Apple AirTags are tiny location tracking devices that use BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) technology to connect to your phone or other nearby phones to help you find or track them. You need to be an iPhone user to take advantage of these, but Android users can use similar devices from Tile and achieve most of the same functionality. AirTags cost £39.99 for one or £129.99 for a 4-pack.
AirTags cannot transmit any location signal. Instead, they use ultra-wideband technology to connect to nearby Apple devices, sharing the AirTag’s location information. Importantly, this does not have to be your own Apple device, so if you lose something in a public place, it simply needs any other Apple device nearby.
APPLE FRIENDLY
It means that if you lose an AirTag in the wilderness, with no other Apple devices nearby, it will not reveal its location in the Find My application. It does not have a GPS locator or transmitter inside it or a cellular connection to transmit data. However, if you lost it in the wilderness and knew its rough location, you could find it by getting yourself in the right area. Apple says the range is 10m (33ft).
AirTags locate things with remarkable precision. And once you get close, if you still can’t find your item, it will play a ringing sound from the AirTag so that you can locate it audibly. AirTags locate things with remarkable precision. And once you get close, if you still can’t find your item, it will play a ringing sound from the AirTag so that you can locate it audibly.
Aside from pinpointing the location of an item, AirTags can also prevent you from leaving them behind in the first place. When you first set up a new AirTag, you can define safe “Home” locations for the item where you will often leave it. Outside of those locations, your iPhone will give you a notification if you leave that item in another location. This function is excellent for small items such as your wallet, which could fall unnoticed from your pocket. If you and your phone get too far from your wallet, you’ll get an instant notification.
What’s great about this feature is that it tells you when your phone loses a signal to that specific AirTag. That means that you don’t need to be close to any other Apple devices for this feature to be helpful. If you are out in the wilderness and you leave something on the ground after stopping to shoot a scene, you will get notified once you walk away without it.
Uses For AirTags During Travel
Checked Baggage Tracking
I’ll be placing AirTags in all my checked bags when I fly. If you fly enough times, an airline is going to lose your bag. In most cases, I have found that the airlines are quick to figure out the new location of your lost luggage, but it would be nice to verify that myself and track its progress back to me. Although not infallible, I doubt you could move a bag through an airport without it coming within 33ft of an iPhone that will then ping the AirTag’s last-known location to my app.
Passport
Losing your passport on a trip would be a disaster, so I immediately stuck an AirTag into my passport wallet. Granted, if your passport gets stolen, the thief will likely remove the passport from the wallet. But if you lose it down the back of an aeroplane seat (yep, I did that once), or forget it in your hotel room, the AirTag will help.