Apple Air Tag

I think I'll stick with my Tiles. They've helped me find numerous lost keys, bags and wallets, both in the home and properly lost. And I hate giving Apple money. If I want to pay for overpriced equipment for people with more money than sense I'll buy another California!
 
For me, it just goes to show that reviews aren’t always reflective of overall experiences across a user base. Bit like bad reviews of the T6.1, they are in the minority.

I’ve had a Vodafone Curve since November 2020 - so 6 months. It has so far been faultless. Accurate location on map, accurate journey history, etc.
 
GrumpyGranddad said:
For me, it just goes to show that reviews aren’t always reflective of overall experiences across a user base. Bit like bad reviews of the T6.1, they are in the minority.

I’ve had a Vodafone Curve since November 2020 - so 6 months. It has so far been faultless. Accurate location on map, accurate journey history, etc.
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Have you hard wired it?
 
I'm adding an AirTag to my California headrest (better line-of-sight through windows than doors) after having it towed in Como earlier this month. There was a sign hidden in the trees we didn't see on arrival in the dark on Friday night warning a Saturday market would be held in our spot; but no phone number or anything helpful like that for after the event.

Having thrown ourselves on the mercy of first (bemused) State Police then (amused) Local Police we were eventually able to find the car-pound & only lose two-hours and c.€150 in fine and tow-charges + taxi. AirTag would've taken us straight to the source.

On the theft side, it's possible / likely that a thief may hear it & dispose, but it doesn't start chirping straight away and I'd imagine immediate initial 'tracking' is more valuable during a theft than subsequent days.
 
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hirsty said:
I'm adding an AirTag to my California headrest (better line-of-sight through windows than doors) after having it towed in Como earlier this month. There was a sign hidden in the trees we didn't see on arrival in the dark on Friday night warning a Saturday market would be held in our spot; but no phone number or anything helpful like that for after the event.

Having thrown ourselves on the mercy of first (bemused) State Police then (amused) Local Police we were eventually able to find the car-pound & only lose two-hours and c.€150 in fine and tow-charges + taxi. AirTag would've taken us straight to the source.

On the theft side, it's possible / likely that a thief may hear it & dispose, but it doesn't start chirping straight away and I'd imagine immediate initial 'tracking' is more valuable during a theft than subsequent days.
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Quote from Apple @hirsty :-

Apple AirTags are great for indoor areas. It will be at your service when you lose something in the house. AirTags can never replace a GPS tracking device for your cars. However, they are not designed for such a tracking experience.

Note: I can see the position of my van using the WeConnect App. Not sure if it updates if the van is towed somewhere though?

I also have a Vodafone Curve which is very cheap and reliable. Gives the option of real time tracking too. I believe Vodafone might have discontinued this device but maybe there is a replacement?
 
my iPhone & Apple Watch will direct me back to where the phone was last connected to van bluetooth - but that won't work when it's been towed.

AirTag updates its location periodically / intermittently via any passing iPhone - so it'll work, but it's not 100% reliable, or a full substitute for a tracker, but it's also less than £25.
 
Well, I ordered 4 .
All points are well made, but they give me a « fighting chance » as the bicycle guy so neatly puts it.
Now gotta find out where to hide . I plan on putting two.
 
aslaets said:
Well, I ordered 4 .
All points are well made, but they give me a « fighting chance » as the bicycle guy so neatly puts it.
Now gotta find out where to hide . I plan on putting two.
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Let me know what you come up with. I have an AirTag on each of my two bikes - for a ‘fighting chance’ - and will definitely squirrel a couple away on my Cali.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
DanKavanagh said:
Let me know what you come up with. I have an AirTag on each of my two bikes - for a ‘fighting chance’ - and will definitely squirrel a couple away on my Cali.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Maybe stick one inside the secondary piece of the roof mattress at the rear end - feels like maybe the height might give it a bit more range and also quite well concealed to the casual thief, got to put roof up etc which probably wouldn’t do within a few hours of stealing it. Similarly could put second one inside the comfort mattress but then again bodywork and double glazing might inhibit range - so front of van probably makes more sense, hide in first aid kit in drivers door. But loads of options really.
Now the whole world knows !
 
aslaets said:
Well, I ordered 4 .
All points are well made, but they give me a « fighting chance » as the bicycle guy so neatly puts it.
Now gotta find out where to hide . I plan on putting two.
Click to expand...

You can get magnetic / self adhesive water proof tag holders on Amazon.. Can go in the engine bay. or remove glove box & put it underneath..or inside one of the front seat frames.

 
Ive taken the speaker out of a few of them not difficult to do. The only problem is finding a battery that will working in them Duracell dont because they have a fine film on them Maxwell batteries i find the best..
 
I bought one Air Tag and borrowed old iPhone from friend to use it. It worked well to track my stuicase in USA, but when I put in one of the cars, it constantly chirped when I was driving out, so useless for long term tracking. Of course, it could have been chirping, because it wasn't connecting to iPhone, since I didn't use it. Android phone would also tell me from time to time that unknown tracker was travelling with me.

