Adding AirPods to the Find My network without an iPhone (or other iOS devices)

[JoeSilver]

Is it possible?
I have a new set of AirPods 4 (ANC) and a MacBook Pro as the only other Apple device in my household.
They work flawlessly with the Mac (as I expected), but I cannot get them enrolled in the Find My network.

The support pages don't explicitly rule out the possibility, and the Settings Menu for the AirPods on Mac OS has a specific toggle for enabling the Find My functionality. However, I couldn't add them in any way. Googling around, I have found other users who have the same issue.

However, nothing in the official documentation rules out the possibility, although the examples are always for an iPhone.

 

[erihp]

Time is money. Buy an (old) iPhone.

You should be able to pull this off on the cheap with anything running iOS 15 or 16, OG SE for under $50.

Or go for a currently/26 supported model like the SE2/3 for under $100.

You dont need cellular service.

Plus when you invariably lose your Airpods or Airtags, you will have a handheld device to help you track them down

 

[JoeSilver]

Yeah, I don't know if it is really worth it. At the moment I don't even know whether they are defective somehow.

But I have to say I'm quite satisfied the way they work on Mac and even with Android, once you find the 3rd party app which at least reads the battery charge and allows for a few settings (there are ongoing projects which aim to replicate the full set of features on Android and Linux).

I hadn't realised how the Apple ecosystem is iPhone-centric. Because as far as I understand, once it's associated to my Apple ID and added to the Find My network, a device should be locatable from the Mac. In fact, from any browser on iCloud.com. And if I loose them and I roughly know the area where they are, I could still make them beep without an iPhone.

So why should I need an iPhone for enrolling them is quite inexplicable (I mean, apart from ensnaring me further into the ecosystem...)

 

[erihp]

In fact, from any browser on iCloud.com. And if I loose them and I roughly know the area where they are, I could still make them beep without an iPhone.

So why should I need an iPhone for enrolling them is quite inexplicable (I mean, apart from ensnaring me further into the ecosystem...)

Sure you can find in a browser after you login to your apple account on another device. But they won't beep solely via browser in iCloud. You would still need a device in range. I guess the plan is walk around with an open macbook sweeping wildly in the air for signal; new meme unlocked?

Logically sound, but when youre in a pinch and trying to recover something your lost/left behind every bit of friction is compounded. Maybe you dont have your laptop with you. Or even in the case of fortunate luck, your friend has their phone. But, do you know your apple password by heart and have ability to two factor? Do you trust your friends device? What if you have no friends?

I agree with the second point quoted here, but thats the way it is.

iPhone SE 3 is a lot of device for $100 (used). Even if you only used it as a companion to your Macbook (act as a webcam, airdrop files, airplay music, control stuff around the house, screen mirroring, call and facetime handoff, notetaking, taking tabs with you to the bathroom...) its a ton of value.

Less than the cost of the Airpods themselves! Your already more than halfway in... embrace the ecosystem!

 

[JoeSilver]

Sure you can find in a browser after you login to your apple account on another device. But they won't beep solely via browser in iCloud. You would still need a device in range. I guess the plan is walk around with an open macbook sweeping wildly in the air for signal; new meme unlocked?

That's right, what I meant is that if I lose them at home, or in another environment where I have my MacBook at hand, I could still locate them, more precisely. (I thought I could make them beep via iCloud though...)

But in general, even without other Apple devices in the surroundings, I would expect them to be located on a map wherever it was the last time I was using them.
For example, there is a 3rd part app for Android which records the coordinates of the location where the AirPods are being used by the phone and shows them on a map. I guess it just uses the GPS data. Of course the moment I store them, the location is no longer updated but in this way I can still see where I used them for the last time, which is somewhat helpful.

But maybe I don't really understand how this protocol works!

Sometimes when I go back home and open Find My, I see my MacBook still located in the place where I was working, while the person Me is correctly located at home. Does that mean that Me is located based on the internet connection, while the MacBook must find an Apple device nearby to communicate with, in order to broadcast its coordinates?

Logically sound, but when youre in a pinch and trying to recover something your lost/left behind every bit of friction is compounded. Maybe you dont have your laptop with you. Or even in the case of fortunate luck, your friend has their phone. But, do you know your apple password by heart and have ability to two factor? Do you trust your friends device? What if you have no friends?

I agree with the second point quoted here, but thats the way it is.

iPhone SE 3 is a lot of device for $100 (used). Even if you only used it as a companion to your Macbook (act as a webcam, airdrop files, airplay music, control stuff around the house, screen mirroring, call and facetime handoff, notetaking, taking tabs with you to the bathroom...) its a ton of value.

Less than the cost of the Airpods themselves! Your already more than halfway in... embrace the ecosystem!

The reason why I bought the AirPods instead of similarly featured earbuds is that I'm mulling over the transition to the walled garden ecosystem. But I don't feel that the iPhone is features-ready yet, compared to Pixel and other Android.

 

[erihp]

That's right, what I meant is that if I lose them at home, or in another environment where I have my MacBook at hand, I could still locate them, more precisely. (I thought I could make them beep via iCloud though...)

But in general, even without other Apple devices in the surroundings, I would expect them to be located on a map wherever it was the last time I was using them.
For example, there is a 3rd part app for Android which records the coordinates of the location where the AirPods are being used by the phone and shows them on a map. I guess it just uses the GPS data. Of course the moment I store them, the location is no longer updated but in this way I can still see where I used them for the last time, which is somewhat helpful.

