Location updated every 20 or more minutes!

[osplo]

My AirTag updates its location on the FindMy app with a looooong delay, often more than 20 minutes. Is this normal?

I bought another tracker from a no-name company to see if the problem was the AirTag, but I got exactly the same behavior with both trackers.

This can't be normal.

Or is it?

Any ideas?

 

[Iwavvns]

My AirTag updates its location on the FindMy app with a looooong delay, often more than 20 minutes. Is this normal?

I bought another tracker from a no-name company to see if the problem was the AirTag, but I got exactly the same behavior with both trackers.

This can't be normal.

Or is it?

Any ideas?

I would think that, for any tracker to be effective, it would need to access a server somewhere. How many trackers are in use? Thousands? Think of the server load if all those trackers accessed the server every 60 seconds.. not to mention the bandwidth. Then, again, I could be totally overthinking this as I don't know for sure.. just a thought.

 

[Slartibart]

you know how airtags work? so: where is the airtag located? if there is no suitable iDevice around or it’s not connected to a network you will have ev3n higher latencies (e.g. put one in your luggage and on a airplane). If you need high responsiveness, you need an active gps tracker - airtags do not do and can not deliver that intentionally.

 

[osplo]

Thanks for the answers. So, you mean this is completely normal?

Then for my use case is worthless. I want to track my dog if she runs away. But a dog can be 10 miles apart in 20 minutes time! I will not be able to locate her with these things.

No way to speed location updates in any manner?

 

[Slartibart]

Thanks for the answers. So, you mean this is completely normal?

Then for my use case is worthless. I want to track my dog if she runs away. But a dog can be 10 miles apart in 20 minutes time! I will not be able to locate her with these things.

the airtag position is only updated when an Apple device picks up its signal and relays it to the find my-network.
if your dog runs into the forest you will not see any position update till it mets a deer with an iPhone or an owl with an iPad, … only their devices then will relay the position to the find my-network (when they are able to connect to a telco).

Airtags by design serve to find lost stationeries, but not to track continuously moving whatever.

No way to speed location updates in any manner?

if you can make sure that where your dog runs away, are enough active iPhones and iPads connected to a Telco, well, that will probably speed up location updates… 😉

Otherwise get an active gps-tracker.

 

[osplo]

the airtag position is only updated when an Apple device picks up its signal and relays it to the find my-network.
if your dog runs into the forest you will not see any position update till it mets a deer with an iPhone or an owl with an iPad, … only their devices then will relay the position to the find my-network (when they are able to connect to a telco).

Airtags by design serve to find lost stationeries, but not to track continuously moving whatever.


if you can make sure that where your dog runs away, are enough active iPhones and iPads connected to a Telco, well, that will probably speed up location updates… 😉

Otherwise get an active gps-tracker.

Thanks again- I looked into gps trackers but then the battery could be an issue, not to mention subscription charges.

But anyway, the point is that even when the dog is at close distance of an iPhone (say, my daughter), I receive a location update every 20 minutes or more. Even when the dog is at home near my very iPhone!

Is that normal, in your experience?

I understand that real-time updates would be next to impossible, but... +20 minutes? Really?

 

[Slartibart]

again this is not an active tracker - but you can setup separation alerts will notify you pretty quick… I never looked into the relay interval into the find my-network, but there are probably a bunch of factors and design choices…. oh, and requirements. I mean, only devices which are setup for Find My will relay info (e.g. your daughter has to share her location on her iPhone), if an airtag pings an iDevice within a certain radius around a geo coordinate multiple times the iDevice probably does not relay again into the find my-network (that interval can probably approximated by having a look on ”last seen at”- info; or it does relay but Apple’s servers will not notify because there is no change), and there is for sure a bit more defined on Apple’s side.

20 minutes intervals for lost keys or luggage etc. seems quite appropriate - together with separation alerts that keeps you quite nicely covered. I mean if your luggage is at the Côte d'Azur airport in Nice and you arrived at your destination in Zurich how often would you like to have that updated? 😃

As you pointed yourself out: battery limits active gps-trackers (obviously Airtags as well), but that is addressable by checking IMHO before letting the dogs out.

 

[osplo]

Thanks. Still, I think that Apple could do better than 20 minutes. Anyway, it is what it is.

 

[sifpilsen]

To make the AirTag battery last for one year, the check-ins must be limited. The GPS trackers check in almost continuously using a radio that consumes more power, and the battery suffers even more.

 

[zorinlynx]

My AirTag updates its location on the FindMy app with a looooong delay, often more than 20 minutes. Is this normal?

I bought another tracker from a no-name company to see if the problem was the AirTag, but I got exactly the same behavior with both trackers.

This can't be normal.

Or is it?

Any ideas?

Is it moving around? To save battery, AirTags have motion sensors. They won't update often if they're not moving.

To get an update, and AirTag has to have been moved since the last update, and there has to be an iPhone nearby for it to ping its location through. If it's sitting on a desk for hours it will not update often at all even if there's iPhones around; that's how it gets such good battery life from a tiny CR2032.