noise, as well as potentially popping up notifications on any iPhones with bluetooth on that are traveling with you for a certain amount of time

Also, in looking at the settings, the only thing I can find to disable for find my is for the phone itself behaving like an AirTag, which it can do when it's powered down and if the battery is too low to actually power the phone. Which would prevent you from being able to find your phone in the case you lost it. I'm not sure if this disables your phone acting as a relay for other find my denies or not.

 

[CrappleTree99]

not 100% sure about this, but...

if the tag is moving (just physical motion/vibration, it has no GPS on it's own) and can't determine it's with the owner (which it does by using bluetooth back and forth with your phone), It will probably go into "anti-stalker" mode and start making noise, as well as potentially popping up notifications on any iPhones with bluetooth on that are traveling with you for a certain amount of time

Also, in looking at the settings, the only thing I can find to disable for find my is for the phone itself behaving like an AirTag, which it can do when it's powered down and if the battery is too low to actually power the phone. Which would prevent you from being able to find your phone in the case you lost it. I'm not sure if this disables your phone acting as a relay for other find my denies or not.

I see. Out of curiosity, does Find My Network affect battery life when the phone is turned on?

From what I understand by the description it says " Find my Network lets you locate this iPhone even when it's offline (Does this mean with no internet?), in power reserve mode (low power mode) and completely shut down.

Yet with this turned on, I turned off wifi on my phone and it's shown as "offline" on iCloud.com and not findable.

 

[fischersd]

I see. Out of curiosity, does Find My Network affect battery life when the phone is turned on?

From what I understand by the description it says " Find my Network lets you locate this iPhone even when it's offline (Does this mean with no internet?), in power reserve mode (low power mode) and completely shut down.

Yet with this turned on, I turned off wifi on my phone and it's shown as "offline" on iCloud.com and not findable.

Umm. Any service running on your phone will consume battery life. You want to save the most battery life you can? Turn your screen brightness down to the point that you can barely make anything out and disable everything. Or, you can quit worrying about it and enjoy your phone.

When you go into the Find My settings on your iPhone, you should have 3 options - Find My iPhone (which just allows you to find your iPhone, Find My network - where you're contributing to everyone else (aka, not being a douchbag) and Send Last Location - that allows you to find where your device last reported back, for when the battery dies or the device was put into airplane mode. To get the most out of this feature, you really should have all of them turned on.

 

[Fruit Stand]

I don’t know what appliances or devices you’re concerned about in terms of interference but you’re just circumventing the issue instead of addressing it by turning off this and that.

Unless you live in a bunker on the woods interference will be there and AFAIK Bluetooth doesn’t interfere with anything outside of the 2.4Ghz frequency so things like WiFi, cordless phones.

I work providing customer facing support and service and this is a very misguided approach to your problem.

Good luck.