If you tend to leave bags on trains, forget your keys, or lose pretty much anything that’s not physically attached to you, the launch of Apple AirTags earlier this year was welcome news.
The AirTag is a small round device that can be tracked by iPhone or iPad using Apple’s popular Find My network. AirTags allow you to locate an item that you have misplaced around the house or to track it virtually anywhere in the world where the Find My network operates.
Retailing at just $39 for one AirTag or $129 for a pack of four, this device can be a godsend for those of us who are more than a little absent-minded. It can also help you recover a stolen item.
What Do AirTags Look Like?
Apple AirTags are sleek, lozenge-shaped discs that are just 1.26 inches in diameter and 0.31 inches thick. They are white on one side and have an engravable metal face on the other side that you can customize with letters or emoticons for a small additional fee.
AirTags are powered by one standard CR2032 watch battery that Apple says will last for up to one year of continuous use.
How Do AirTags Work?
The AirTag is equipped with several features that enable it to be tracked and located.
First, it contains a U1 chip, which uses Bluetooth technology to send a signal when it comes within the range of any Bluetooth-enabled iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. This range is a maximum of about 300 feet. Since there are now 1.65 billion Apple devices being used around the globe, that’s a huge network to help you triangulate your device.
Second, the AirTag contains a tiny speaker that can emit a beep loud enough to be heard in an adjoining room. This is a great feature if you tend to misplace your keys. Once you’ve set up your AirTag, Just say “Hey Siri, find my keys,” and the device should start announcing its location.
Can It Really Help Me Find My Keys?
A lot of the stuff we hunt for is simply misplaced, not lost or stolen. If you’ve dropped your keys down the back of a sofa, here’s where AirTag comes into its own.
If you have an iPhone 11 or higher, the ultra-wideband chip in an AirTag can locate your keys with pinpoint accuracy. Simply open the Find My app and click Find Nearby. Doing so activates a combination of sensors to locate the object using haptic, visual, and audio indicators of proximity. The Find My app tells you which direction to walk in and how far to go to find the object.
We can already see a downside, though, if your kids realize that they can play a game of hide-the-keys and enjoy watching you find them. So be careful whom you tell about this feature!
How Do I Set Up an AirTag?
AirTags are simple to use. There’s a tiny battery tag on the side of the AirTag that you pull out in order to pair it with another device. Then simply bring it near your iPhone or other Apple device running iOS 14.5 or higher. A pop-up box will appear. Tap Connect to pair the AirTag with your phone or tablet.
Now give the tag a name, depending on what object you plan to attach it to. This is particularly important if you are using many tags. There are default names in a drop-down menu, but you can also tailor the name to be as quirky or as obvious as you like.
Next, make sure that the device works using the Find My app. You can download this app from the App Store if you haven’t already. When you open the Find My app, it should list your paired AirTags among the items it can locate.
If you ever lose the AirTagged item, simply go to the Find My app, find the page for the relevant AirTag, and select the Lost mode. You can then choose to receive a notification if the device is found and add a custom message and contact details for anyone who finds it.
If and when you receive a notification, this means that someone else on the Find My network has knowingly or unknowingly moved within range of the device. If a person finds your AirTag, he can scan it with his own phone, receive your message, and activate a notification to let you know that it’s been found.
Unless you tell him yourself, the finder won’t know your own location. But you will be able to see the approximate location of the AirTag on your iOS device.
Limitations
The AirTag works only if the following five conditions are met:
- The AirTag has been paired with your device.
- You have registered with the Find My network.
- The battery of the AirTag has a charge. (It will send you a notification when it is running low.)
- Another Find My enabled device has come within range of the AirTag.
- Your iPhone or other smart device is on.
Given the usefulness of AirTags, it is likely that their use will become very common, so that the Find My network will greatly expand. The bigger the network, the more likely it is that you can readily find a misplaced AirTagged item.
What If My Item Is Stolen?
An AirTag won’t help you if a thief throws it away or removes the battery. If you want to track valuable items that may be stolen, be clever. Hide the AirTag where it won’t easily be found.
All AirTags have individual serial numbers that are tied to your IP address once you pair them. This means that you can go to the police with this information and the location of your stolen item, providing them with a convenient data trail to follow.
It’s still early days for AirTag users. But bicycle thieves are going to have a much harder time getting away with their misdeeds once owners start hiding AirTags in bike frames.
Can I Use AirTags for Surveillance?
The folks at Apple have always expressed concern for the privacy of users, contrasting this concern with the relative indifference of other big-tech companies. Anticipating fears that AirTags may turn us all into amateur sleuths, Apple has added certain limitations to how they can be tracked.
First and foremost, an AirTag can be paired with only one Apple ID; so you cannot track your partner’s AirTag, for instance. Second, if someone tries to insert a paired AirTag into one of your possessions, the AirTag will notify your own iOS devices of its presence as soon as it is out of range of its owner. So unless the person hoping to spy on you is always within 300 feet, you’ll be alerted to the presence of that person’s AirTag.
Also, when an AirTag has been removed from the presence of its owners for three days, it will start emitting a high-pitched beep. (This beep can be disabled for AirTags attached to items that have been stolen.
Although there may be cunning ways to get around these restrictions that Apple has not yet considered, the company has at least done as much as it can to prevent users from using AirTags for nefarious purposes.
How Many AirTags Can I Track?
You can have up to sixteen AirTags paired to any single Apple ID, which should be plenty for even the most forgetful of individuals.
What If I Want to Lend My Tagged Item to a Friend?
Rather than receiving constant alerts and having your friend receive a lot of irritating beeps, you can disable both features if you’re lending an item to someone. If your friend loses the item, no need to panic; simply switch these features back on to locate it. (Then chastise your friend!)
How Do I Attach an AirTag?
You can pop an AirTag into your pocket or purse or buy a third-party accessory that enables you to attach an AirTag to your possession. These accessories cost as little as $5 for a key fob or as much as $879 for an Hermès luggage tag.
What Should I Do If I Find a Lost AirTag?
Both iPhone users and Android owners with NFC-chipped phones can scan an AirTag. Simply bring your phone next to it; any message and contact details left by the owner will then pop up (in a web browser if the device is not an Apple device).
The owner will not receive any identifying information from you, and you will not know anything about the owner that he does not willingly share.
Are There Competing Products?
Apple is not the only game in town when it comes to the geo-tagging of devices. Tile has been producing Bluetooth trackers since 2016, and Samsung has their SmartTag and SmartTag+ devices.
Tile trackers have the advantage of being two-way; you can find your phone using any paired Tile tracker. But their range is short, about 30 feet. So Tile trackers are useless if your possessions are lost or stolen in the wider world.
Samsung’s SmartTag+ is similar, but it works only with Samsung phones. Samsung reports that there are about 992 million active Samsung devices, which is a little over half the size of Apple’s network.
AirTags: Pros and Cons
Pros
- AirTag draws on the huge Find My network.
- It has U1 chips that enable accurate short-distance location.
- AirTag uses end-to-end encryption to provide substantial privacy.
- Found tags can be scanned by many smartphone users.
- The low cost makes this a sensible and affordable purchase.
Cons
- Accessory tag holders must be bought separately.
- The battery lasts only a year or so.
- An AirTags will beep, alerting a thief to its presence, if you fail to notice the loss of your item within three days and disable the beep.
We see few downsides. The AirTag is likely to become a huge money-maker for Apple and a lifesaver for the rest of us.
