Someone found my AirPods that I left on a cruise ship. Now I'm tracking them across the country.

[iMas70]

I missed grabbing my AirPod Pros when I left my cabin after a cruise last week. I contacted the lost and found department but nothing happened. The cruise after ours docked today. I've been following their progress to the airport and now they are half way across the country. Waiting to see if that's just one leg of their journey. Realistically, I probably won't take a trip to knock on someone's door to retrieve them. I marked them as lost and left a note for whomever finds them. I also disabled the pods. I've never done that before so I guess they won't be able to use them at all?

Friends and I are betting on if they will be good people and contact me after they get settled at home. I think they had plenty of time to do that while they were waiting at the airport for a few hours but maybe the pods were packed in their bag.

 

[Vref]

The idea of using some random ear pods seems like wearing someone else’s jockstrap 🤮

 

[iMas70]

Their final destination was In Chandler, AZ. I have the names and phone numbers of the people who live there. I’m going to give them a call if I don’t hear anything today.

 

[iMas70]

So… how accurate is the location when I see them on the map? Based on my experience, it’s usually right on the money.

I called the person at the address where I see them. He told me he hasn’t been on a cruise because he has kids. I located the contact info for his neighbor on that side of the house in case it’s off by a few feet. The phone number I found didn’t work so I just sent an email.

Realistically, I’m not planning to get them back but it will be nice if persistence pays off.

One other thing, i was told that a person can have them unlocked if they know the right person. Is that true?

 

[iMas70]

I guess the last question I have about this is under Find My I an click Play Sound. I believe this only happen if I'm close to them? Or is the sound playing 2500 miles away? I still see them at the same house (the one I called) since Sunday.

 

[Sil3nt1]

Just consider it a lost cause lol

 

[floral]

Unfortunately you probably shouldn't expect to see those AirPods again... Unless you want to go forth with calling them, which I think is a little too far since you already know a good amount about them, and initially the title made me think you were trying to hunt them over some wireless headphones, and it sort of seems that way.

 

[iStorm]

I have to agree with the others. It's probably a lost cause and just have to wait to see if anyone ever notices your message and contacts you. I wouldn't get your hopes up though. We can tell they were deliberately stolen since they are now hundreds of miles away from where they were lost/found. An honest person would have tried to contact you right away or handed them over to the cruise's lost and found...not take them home to contact you later.

I also disabled the pods. I've never done that before so I guess they won't be able to use them at all?

What do you mean by this? I'm pretty sure there's no "kill switch" or activation lock. They can still use them, or even reset them to stop you from tracking them. They just won't be able to link them to their Apple ID to use the Find My features.

So… how accurate is the location when I see them on the map? Based on my experience, it’s usually right on the money.

I believe these work like AirTags, so the location could potentially be up to 800 feet off (the range of Bluetooth 5). The location you're seeing is most likely the location of the iPhone/iPad/Mac that detected the AirPods...or the approximate location if there are multiple devices around that detected them. (The AirPods don't have a GPS chip in them. The devices that detect them don't know the exact location of the AirPods either.) Also, the thief could have opted out of participating in the Find My network so that his/her exact location doesn't get reported, or maybe they don't even have an iPhone.

Just as an example based on my experience with AirTags... I opened the Find My app when I boarded a plane to see if my checked luggage also made it on the plane. I was a little surprised to see that my luggage looked like it was on the plane at the next gate over, which had to be 100+ feet away. I knew it couldn't have been on that plane though since it was a different airline going to a different destination. I thought it was interesting that my tag was reported to be way over there when there should have been other devices on/closer to my plane to report its location.

 

[Cunir]

I believe these work like AirTags, so the location could potentially be up to 800 feet off (the range of Bluetooth 5). The location you're seeing is most likely the location of the iPhone/iPad/Mac that detected the AirPods.

Thats good to know, if I’m ever tempted to go bashing someone’s door down hunting for a stolen phone. Before you said that i would have assumed it was as accurate as when it shows your own device sitting in your own house on FindMy

 

[iStorm]

Thats good to know, if I’m ever tempted to go bashing someone’s door down hunting for a stolen phone. Before you said that i would have assumed it was as accurate as when it shows your own device sitting in your own house on FindMy

Right. If the stolen phone still has network access, then the location should be accurate since the phone would be reporting its own location...but if it's powered off or in reserve mode (and has the "iPhone Remains Findable After Power Off" feature), then it wouldn't be quite as accurate since it would be dependent on other devices to report the approximate location.

 

[iMas70]

Unfortunately you probably shouldn't expect to see those AirPods again... Unless you want to go forth with calling them, which I think is a little too far since you already know a good amount about them, and initially the title made me think you were trying to hunt them over some wireless headphones, and it sort of seems that way.

I already called. The guy I spoke with told me he hasn't been on a cruise and he doesn't have them. I confirmed that he lives at the address I'm showing them at. I don't know... This stuff is usually very accurate. I tried luggage to the exact room it was in at the airport, have found lost AirPods, keys and other things.

 

[iMas70]

So I just did some more research, I guess I was wrong. I thought I was able to disable them. The message tells the person they are lost and has my number. I don't think they have any intent on returning them. The area where the AirPods are is made up of houses in the $500K-$700K+ range. You'd think they'd be people who would be more likely to do the right thing.

 

[GMShadow]

You'd be surprised how people with money can act, that said it's possible one of their kids has them. Just write them off and move on.

 

[floral]

I already called. The guy I spoke with told me he hasn't been on a cruise and he doesn't have them. I confirmed that he lives at the address I'm showing them at. I don't know... This stuff is usually very accurate. I tried luggage to the exact room it was in at the airport, have found lost AirPods, keys and other things.

Oh.