Apple Airtags

[black forest]

Thanks to all for this great information! I have just ordered two to use it on our next flight….. to Rome end of August, cruising on Constellation….

[wrk2cruise]

3 hours ago, -Lew- said:

AirTags can be purchased using Chase Ultimate Rewards.  I purchased eight back in November 2021 for a total of 13,200 points...sold in packs of four for 6,600 points.

 

Just looked and they are currently 4 for $99 or 9900 points.   Looks like the 50% bonus most recently expired 5/31/2022

Edited July 6, 2022 by wrk2cruise

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

On 7/4/2022 at 3:57 PM, tallnthensome said:

What does this have to do with Celebrity Cruise Line? 

Wow, go grab a cup of coffee and chill out. 

[Charles4515]

12 hours ago, MamaFej said:

If you have an Apple Store near you, that's a good place. Hubby thinks that Best Buy and Target might carry them. Costco now sells Apple products again. I don't know if they have the tags, however. 

I buy them at the online Apple Store because if you buy them at the online store they engrave them for free. I have different initals and symbols engraved on each AirTag. 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Charles4515

[go.without.you]

This sounds like an Amazon day purchase!

[sptrout]

Just an FYI - - If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone Samsung makes the "SmartTag & SmartTag+" devices that have capabilities similar to the Apple Tags. I do not have either at this time so "no dog in the hunt", but since we both have Samsung S21 Ultra Phones I will likely be buying the Samsung Tags. Both are available on Amazon or Samsung's website. 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, Peteymil said:

Is there a better place to buy them than Amazon?

 

Yes... Just search.   I got mine on a Black Friday Sale.

[MamaFej]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

I buy them at the online Apple Store because if you buy them at the online store they engrave them for free. I have different initals and symbols engraved on each AirTag. 

We do, too. The ones for the dogs even have cute little doggie icons on them. I was just offerering information for the person who asked where else to buy them. 

Thanks for chiming in, I think the engraving information may be helpful to others. 

[bluwes]

Just received ours today from Amazon will use them next week on our British Airways flights through Heathrow to Rome for our Reflection sailing next Friday.

[PKB]

I am seriously considering getting some of these airtags.  Question:  When the airtag picks up on a phone that is nearby - does it have to be an iphone, btw - and is there a notification on that phone that the airtag is using it?

[Jim_Iain]

40 minutes ago, PKB said:

I am seriously considering getting some of these airtags.  Question:  When the airtag picks up on a phone that is nearby - does it have to be an iphone, btw - and is there a notification on that phone that the airtag is using it?

 

My understanding is yes it has to be an Apple Device.    As another reader indicated they have a similar device that use android devices called Tile Mate.  

 

The devices do not give you any indication that your phone is passing on a digital location and it is not tied to your phone.     

 

If someone is trying to track you by putting one on you or your car after a short while of the same device being detected you will be notified that someone may be tracking you so you can search for it. 

[sunpsyche]

I’m planning on buying a set of 4. Is there any reason I’d need holders for them inside the suitcase? Will get some for putting on keyrings. 

[josh1324342]

I'll add another vote for airtags as a baggage tracker.  We were recently in the UAE and when we arrived none of our bags showed up.  We were able to see where they were and eventually had to pick the last one up at the Abu Dhabi airport since the airline never delivered it for unknown reasons.  We knew right where it was and saw that it had been sitting at the airport all day and they never picked it up to deliver it.  It only took 3 days, but we ended up with all of our luggage eventually.  

 

The airtags will only ping off of Apple devices, so they definitely work better in countries/areas with a high amount of Apple phones.

[Jim_Iain]

24 minutes ago, sunpsyche said:

I’m planning on buying a set of 4. Is there any reason I’d need holders for them inside the suitcase? Will get some for putting on keyrings. 

They come with little leather covers and a keyring.   You just slide one into each.    I just have my key ring attached to strap inside but could also just slip it into a pocket.   I just prefer not to have it visible.

