Everything You Need to Know About Apple AirTags
holidays mean travel For many people, traveling means keeping track of all kinds of things – luggage, keys, sunglasses, camera bag etc. The best way to do this without losing your mind is to incorporate Apple AirTags into whatever you need to carry. Tiny Bluetooth trackers are a year-round must-have, but it’s during this time that they’ve proven their worth. (And they’re great, too Christmas stocking stuffers.)
I’ve used Apple’s Find My service to monitor devices, such as my iPad, which I often leave in my living room, and to monitor the location of family members via iPhones.
But what if I want to pinpoint my keys? or figure it out Did my luggage arrive on the same flight? Like me? To do this, I’ve come to rely on a few Apple AirTags, which fit just about anything I want to track. Apple’s tracker relies on the crowdsourced Find My network to help you pinpoint your belongings, from keys you’ve lost at home to bags you might have left at the office.
Here’s everything you want to know about AirTags. For more information, please learn Why you shouldn’t AirTag your pets and found Five unexpected places to store AirTags.
What is Apple AirTags?
AirTag is a personal tracking device that securely broadcasts its location using Bluetooth wireless networks. It’s a small, smooth white puck, not much larger than a U.S. quarter and about the height of three stacked quarters. A CR2032 coin cell battery can power the AirTag for approximately one year.
AirTags, back and front.
Once an AirTag pairs with your iPhone or iPad, you can basically forget about it. Put it on your keychain or put it in your bag – anything you want to be able to track or find later.
How much do AirTags cost? Where can I buy it?
A single AirTag retails for $29 Straight from Appleand can be purchased from most stores that sell electronics for about $24.
However, it’s always more economical to buy AirTags in packs of four—once you discover what a single AirTag can do, you’ll quickly think of other things you want to track. Apple sells it for $99, and some retailers, e.g. Amazon, best buy and Walmartwhich sells for about $75, bringing the cost per item down to under $20. AirTags are also often discounted for big sales like Black Friday and Prime Day.
If you order from Apple, you can get free engraving of initials, numbers, and emojis, which can help you differentiate your AirTags (or just add a personal touch).
If you order directly from Apple, you can personalize your AirTags with laser engraving.
Is setting up a new AirTag difficult?
In typical Apple fashion, activating your new AirTags is simple. Initially, a plastic piece was inserted between the electronics and the battery to keep the AirTags inert. Once the tab is pulled and the parts come into contact, the AirTag begins broadcasting its presence. When you bring it close to your iPhone or iPad, a dialog box will appear giving you the option to connect the AirTag.
When a new AirTag is nearby, the iPhone senses it and begins the connection process.
when you click connectselect a description of the content associated with the label, such as “Handbag” or “Luggage”; you can also enter a custom name. Select the emoji representing AirTag in the Find My app and tap continue. AirTags are associated with your Apple ID.
How to find AirTags?
In the Find My app on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, tap project button to view your activated AirTags. On Apple Watch, open Find items app.
Click on the item you are looking for. If you think it’s nearby, the easiest option is to click play sound button to make the AirTag emit a high-pitched vibrato. However, if you own an iPhone 11 or later (excluding iPhone SE), click looking for Use the iPhone’s Ultra-Wideband (UWB) chip to position AirTags more precisely, not only estimating distance like “near 1.5 feet,” but also pointing you in the right direction as you move around.
If the item is not near you, looking for The button becomes route button will hand over the location for driving, walking, transit or biking directions to the Maps app.
To locate a nearby item, tap its AirTag (left), tap the Find button (center), and let iPhone guide you to it (right).
What if I forget something when I go out?
Being able to find something I’ve lost is priceless, but it would be even better if I never forgot about it in the first place. For each AirTag, you can enable Notify when you fall behindthe option to send a notification if you and your AirTags are no longer together.
This could be as simple as forgetting your bag at a restaurant, or more worryingly, if someone steals your bag and runs away.
What’s the secret to how AirTags work?
You know that in many thrillers and spy movies where someone puts a tracker on a person and is able to pinpoint the target’s location no matter where they are? To me, this always seemed far-fetched – how much range could a tiny piece of electronics have? — but that’s essentially what AirTag is.
