blog posts

Everything You Need To Know About Apple AirTags

Apple’s latest device is called AirTag, which is small and circular in size, and you can use it to find your lost or stolen items through the Find My app. 

Apple AirTags, In this article, we intend to provide you with more information about this gadget.

AirTag uses Apple’s ultra-broadband technology and network of devices to track the location of your missing device.

AirTag compatible iPhones and operating systems

To use this technology, your iPhone must be running iOS 14.5 or higher and your iPad must be running iPadOS 14.5 or higher. This version of the operating system is compatible with the iPhone 6s and above, the first and second generations of the iPhone SE, and most iPads. You can update your device’s operating system by going to “Settings> General> Software Update”.

To use Precision Finding, through which you can use the directions shown on the screen to find the missing device more accurately, you must have an iPhone 11 or 12. According to Apple, these phones use cameras, ARKit, accelerometer, and gyroscope for more accurate tracking.

How to set up Airbag

Take the AirTag out of the box and drag the corresponding tab on your phone to activate it. Hold the airbrush near the phone to face the installation and setup screen (such as the AirPad or HomePad). Then you can put a name on your airtag. Finally, your AirTag will be registered on your Apple ID.

Do air ducts also need to be charged?

No. According to Apple, the battery lasts for one year. The battery of these devices is not proprietary to Apple and is of CR2032 type. You can replace the AirTag battery by pulling it down and turning the backplate.

Do AirTags use my location?

If you have disabled location services on your device, then you can not use AirTag, because you need such features to find the location of your missing item. To enable the Find My location tracking feature, go to “Settings> Privacy> Location Services” and then set the switch at the top of the screen to the active mode. Next, in the list of apps, find “Find My” and set it to “While Using the App”.

How to find missing AirTags by Apple

In this regard, we must say that the AirTags do not have a GPS chip, and instead use Apple’s proprietary U1 chip with broadband technology to create peer-to-peer networks of 1.65 billion Apple devices worldwide. The location of the air ducts is found this way.

How to find your Airtag?

By opening the Find My app on your Apple device, you can view the location of your AirTag on a map and play a sound on it to find it if it is near you. 

On the iPhone 11 and 12, you can also activate the “Precision Finding” feature by touching the “Find” key, and find your AirTag better and more accurately using the on-screen instructions.

If you do not succeed in finding your AirTag, you can set it to “Lost Mode” in the Find My application and create a message similar to the contact information. 

That way, if your AirTag is near a device that has NFC (even Android phones), then this message will be displayed to the owner of that device and that person can return the AirTag to you.

Can I see devices close to my AirTag?

No location data or history is physically stored in AirTags. The Find My network is end-to-end encrypted, and the location and identity of the devices are only visible to their owners, and even Apple does not.

Is it possible to share AirTag through Family Sharing?

With the Family Sharing feature, up to 5 members of a family have the right to share purchases from iTunes, the App Store, Apple Books, Apple Music, and iCloud storage.

 With the Family Location Sharing feature, you can share your location and help your family members find their lost app devices using the Find My app. 

Of course, AirTags can only be used through a single Apple ID, so you can only track your AirTags to prevent unwanted tracking.

How to remove AirTag from Apple ID

Only you, as the parent, can know for sure. Open the “Find My” app, touch the “Items” tab, and then select “AirTag” from the list. By touching “Remove Item” you can release your airgun for someone else to use. 

Otherwise, if someone finds your AirTag (and the device connected to it), they will not be able to easily link it to their gadget.

Can AirTags be used to track users?

The main concern with small tracking devices is that they are used to track the user, not the device itself. Theoretically, due to the small size and weight of such devices, they can be secretly placed in someone else’s bag and tracked.

In this regard, if your iPhone is equipped with iOS 14.5 and above, then it will alert you if it detects an airtag belonging to someone else nearby. You can then deactivate that air tag or play a sound on it and then find it.

In the case of Android users who do not have the above capabilities, we must say that if the airguns are away from their owner for 3 days, then they will play sounds. 

If someone comes back to you at least overnight, then you can track them using AirTag. This feature is also present in the Samsung Tag, but the Tile network is not as good. Jiobits and other GPS trackers can be used similarly.

Is AirTag compatible with Android devices?

Android users can not register an AirTag on their device, but using the NFC feature can connect to these trackers, read Lost Mode messages and then return the lost device to its owner.

Apple Airtag Is A Great Spy Tool For Tracking Android Users

During the introduction of its tracking tool called Apple AirTag, Apple emphasized the privacy and security of the new product in terms of malicious use.

According to ” Pulse of Technology “, with this tracker, even the saboteurs will be able to track the movements, the address of the residence, and the places mainly visited by leaving the AirTag in the backpack of the victim. 

In this case, Apple has provided a feature that will warn the iPhone user about the long-term presence of other people’s AirTag.

However, if you use an Android device; Such a scenario will not work. In such a situation, 15 seconds of quiet sounds are the only way to find out if there is an AirTag near you. 

These sounds are played by the AirTag device after 3 days of inactivity, But you should still be able to hear these sounds. This phenomenon theoretically makes it possible to track people without an iPhone until the AirTag battery is fully charged (approximately 1 year).

 Since Apple does not intend to work with Google to create its Find My network for Android smartphones; So the new AirTag tool is a real nightmare for privacy.

The Apple AirTags tracker was hacked for the first time less than 10 days after its launch

Security researchers managed to hack AirTag in less than 10 days. The news was announced by a Twitter user nicknamed Stacksmashing.

 He was able to replace the default URL with his own URL. He released a separate video comparing the performance of a typical AirTag with a hacked version. 

When the hacked tracker is scanned, instead of calling the Apple service, the user is asked to refer to the site designated by the hacker. Such a feature can be used to carry out phishing attacks and other fraudulent activities.

This is not the first AirTag security issue. Geoffrey Fowler; The Washington Post reporter previously reported that the new trackers could be used to spy on people. 

To do this, Mr. Fowler connected the AirTag to a friend’s smartphone, and he traveled around the city with it. According to Geoffrey Fowler, the tracking device showed his position with astonishing accuracy. 

Also, when the user was cycling, his position on the map was updated at the distance of each half block. According to Mr. Fowler, this tracking can be done by anyone.

The AirTag tracker was one of Apple’s hottest products of all time, even before its official launch earlier last month. The first signals regarding the construction of a tracking device to find objects were released in 2019. 

According to new data, Apple initially planned to start selling its tracking device in 2019.