[sunpsyche]

1 minute ago, Jim_Iain said:

They come with little leather covers and a keyring.   You just slide one into each.    I just have my key ring attached to strap inside but could also just slip it into a pocket.   I just prefer not to have it visible.

Thanks, Jim! Will be ordering them tonight. 

[ohiojohn]

Thanks to this thread, I found a lot of good info about the AirTags.  I will use them for an upcoming cruise, and when not cruising I have some ideas for their use.  I mentioned the purchase to my son and he mentioned he has one attached to his TV remote control.

 

I ordered 4 before noon and got them today by  8pm, gotta love Amazon.

[D C]

5 hours ago, PKB said:

I am seriously considering getting some of these airtags.  Question:  When the airtag picks up on a phone that is nearby - does it have to be an iphone, btw - and is there a notification on that phone that the airtag is using it?

Does it HAVE TO be an iPhone? No

But... to do so on my android, I have to use a specific app that's intended to read airtags, and I need to run the app to find them.  So it's as far from seamless as you can imagine without an iPhone. 

[cdn_tbird]

29 minutes ago, D C said:

Does it HAVE TO be an iPhone? No

But... to do so on my android, I have to use a specific app that's intended to read airtags, and I need to run the app to find them.  So it's as far from seamless as you can imagine without an iPhone. 

Unless Google releases their own version that will work with their Find Device, you will always need to use a 3rd party app like Apple's Tracker Detect, Tile's app, or Samsung's app. There are lot more options out there most of which will work with iOS or Android.

 

Make sure whichever you choose it conforms to Bluetooth 5.0 as the max. range is up to 800 ft. While Apple doesn't state what Bluetooth standard they support, speculation is that it is Bluetooth 5.0 because of range.

Edited July 7, 2022 by cdn_tbird

[chamima]

On 7/5/2022 at 11:53 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Like you ... I stick mine inside the luggage so it isn't showing but doesn't impact it's efficiency. 

 

 

Where inside the luggage would it impact the efficiency?

[PKB]

9 hours ago, D C said:

Does it HAVE TO be an iPhone? No

But... to do so on my android, I have to use a specific app that's intended to read airtags, and I need to run the app to find them.  So it's as far from seamless as you can imagine without an iPhone. 

I am referring to whatever smartphone is near the airtag when it is out in the big bad world, not the phone that is attempting to track it.  Also, the phone that the airtag uses that is nearby - is there a notification on that phone?

Edited July 7, 2022 by PKB

[-Lew-]

3 minutes ago, PKB said:

I am referring to whatever smartphone is near the airtag when it is out in the big bad world, not the phone that is attempting to track it.  

 

From Apple...

 

How does it work?

Your AirTag sends out a secure Bluetooth signal that can be detected by nearby devices in the Find My network. These devices send the location of your AirTag to iCloud — then you can go to the Find My app and see it on a map. The whole process is anonymous and encrypted to protect your privacy. And itʼs efficient, so thereʼs no need to worry about battery life or data usage.

[gerelmx]

Does the Airtags works with Iphone XS?

[ebockelman]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

Does the Airtags works with Iphone XS?

 

Yes. They work better with the iPhone 11 or newer because those models have the Ultra Wideband chip for precision finding, but for basic tracking they will work with any model running iOS 14.5 or newer.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

Does the Airtags works with Iphone XS?

They will work but you won't have precision find. For example if you have an AirTag on your key ring and misplace your keys at home Find My will show it at home and you can beep the AirTag to help locate the keys. With iPhones 11 and later it has AR and will point exactly to the keys. 

[bjahil47]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

Does the Airtags works with Iphone XS?

“Requires iPhone SE, iPhone 6s or later, or iPod touch (7th generation) with iOS 14.5 or later, or iPad Pro, iPad (5th generation or later), iPad Air 2 or later, or iPad mini 4 or later with iPadOS 14.5 or later.”