AirTag doesn’t have that range either, but it has something better: the millions of devices Apple customers carry around it. AirTag periodically sends out a low-power Bluetooth signal containing an encrypted ID. Any nearby iPhone, iPad, or Mac receives the signal, adds its location coordinates (if it knows them), and sends them to Apple servers via a secure background transfer.
When an AirTag is near an iPhone or other Apple device, it securely forwards its ID to tag its location.
So when my luggage chose to stay in Europe for an extra day without me, I knew it was still at the airport in France. An iPhone owned by a traveler or employee might get the ID of the AirTags in my bag and forward it to Apple. When I open the Find My app on my iPhone in Seattle, it queries the server and displays the AirTag’s last known location.
All of this happens in the background – no personal information is sent, and the impact on the relay device’s performance and battery is negligible.
What about privacy? Can hidden AirTags track me?
Just as you can use AirTags to track your personal belongings, someone might put an AirTag in your bag or coat pocket to try to track your movements. Apple has put some safeguards in place to try to prevent this from happening.
If your iPhone or iPad detects an unknown AirTag near you and the AirTag remains near you, a notification will appear that says “AirTag found moving with you.” When you search for your item and find it, open the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad and tap project Then click Identify found items. Hold the AirTag against the top of the back of the device until you see the notification. When you click the button, you will be taken to a web page that contains the tag’s serial number and optional contact information.
No need to worry if a family member’s AirTag falls out of the bag. If you are unfamiliar with this flag, you can follow the instructions on how to disable it.
For more information, see how to Protect yourself from being tracked.
What should I do if I suspect my AirTags have been stolen?
You have searched everywhere and used looking for function to scan it, but the item containing the AirTag cannot be found. What now?
In the AirTag details in the Find My app, scroll down to lost aviation tag and click Show contact information. If someone finds the label and checks it as described above, you can display a phone number or email, along with an optional message, when they look for their information.
Another option is to choose Share project locationwhich creates a link that you can send to people who recognize the tag’s location. The link will only be live for a week, hopefully that’s enough time for others to find it. For example, let’s say your bag is stolen: you can give the shared link to the police so they can track it down. (For safety reasons, do not confront someone who steals your property.)
Use a link to temporarily share the AirTag’s location with someone.
When the item and its AirTags are returned, a notification will appear indicating that you have been reunited. Alternatively, you can hide the label’s location at any time by clicking Stop sharing project location In the same screen, this will invalidate the shared link.
How do I share AirTags with people I trust?
AirTags are tied to your Apple account, but there’s been an issue for years: AirTags assigned to other people in my household trigger the “AirTags found moving with you” warning – which isn’t great on family trips, as we take driving my wife’s car.
Luckily, you can now share the location of your AirTags with up to five people. Click the tab in the Find My app and the tab below Share aviation tags tap Add people. tap continue on-screen explanation of what will happen, then select a contact and click share.
Share the AirTag with a trusted friend so you can both view its location.
In that person’s Find My app, they can accept shared items. Note that anyone you add can track the location.
How long do batteries last and how are they replaced?
In my experience, the CR2032 coin cell battery in each AirTag lasts about a year. When the charge drops below approximately 10% remaining, you’ll receive a low battery alert and a red indicator will appear in the Find My app.
When the battery in the AirTag is low, an indicator appears in the Find My app.
To replace the battery, turn the silver counterclockwise to release its latch. Remove the existing battery and replace it with a new one, making sure the battery’s identification mark is facing you. Then align the tabs on the metal part with the slots on the plastic piece, press lightly and turn clockwise. The AirTag will chirp when the electronic device and battery make firm contact.
The battery in the AirTag is easy to replace and easy to replace.
Can I use AirTags on an Android phone?
AirTags aren’t directly compatible with Android phones—there aren’t any apps that can connect to Apple’s Find My network. For the same tracking functionality, check out Chipolo a little Trackers that use Google’s Find My Device network.
Apple once offered an Android app called Tracker Detect that allowed you to identify found AirTags, but this didn’t work on newer Android devices – the apps with that name in the Google Play Store were from a separate development personnel. However, for phones with an NFC chip installed, you can place the AirTag you find on the back of the device to view information about it.
For more information, learn about this year’s Best AirTag Accessories and everything related Apple information.
