# How, exactly, do Airtags work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 29, 2023, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317 "2023-12-29T15:48:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/21 "2023-12-29T17:30:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So either the thief was not ‘reasonably competent’, or else couldn’t hear the two devices. My hearing is bad enough that I totally avoid thievery. When I use “Find My” to locate my phone or tablet, my gf has to walk around the house with me to listen for the sound. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/22 "2023-12-29T17:34:33Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So either the thief was not ‘reasonably competent’, or else couldn’t hear the two devices. Plenty of stupid thieves out there, no doubt. And the beep isn’t crazy loud, so AirTags in a suitcase in the trunk won’t be heard. The local bike theft ring seems to be more technologically aware. They bust off the AirTags as they leave the scene, so they’re never tracked to the chop shop. I think the biggest indicator of whether there will be a recovery is if the cops 1. Understand the technology and 2. Give a shit. Down here, the consensus is that the cops won’t accompany you to the indicated location unless they absolutely have nothing else they can find to do, which practically means never. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/23 "2023-12-29T17:43:46Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > When I use “Find My” to locate my phone or tablet, my gf has to walk around the house with me to listen for the sound. There must be a nonspecific sound locating device for people with impaired hearing? (Other than your gf, I mean.) If not we should invent one. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/24 "2023-12-29T17:46:45Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > There must be a nonspecific sound locating device for people with impaired hearing? (Other than your gf, I mean.) Oh, yes. There are, for example, alarm clocks that use a flashing light instead of sound. In fact there are business that specialize in devices for the severely hearing impaired. A friend whose hearing is worse than mine has a dog that was specifically trained to respond to doorbells, buzzers, alarms, etc. ETA: I also have a device that acts like headphones, but with increased volume. I can wear it over my hearing aid. I seldom use it though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/25 "2023-12-29T17:51:06Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > However they can be “disabled” by removing the battery, and your linked article says the Airtag indeed ceased broadcasting at some point. But they apparently got the signal back again, so maybe it just wasn’t in range of a Bluetooth device? > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > The local bike theft ring seems to be more technologically aware. They bust off the AirTags as they leave the scene, so they’re never tracked to the chop shop. Put a decoy Airtag in a ‘hidden’, but obvious place, and let them bust _that_ one off. 😉 > [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > Down here, the consensus is that the cops won’t accompany you to the indicated location unless they absolutely have nothing else they can find to do ‘Hello, 9-1-1? I’m outside of the thief’s house. I do have a concealed-carry permit, and I am armed for my own protection.’ ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/26 "2023-12-29T17:54:32Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Put a decoy Airtag in a ‘hidden’, but obvious place, and let them bust _that_ one off. 😉 But they’re using a tracking app to find the device. If it’s active, the signal is there for anyone to see. > [@](#): > > ‘Hello, 9-1-1? I’m outside of the thief’s house. I do have a concealed-carry permit, and I am armed for my own protection.’ That could end a lot of ways, only one of them good. On the local Nextdoor, folks have said that cops have told them a dot on a map is not enough evidence for them to enter a house and start looking. Edit:sorry, that should have said ‘local subreddit’. Nextdoor users would never know how to use an electronic device for purposes other than complaining about helicopters and people of color. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/27 "2023-12-29T18:08:06Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > That could end a lot of ways, only one of them good. It would get them out there, though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/28 "2023-12-29T18:21:20Z")
I have AirTags in my luggage. So when I leave home with the luggage left behind I get an alert that particular item is no longer near me, not that it is lost. I look at the alert and go on with my day. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/29 "2023-12-29T19:08:20Z")