At the same time, I bought SmartTags from Samsung and they work pretty well. No sound or information about tracking and you can check location for last 7 days. I have them in each car, on a bike and on keys to find them at home. My husband tends to leave his keys around the house and then we have to look for them.

When I left my Cali for a week at friend's underground car park, lack of any tracking was sign that Cali was still sitting there, because there's no mobile signal there. Right now, Cali is parked at work for 6 days and I will be checking its status.
 
I've got an airtag on van and motorbike. A bit of reassurance for not much money. Also handy if you're in a new area and get a bit lost, to find your way back.
 
Agnes_Cali said:
I bought one Air Tag and borrowed old iPhone from friend to use it. It worked well to track my stuicase in USA, but when I put in one of the cars, it constantly chirped when I was driving out, so useless for long term tracking. Of course, it could have been chirping, because it wasn't connecting to iPhone, since I didn't use it. Android phone would also tell me from time to time that unknown tracker was travelling with me.

At the same time, I bought SmartTags from Samsung and they work pretty well. No sound or information about tracking and you can check location for last 7 days. I have them in each car, on a bike and on keys to find them at home. My husband tends to leave his keys around the house and then we have to look for them.

When I left my Cali for a week at friend's underground car park, lack of any tracking was sign that Cali was still sitting there, because there's no mobile signal there. Right now, Cali is parked at work for 6 days and I will be checking its status.
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The apple tag would have been chirping to warn you that someone could be tracking you. ie the iPhone you first installed it on but was no longer with you.
 
The iPhone was never with me, because I don't use Apple.products. i only borrowed it to check on AirTag when needed. That's why Samsung works better for me. Tags are just sitting there and don't complain and I can check their status when needed.
 
Using Apple Air Tags instead of a dedicated tracker, if that’s your bag, is a bit of a futile exercise.

They will chirp when separated/not in BT range with their paired iPhones, alerting anyone nearby, when disconnected from their phone for a period of time (Apple say between 8 and 24 hours).

You can remove the speaker, and their are YT videos on how to do this, but they also have a anti stalking mode, meaning when moving anyone with an iPhone that they are travelling with and without the paired phone in range will be alerted on their iPhone a tracker is near.

So even if you remove the speaker, if the driver has an iPhone, they will be alerted and if you have not removed the speaker, they will, eventually, hear a chirp.

Effectively they are not designed to track things that move independent of the owner (kids, pets, cars), they are designed to track things you drop or leave behind, keys, wallets, backpacks etc and any other use has some sort of mechanism that makes them poor car trackers.

So the only real effective use case is the speaker removed and the thief not having an iPhone and the car being stationary when someone with an iPhone pings it.
 
dspuk said:
Using Apple Air Tags instead of a dedicated tracker, if that’s your bag, is a bit of a futile exercise.

They will chirp when separated/not in BT range with their paired iPhones, alerting anyone nearby, when disconnected from their phone for a period of time (Apple say between 8 and 24 hours).

You can remove the speaker, and their are YT videos on how to do this, but they also have a anti stalking mode, meaning when moving anyone with an iPhone that they are travelling with and without the paired phone in range will be alerted on their iPhone a tracker is near.

So even if you remove the speaker, if the driver has an iPhone, they will be alerted and if you have not removed the speaker, they will, eventually, hear a chirp.

Effectively they are not designed to track things that move independent of the owner (kids, pets, cars), they are designed to track things you drop or leave behind, keys, wallets, backpacks etc and any other use has some sort of mechanism that makes them poor car trackers.

So the only real effective use case is the speaker removed and the thief not having an iPhone and the car being stationary when someone with an iPhone pings it.
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I agree with all this, but even with its limitations, for £25 it’s a no brainier.

Apple tag won’t allow you to stalk someone moving as they must have rights to be notified and disable their iPhone from reporting the location. The problem is that they also get access to the FindMy functionality which allows them to pin point the location of the tracker in the van.

The general idea is to stick it somewhere really blooming hard to extract it from I think. With epoxy resin!!!!
 
The Tall Luthier said:
I agree with all this, but even with its limitations, for £25 it’s a no brainier.

Apple tag won’t allow you to stalk someone moving as they must have rights to be notified and disable their iPhone from reporting the location. The problem is that they also get access to the FindMy functionality which allows them to pin point the location of the tracker in the van.

The general idea is to stick it somewhere really blooming hard to extract it from I think. With epoxy resin!!!!
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I'd spend the 25 quid on a decent box to secure my key ;)
 
The PAJ Power Finder is excellent. Fully featured. Battery powered or can be hard wired in. Got one when Vodafone discontinued service for their Curve tracker.

IMG_2504.png
 
Ive been pondering using an airtag for our Grand Cali. I agree for vehicles such as a motorcycle, bicycle and so on - but for something with as much space and so many voids behind unknown/difficult to access areas (read: hiding spots), if you remove the speaker they'll have no realistic change of finding it without ripping the interior out. And by that point, i'd hope I would have realised that my daily driver has left the drive without me :D
 
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