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BeachDuc

macrumors member
May 18, 2014
47
23
NSW Australia
If you hid one in your car, in case of theft, presumably the thief would get the stalker notification after a short time. Actually, wouldn’t this be the case for any stolen item you tagged, assuming they have an iPhone?
 
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Evader115

macrumors member
Jan 28, 2021
39
78
2) Chickens????? Wow. Now, there's one that I never thought Id here being tracked. But it does make sense. Free range birds?

3) Cars: Assuming for finding it in a full parking lot? But you'd have to be within 30ish feet (bluetooth) and at that point I use my key fob to honk horn. OR am I missing your use case???

4) Remote: How will attach? I need to do this one too.
You duct tape it to the new hot remote. ?
 

augustrushrox

macrumors regular
Feb 7, 2015
124
519
Personally I’d rather a wallet with an UWB chip built in that is rechargeable.

That way -

1. A thief can’t turn off the tracker (I know they can still take the cards out that’s the reason I want UWB cards)

2. A thief would have to cut out the built in UWB chip in order to stop the tracking. Sure they can turn off their own personal “stalker prevention mode”, but Apple devices are so saturated that if a thief went anywhere with the wallet, there’s bound to be somebody that doesn’t have that feature off that WILL be able to help relay a location.
 
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Lumpydog

macrumors 6502
Aug 3, 2007
373
108
Hey everyone - great thread. I've enjoyed reading it. Not for nothing... but you guys all realize that, if you use these things to thwart thieves... and the thief has an iPhone, the AirTag is going to "narc on itself". Right? The thief's iPhone is going to report that there is an unattached AirTag following or "in proximity" or whatever the Apple warning is.

Apple built that in to stop people from using AirTags to stalk each other. If a thief hops on your AirTagged bike, they're going to get a warning on their iPhone that it has an AirTag. I guess you could hope the thief has an Android... or no iPhone.

These things are really meant to find something you've misplaced or has been lost. It's not a LoJac (for you older people) or other anti-theft device. Apple has set these up to make it super easy for thieves to identify its presence and potentially defeat.
 

nekron99

macrumors regular
Jan 17, 2020
102
156
100% agree that thieves will notice these. Also 100% that I don’t lose stuff, so for me these are unimportant—fascinating, but unimportant.
Which is why the pricing and the fun proximity visualizations are brilliant—despite being of limited usefulness, they’re an impulse buy.

But the master stroke is to make them not only better with iPhone, to sell more iPhones, but better than Tile so they’ll put the competition that also works with Android out of business, thus reinforcing the walled garden.

Tile is right, this is abusive and possibly monopolistic? Regardless, it’s evil genius.
 

diego.caraballo

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2013
705
1,816
There's some confusion about the capabilities of the AirTags. They are NOT trackers. You cannot put it in a kid and track him. Not work like that. This thing has not GPS, not cellular. If you want to track your kid, give him an Apple Watch.
You can only see the "real time" location if the AirTag is up to 30 ft of distance with your iPhone/iPad...

If you lost something that has an AirTag, you can put it in "Lost Mode".
Apple has sold 1Billion devices but not every device is capable of run iOS13.5 that's required to send information to "Find My" network. And they need to have internet connection, so iPhones and iPads with cellular. Lot but no a billion.
If one of the capable devices comes nearby of your AirTag in "lost mode" you will get a notification: Last seen near 1234 Street. That's all. You need to go there and and try to put yourself at 30ft or less of the AirTag. It could be inside a building too...

A dog/cat lost in the suburbs will likely not come nearby any iPhone. Probably the most interesting feature of the AirTags is that you can scan it to contact the owner. But dogs and cats has tags and chips normally. Maybe useful if you miss-place you backpack...
 

appleph

macrumors newbie
Apr 7, 2019
23
5
People must really lose their keys and wallets.....

I must be in the rare club to have never or misplaced either of those in my life
Hello club member. I have a tray where i put car key, wallet and work badge. I like the idea about the car, in times where I go to unfamiliar parking space and forget which floor or area i parked.
 

jmcube

macrumors member
Jun 6, 2013
59
10
I had originally thought to sues these for keys and kids. I think that I will give my kids Apple Watches... so just keys?