But maybe I don't really understand how this protocol works!

Sometimes when I go back home and open Find My, I see my MacBook still located in the place where I was working, while the person Me is correctly located at home. Does that mean that Me is located based on the internet connection, while the MacBook must find an Apple device nearby to communicate with, in order to broadcast its coordinates?



The reason why I bought the AirPods instead of similarly featured earbuds is that I'm mulling over the transition to the walled garden ecosystem. But I don't feel that the iPhone is features-ready yet, compared to Pixel and other Android.

Can't beep solely via iCloud in browser. Think about it, how would the airtag/airpods get the signal from the web to sound? They only have bluetooth or UWB, not wifi or cellular. FindMy does not hunt and instruct a device that is in real time range of the airpods/airtags to sound at your request.

With no find my devices to relay your location from your MacBook, as soon as it drops from wifi, it can no longer update its location until you are home and it hops back on a network and syncs with iCloud. The 'Me' knows youre logged in and routing through your known residential network. iCloud messages and finym data sync takes some time as a flurry of things fire off when your Macbook reconnects.

FindMy should store the last location you were paired with a device and will even tell you when they are left behind. My airpod 4 will also distinguish between each airpod and the case, which is nice.

Leaving an airtag in your car as an example where if no one is around it will know where it was last seen by your device. Thing is, unless you are always connected to a mobile network, your connected macbook cannot update findmy with the last known location. Maybe it still maintains this locally and would still work, but I wouldn't know because Im not Macbook-only.

Granted eventually people will walk by and update the location actively as well... when their device hears your airpods/airtag bluetooth beacon, it sends Apple the iPhone's location where it detected the tag, and updates the last seen time.

 

[ultratiem]

Settings Menu for the AirPods on Mac OS has a specific toggle for enabling the Find My functionality. However, I couldn't add them in any way.

if the toggle is on then they have been added to Find My. When you open the app, are they not there? Macs, iPads and iPhones fully support all AirPod features.

 

[okkibs]

if the toggle is on then they have been added to Find My. When you open the app, are they not there? Macs, iPads and iPhones fully support all AirPod features.

I thought the same thing but it really isn't supported on the Mac: https://support.apple.com/guide/airpods/locate-your-airpods-dev8e8b93d71/web

You must pair your AirPods with an iPhone or iPad where you’re signed in to your Apple Account to see your AirPods in Find My on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch.

Apple themselves hide it in this support document and give no indication that functionality is restricted with a Mac.

I would go to an Apple Store and explain the situation so you can use one of their store models to enable Find My.

 

[JoeSilver]

if the toggle is on then they have been added to Find My. When you open the app, are they not there? Macs, iPads and iPhones fully support all AirPod features.

They never appear on Find My. Not even while they are being used with the Mac. I had a chat with Apple support and even a phone call with screen sharing (they made me unpair and reset them to factory settings... no luck)

 

[JoeSilver]

I thought the same thing but it really isn't supported on the Mac: https://support.apple.com/guide/airpods/locate-your-airpods-dev8e8b93d71/web

Apple themselves hide it in this support document and give no indication that functionality is restricted with a Mac.

Oh, somehow I had missed that.

I would go to an Apple Store and explain the situation so you can use one of their store models to enable Find My.

So do you think they would temporarily add my account to a phone, and then (hopefully) delete it, and it would still work?

 

[okkibs]

So do you think they would temporarily add my account to a phone, and then (hopefully) delete it, and it would still work?

It would definitely work but to be honest I doubt if they'll accommodate you. In my experience store employees are mostly sales people. But asking is free and there are other places that have iPhones. You might want to try some retailer in your area.

Other than finding your Airpods if you misplace them there isn't actually much value to Find My. Contrary to other Apple devices Airpods cannot be remotely locked or disabled if they are stolen. So even with Find My connected Airpods random people will still be able to use them regardless. It's the same with the Apple Pencil, it can be located but anyone can attach it to their iPad and use it. (There is no "lost mode" for Airpods and Pencils in the Find My app.)

So if you want to locate them if you misplaced them that's fine but for theft deterrent or something I wouldn't bother.

 

[JoeSilver]

It would definitely work but to be honest I doubt if they'll accommodate you. In my experience store employees are mostly sales people. But asking is free and there are other places that have iPhones. You might want to try some retailer in your area.

Yes, I think the same, especially since online support hasn't been able to fix it (in fact, they didn't even know that it isn't possible).

So if you want to locate them if you misplaced them that's fine but for theft deterrent or something I wouldn't bother.

I wouldn't ask more than it's already available on iOS.

 

[kitKAC]

Other than finding your Airpods if you misplace them there isn't actually much value to Find My.

Which is probably why you can only add them with an iOS device, who's going to be walking around town carrying their Mac, trying to find misplaced AirPods?

 

[JoeSilver]

Which is probably why you can only add them with an iOS device, who's going to be walking around town carrying their Mac, trying to find misplaced AirPods?

I don't understand the objection. Right now, I can have my Mac located on the Find My.

What's the point of it, why am I being allowed to add the Mac on Find My without having an iOS device? Who's gonna be walking around town carrying another Mac, trying to find a misplaced MacBook?

Perhaps because there's another simpler but still useful application of the functionality, where I just need to check if I left it at work, at a friend's home, in my car, or (God forbids) in a cafe?

Same for the AirPods.

Even just the confirmation that they're actually here, in my home, would spare me a lot of worry. "I just need to search better".