Is the new Apple Air Tag the best theft tracking device? (4 Viewers)

[Gretsch]

Saw these today for tracking pets:

TraQ Silicone Dog Tag Tracker - Pet Tag Tracker | QALO

The first silicone dog tag tracker on the market! This pet tag tracker powered by Tile uses Bluetooth technology to offer peace of mind with locator tags for dogs.

qalo.com

Based on the Tile network. Same idea as Airtags but without the anti-stalking bits. The above are waterproof to some extent and no speaker to alert anyone they were being tracked. No experience but thought it was interesting alternative to removing speakers and whatnot. I guess trackability would be directly dependent on how many deployed Tile apps there are. They have been in the game for awhile so I assume quite a few.......until the Apple lemmings switch to Airtags. Excerpt from Tile website regarding tracking moving objects:

Tile Network is your resource for finding things that just won’t sit still!

Whenever a person who is running the Tile app on their phone passes within range of your Tile, their device will automatically and anonymously update your app with your Tile’s most recent location. You’ll then receive a notification of your Tile’s last known location so you can journey back there to try to find it!

With 24 million Tiles shipped to date, Tile is an easy way to find what really matters. And, as our network grows, this feature of Tile is made even more effective!

Can someone who has them test the Airtag idea already so we can get a feel for how viable a solution it is or isn't?

 

[NearJetties]

Great info @WoodnotRust and video. He did a good job of explaining what needs to be done.

Just got my pack of 4, took right at 3 weeks to arrive. Not certain but considering removing the speaker for the ones for the 60 & 40.

Not exactly sure where I will use the other 2 but will prob keep the speaker on those.

have you had a chance to test it out? Thinking about picking some up and put one in the 62

 

[zipper]

iPhones and at 11 MPG it will show up at a gas station soon enough.

Lol... "lLandCruiser"

Staring "Men that hate money, and Irritated women"

Coming soon, to a fuel station near you!

 

[John McVicker]

@NearJetties Yes & no. My order was messed up and I only received 1 instead of 4. Now have all 4 but have only installed 1 so far. have not yet removed the speaker, but the locator is working as it should.

Now that I have all 4 I will put 1 in my DD 60, maybe even 2 in the 60. Still debating whether to remove the speaker…prob will.

 

[NearJetties]

 

[nomadsurfer]

I just took my old iPhone 6, hide it and ran a charger line to the battery. Then you just use Find My phone app. That I can access from my new phone or laptop and it charges when I drive. It use next to none of the battery since it never makes or receives calls. You could even just hide a phone in there every few nights if you want to not hassle a charge line.

 

[cheeese]

notable highlights about that twitter thread: he had difficulty convincing cops to help recover his scooter, he had 2 airtags on it so one would serve as a decoy, and he suggests not using lost mode because it alerts the thief. I've removed the speakers on the two hidden in my trucks, but the anti-stalk notification will still pop up after a time. I don't know how lost mode affects that.

 

[NearJetties]

My take on anti-stalk mode without the speaker is that it might be a good thing making them dump the truck if they can’t find the airtag.

my guess is the common thief doesn’t have an RF detector on them. If they do they’re probably after modern/high dollar vehicles.

 

[NearJetties]

Seems to be working as intended. It’s a pretty quiet street but gets pinged frequently by people walking their dog. Removing the speaker was easy.

 

[OSS]

I just took my old iPhone 6, hide it and ran a charger line to the battery. Then you just use Find My phone app. That I can access from my new phone or laptop and it charges when I drive.

But if you hide an old iPhone in the car as a Find My iPhone beacon, wouldn't it have to have an active SIM with a live cellular connection to work?
That would mean a separate phone number for it and another device added to the monthly cellular bill. Basically it would require a monthly cellular subscription to work as a Find My iPhone beacon.
True?

 

[WoodnotRust]

I just drove 5-1/2 hours from outside Albuquerque to Flagstaff with my wife's airtag in my FJ. We have separate Apple ID"s and are not on any common "family" network.
I was never notified by Apple that there was an Airtag following me and my buddy driving in the car didn't receive an AirTag notice either. This morning we could see the vehicle parked at Kelly's shop so the location aspect works pretty well.

Since Kelly is going to tear my car apart I'm pretty sure he'll find it eventually. I thought about having my wife put it in lost mode to see if he notices, but I'm sure he's got plenty of other work to do.

This little experiment tells me that I've probably got a few days to track a stolen vehicle down, so I'm pretty pleased with the results so far.

 

[WoodnotRust]

Five days past before the body shop notice the beeping in the cargo area. During that time I was able to see the location of the car that matched the address of the shop...so pretty accurate location inside the city.

Now...what do we do with a beeping AirTag for the next 5 weeks? I"m tempted to bury it in his backyard in a zip lock bag and see if I can locate it when we pick up the truck.

 

[SteveH]

There is a youtube video on how to remove the speaker from an Airtag and have it continue to work....

 

[NearJetties]

Yea, removing the speaker takes all of a minute. It’ll work even if you put it back in.

 

[ntdb]

I have a feeling that the next version of the AirTag will make it more difficult to remove the speaker. Get em while the getting's good!

 

[NearJetties]

I have a feeling that the next version of the AirTag will make it more difficult to remove the speaker. Get em while the getting's good!

I’ve been thinking the same thing

 

[cheeese]

true, but Apple will probably also nerf the v1 airtags in software anyway to mitigate tracking/stalking concerns and make them less useful as a locator device. Like all corporations they will always err on the side of reducing a PR risk even if it means making a good product suck.

in any case, get them while the getting's good.

 

[Seth S]

But if you hide an old iPhone in the car as a Find My iPhone beacon, wouldn't it have to have an active SIM with a live cellular connection to work?
That would mean a separate phone number for it and another device added to the monthly cellular bill. Basically it would require a monthly cellular subscription to work as a Find My iPhone beacon.
True?

Even so…you can get a real basic pay as you go plan for about $30/mo. Seems like a pretty low cost way to keep tabs on something. Think of it like a part of your annual insurance premium.

 

[Seth S]

We got my wife the $40/mo plan from ATT. 15gb data per month and whatever you don't use rolls over.

 

[Seth S]

Another alternative is the Spot tracker. My recollection is the service costs $100/year. it can be setup to ping at different intervals and can be shared if needed. There is a website where the positions show up on a topo map. You would have to figure out if aux power can be used...I don't recall there being any sounds or alarms associated with it. The trick with the spot is it does need a clear view of the sky.