Apple Airtags

[Captain Halliday]

Interesting phenomena with Airtags flying into Sydney recently. We had wi-fi, so tracking in flight was possible. I have tags on my checked bag, wallet, laptop and keys, the last 3 with me in the cabin.

After hitting the main runway, my bag appeared to be a fair few miles behind us:

View attachment 289508

As we taxied to the gate, it had caught up a bit

View attachment 289510

Anyone theorise what might be happening here? Obviously on approach and taxing, all pax and their phones are in the same positions so signals and reception should all be the same. I did take other screenshots at various times, and the above aren't just random distortions.

A Qantas middle-manager baggage handler didn’t load properly and your bag was towed behind the plane like an advertising banner?

 

[blackcat20]

For those that don't use Apple. We bought the Samsung Galaxy smart tags and are using them on our current trip. We were able to confirm our bags had arrived in Sydney, LAX and Chicago before they arrived at baggage claim.

 

[RealtimeY]

Anyone theorise what might be happening here?

I suspect whoever's phone was connected to the tag had a bad GPS fix while on the plane.

Also likely just general delay in relaying the position. Because your own phone will always detect your laptop and keys nearby, the location displayed is realtime, whereas the other tags need to refresh the position over the internet, and that may only happen on an interval.

 

[Lynda2475]

So you need internet to track bags with air tags? Maybe because of the short Bluetooth range?

With Tile (and the 70m range) you can detect if bags are on plane with gps (location) and bluetooth only - if it detects the bag will show the find button (i.e. ability to make a sound), of course with internet you then get the pretty map etc.

 

[offshore171]

This is a good one.

Guy tracks an airtag in a DHL parcel inflight as it passes over a wind farm.

Skip to 1min 45

 

[RooFlyer]

So you need internet to track bags with air tags? Maybe because of the short Bluetooth range?

With Tile (and the 70m range) you can detect if bags are on plane with gps (location) and bluetooth only - if it detects the bag will show the find button (i.e. ability to make a sound), of course with internet you then get the pretty map etc.

No, you don't need wi-fi to track objects near you - see discussion up thread. But wifi necessary either 1) if object far from you or, 2) in this case, to provide scale - else you couldn't tell how far the other object away from you without doing the whole tracking thing. I wasn't really trying to 'find' it (as in how far away) - I knew it was on the plane from departure. Just an interesting phenomenon where one of the objects was shown very far away.

I think @RealtimeY has it.

So lets not turn this into an AirTag Vs Tile pi**ing contest, eh?

 

[Pushka]

So you need internet to track bags with air tags? Maybe because of the short Bluetooth range?

With Tile (and the 70m range) you can detect if bags are on plane with gps (location) and bluetooth only - if it detects the bag will show the find button (i.e. ability to make a sound), of course with internet you then get the pretty map etc.

No.

 

[djkelly69]

We bought the Samsung Galaxy smart tags

Mind if I ask where you got them? There doesn't seem to be a heap of stock in Aus atm.

 

[blackcat20]

Mind if I ask where you got them? There doesn't seem to be a heap of stock in Aus atm.

Amazon, but I think it was one of or the last set available.

 

[kyle]

Amazon, but I think it was one of or the last set available.

I too got them from Amazon when they were $50 each, then suddenly jumped up in price a week later. They are Korean stock.

 

[Cult of one]

Off to the USA and Canada. I am a type one and need 4-6 shots per day of insulin and this is something that I think I need to get for my insulin kit for sure. Off to the apple shop this weekend. I travel a lot domestically as well and with the insanity of baggage of late its a solid investment

 

[Cult of one]

Do you find that the tracker works even when buried in a suitcase? I did wonder if they needed to be on the outside to be effective.

Just waiting for Woolies to have bonus points on Apple gift cards again.

Qantas store has them for points 26k will get you a 4 pack

 

[NM]

Qantas store has them for points 26k will get you a 4 pack

So they are back in stock at Qantas Store. With PC+, that's 23.319 points or $141 (and earn approx 600 points depending on card used for payment). This is the only way I can find to get slightly cheaper than the Apple on-line price of $149.

 

[VPS]

Off to the USA and Canada. I am a type one and need 4-6 shots per day of insulin and this is something that I think I need to get for my insulin kit for sure. Off to the apple shop this weekend. I travel a lot domestically as well and with the insanity of baggage of late its a solid investment

Is it too much to have in your hand luggage?

 

[Captain Halliday]

8% Cashrewards on Apple until midnight.

 

[karen blancfield]

Apologies if this has been covered. Just setting up 4 Apple tags now for our overseas flight. If my phone is in my handbag, with the tag, and it gets lost, how do I find it? Should I link my phone to partner’s tag, and vice versa? The iPad may well be in the lost bag too. Am I missing something obvious here?

 

[TheRealTMA]

Apologies if this has been covered. Just setting up 4 Apple tags now for our overseas flight. If my phone is in my handbag, with the tag, and it gets lost, how do I find it? Should I link my phone to partner’s tag, and vice versa? The iPad may well be in the lost bag too. Am I missing something obvious here?

you can use FindMyPhone on all your and your partner's devices. Once you have it linked the AirTags to your phone, and your phone etc is authorised to your partner's FindMyPhone then all will appear on both. (And on your iPads.)

 

[karen blancfield]

you can use FindMyPhone on all your and your partner's devices. Once you have it linked the AirTags to your phone, and your phone etc is authorised to your partner's FindMyPhone then all will appear on both. (And on your iPads.)

Many thanks, will test that next

 

[RooFlyer]

Apologies if this has been covered. Just setting up 4 Apple tags now for our overseas flight. If my phone is in my handbag, with the tag, and it gets lost, how do I find it? Should I link my phone to partner’s tag, and vice versa? The iPad may well be in the lost bag too. Am I missing something obvious here?

Another solution is to wear an Apple Watch. Mine should never be separated from me (I hope!!) and it reports separation from all my iThings, including my phone. But I guess that's a bit of an overkill for your situation .

 

[RooFlyer]

I got a Chipolo wallet card to compliment the Airtags. I posted a pic of it up-thread. As the name implies, it's the size of a credit card (but thicker) and lives in your wallet. Apple things can talk to it, so wallet chipolo is tracked just like other Airtag items.

My experience is that its a bit flaky. Say I'm driving, and stopping at a shop, say, then the post office, I will get an alert "Wallet left behind" often when I start driving again each time, notwithstanding my wallet has remained in my pocket the whole time (I use the CC linked to my Apple Watch to pay everything on the card). The alerts go to my phone (with me) and are relayed to my watch.

Seems like the Chipolo is sensing movement away from the parked position after it and my phone have been walked around the shop, and hasn't sensed the wallet very near by.

I've tested several times recently and it always gives me an alert if the wallet IS left behind, so it works as intended, but is giving some false positives. The false positives resolved each time by me reaching down and feeling my wallet in my pocket, so not a big thing, but worth noting.