JM
 

DotCom2

macrumors 603
Feb 22, 2009
6,323
5,639
1. Car (as more accurate than Find My)
2. Car
3. Golf Cart
4. Golf Bag
5. Luggage
6. Bag
 

femike

macrumors 6502a
Oct 15, 2011
958
1,741
I haven't needed or wanted one before, so I have no use for it.
But probably I'll get one to have some knowledge about it, maybe stick it on a bag I'll take out with me somewhere.
 

itsmeaustend

Suspended
Apr 27, 2016
332
816
Now that I think more about it. If someone puts these in their luggage, are these things going to be beeping like crazy in an airplane while it thinks it's being used to anonymously track 100 strangers at 30,000 feet?
No, Apple said they only notify you when you’re home.
 

itsmeaustend

Suspended
Apr 27, 2016
332
816
There's some confusion about the capabilities of the AirTags. They are NOT trackers. You cannot put it in a kid and track him. Not work like that. This thing has not GPS, not cellular. If you want to track your kid, give him an Apple Watch.
You can only see the "real time" location if the AirTag is up to 30 ft of distance with your iPhone/iPad...

If you lost something that has an AirTag, you can put it in "Lost Mode".
Apple has sold 1Billion devices but not every device is capable of run iOS13.5 that's required to send information to "Find My" network. And they need to have internet connection, so iPhones and iPads with cellular. Lot but no a billion.
If one of the capable devices comes nearby of your AirTag in "lost mode" you will get a notification: Last seen near 1234 Street. That's all. You need to go there and and try to put yourself at 30ft or less of the AirTag. It could be inside a building too...

A dog/cat lost in the suburbs will likely not come nearby any iPhone. Probably the most interesting feature of the AirTags is that you can scan it to contact the owner. But dogs and cats has tags and chips normally. Maybe useful if you miss-place you backpack...
The iPad doesn’t need cellular. It’ll listen for the signal and relay when it’s back online. Same for any Mac or Apple Watch.
 

Xak444

macrumors regular
Feb 9, 2021
138
151
I ordered 8 AirTags so far:
  1. Keys (6)
  2. Backpack (1)
  3. Sunglasses (saw Nomad case as well, it is tempting, just not sure if I want to have to take AirTags out for pool/lake days)
---

Considering for next purchase (will have to make a separate Apple ID):
  1. Dogs (2)
  2. Chickens (14) - will engrave with "??"
  3. Cars (4)
  4. AppleTV Remote (2)
  5. Luggage (6-7)
Heads up, as of now the max is 16.
 
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countryside

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2016
660
2,173
Heads up, as of now the max is 16.
Yes, I think I saw that on a Youtube interview. Of the 8 I bought, only 3 will be on my AppleID. The rest is to family member's keys. But, if I go the pet route ... I may need to make my dog an Apple ID? :p
 
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Marli

macrumors 6502
Apr 9, 2011
383
272
Keys
wallet
backpack
Floating tag to connect to anything that might need it that day (luggage when I was flying a lot)
 

haruhiko

macrumors 604
Sep 29, 2009
6,692
6,245
Why do people think that this is a real time tracker with GPS and cellular? It’s a precision tracking device without networking capability nor GPS which broadcasts a Bluetooth and then UWB signal for tracking items in relative proximity. The bonus is that if another iOS device running iOS 13 or above is in proximity, it will also record the location of your lost item but it’s still not a real time GPS tracker.

I bought a pack of 4 and I’m giving one or two to my family members. I may put one in the car and see if it helps locate the car in a busy car park, another … I’m not sure, since I don’t bring keys now having changed to digital locks at home.
 

Maconplasma

Cancelled
Sep 15, 2020
2,489
2,215
I find a little offensive that some here are acting holier than thou stating they have never lost anything and they are inadvertently calling others here who are buying the AirTags careless and stupid. Newsflash to those on their high horse, it's very common for people to misplace things, especially their wallet and keys around the house, in retail stores, gyms and even the park. If it wasn't a common occurrence then these AirTags and Tiles wouldn't sell. Maybe those that have never lost a thing in their life don't go anywhere outside their home and live in a tiny space with virtually no clutter where it's impossible to misplace important things.
 

haruhiko

macrumors 604
Sep 29, 2009
6,692
6,245
AirPods Pro (1). Add a case to the AirPods Pro that has a hook, then connect the AirTags key ring to the AirPods Pro case. No more looking for your AirPods forever!
AirPods is one of the most easily misplaced item but the AirTag seems quite large in comparison to the AirPods case.
 

Someirishguy

macrumors 6502
Mar 27, 2016
252
212
People must really lose their keys and wallets.....

I must be in the rare club to have never or misplaced either of those in my life
So you’ve never said “where are my keys?” - I’ve never lost mine, but I have left them in my trouser pocket before putting on shorts, I have put them on the table and somebody else has put something on them, my kid has picked them up from where I usually leave them and moved them, and so on. Now I can ping them when that happens (4 pack for me!!)
 
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