Air Tags

I bought a 4-pack of Apple AirTags on an Amazon deal (normally £119... I got them for £81.99).

Essentially they're just small, round ultra-wideband Bluetooth devices powered by a CR2032 lithium 3V coin battery which lasts about a year with regular use (I've just had to replace the one I use daily and it's exactly a year since purchase). They're super simple to set-up - just take them out of their packaging, given them a name and that's about it.

They work by exchanging location information with other ultra-wideband Bluetooth devices, like smartphones.

I keep one in the car at all times so I can use the Find My app on my iPhone to locate my car in unfamiliar surroundings like big carparks or strange streets.



The others I use in suitcases/bags/laptop cases, etc. It makes locating them a cinch... plus they warn you if they become separated from you.

There's been a little fuss about them being used for tracking but that's difficult to justify. They warn smartphones (native to iPhones but apps also available for Android) when they are in use and give off a noise to locate them so it's not like they're hidden.

Hope this helps...

There are other manufactures as well. I use Tile myself as a poor man's LoJack for my car. LOL! Seriously, that's what I use the Tile tracker for, a cheap LoJack alternative tracking device for my car if someone grand theft autos the thing.

How do they work? Simple. Collaboration with those running the Tile or Airtag App. I even think Samsung has one. So what happens is your tag sends a Bluetooth signal every now and then and someone's phone running the App hears it and sends the approximate location of where the phone is at (because phones have GPS) that heard the tag back to the Tile or Airtag server. Now you can get an idea where your crap is at and squirrels are now jealous... MInd you this is all encrypted and server side. You can't see where the tags are at unless it is yours.

Now, because there are at least three of these devices on the market, you want to use the one with the most popularity thereby increasing the odds someone's phone hears the ping from your Tile or Airtag and so you will know where your stuff is at. Someone on YouTube set out to find out and they had three of these Tile/Airtag devices in a car going around town to see which one pinged the most. But it does depend on your location it seems. I honestly think the west and east coast of the U.S. are full of Apple users... LOL

If you do what I do for a cheap LoJack, then buy all three and hide them in your car. I hid mine in the tail light compartment on the left side due to driving on the right so that the tag will get as much exposure as possible. Now you can jack my car...

Also, stalkers are using these things to keep tabs on their former love affairs and crap. So these Apps now can help tell you if one of thee tags are in your car or what ever. For Tile, the App told me to walk like 400' away from the location (like my car) to see if it detected a device in my car.

I also saw a company make one for pets... But you could just use Airtag or Tile or what ever. Same damn thing really.

RickC said:

There's been a little fuss about them being used for tracking but that's difficult to justify.

‘I didn’t want it anywhere near me’: how the Apple AirTag became a gift to stalkers | Apple | The Guardian

There are countless other articles...