So presumably, if someone tossed your itm in the bushes, or it fell off, then if someone walks down the same path with an iPhone etc. the location is now marked in the Apple servers for you to look up? I wonder if disabling the beeper is a common hack? You’d think it would be for some types of people. AIUI there’s no warning if someone walks by, but if it has been in the same non-owner’s proximity for a while (how long?) it would warn? How’s that work with the keys for the babysitter in the house, or a house party, or the guy at the next desk in the office? Could get annoying if the stalker proximity warning is too short a wait. (I assume it only happens if the owner’s device is out of range for a time) There was a TV news item about someone whose luggage went missing in last year’s major travel fiasco. They tracked it eventually to a big warehouse, and it was a storage facility full of suitcases. Best guess is someone couldn’t be bothered trying to sort out misdirected luggage, so they’d ripped all the tags off a huge number of suitcases and sold the lot to a charity in the Toronto area as unclaimed, untraceable. It took the owners a lot of work to find who owned the storage and persuade someone to get the place searched. They managed to locate their items in a massive pile of “stuff”. I presume the location was noted because someone involved in the transport of the lost luggage and getting it into the warehouse (or walking theough the warehouse later) had an iPhone. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/30 "2023-12-29T21:07:49Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > So presumably, if someone tossed your itm in the bushes, or it fell off, then if someone walks down the same path with an iPhone etc. the location is now marked in the Apple servers for you to look up? Yes, that is the idea. You click on “Find My”, and a map pops up with the item’s last known location on it. > [@md-2000](#): > > AIUI there’s no warning if someone walks by, but if it has been in the same non-owner’s proximity for a while (how long?) it would warn? How’s that work with the keys for the babysitter in the house, or a house party, or the guy at the next desk in the office? Could get annoying if the stalker proximity warning is too short a wait. (I assume it only happens if the owner’s device is out of range for a time) EG AirGuard warns you if a tag has been detected at least 3 times and in different locations, so your neighbour’s or babysitter’s tags should not activate it. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/31 "2023-12-29T21:19:58Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > _if_ you use Ultra Wideband That would explain it. I’m using an iPad, which doesn’t have UWB. > [@md-2000](#): > > How’s that work with the keys for the babysitter in the house, or a house party, or the guy at the next desk in the office? You get a tracking notification if the tag is following you, not if you just happen to be near it. If at the house party you “accidentally” grab the wrong jacket with a tag in the pocket you’ll get a notification after it has been in several different locations with you but not it’s owner. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/32 "2023-12-29T21:23:21Z")
> [@Pork\_Rind](#): > > The local bike theft ring seems to be more technologically aware. They bust off the AirTags as they leave the scene, so they’re never tracked to the chop shop. Next you’ll be telling me that someone other than the TSA has access to the top secret keys that allow the TSA to open combination locks on luggage. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/33 "2023-12-30T00:35:54Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The upshot being that bluetooth tags are useful only if you want to track things in a densely populated area, useless otherwise. The wiki page says that Bluetooth Low Energy has a range of something under 100 meters (330 feet). Wouldn’t that usually be sufficient even in a rural or suburban area? IOW does the device pick up passing cars 100 feet away? I would think an apple device would come within range within a 6 or 24 hour period in most places, assuming the car is parked within 100 meters of the road. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/34 "2023-12-30T01:11:28Z")
I am sorry, but 100m is wildly optimistic. In fact, not going to happen. Count on 10m. If you really need 100m, there are plenty of other solutions like VHF or UHF radio tags or certain types of Active RFID, etc., depending on your exact application, but not an Airtag. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/35 "2023-12-30T02:13:59Z")
Thanks. What if the stolen car is going one way and a car with an Apple is going the other? 30 MPH each way, 60MPH combined. Will the Airtag be detected? Competing car tracking solutions typically come with monthly fees ranging from $9 to $30. Also, some drain the battery which creates problems for eg long term parking or for those who drive their car sporatically. Many of the reviews on the internet seem based on company literature and Amazon reviews rather than rigorous testing. So while the Airtag isn’t ideal, there aren’t clearly superior alternatives that I am aware of. Hiding 2 Airtags in the same vehicle, one of which is inaudible in the passenger compartment, seems like a decent approach. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/36 "2023-12-30T02:33:59Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Thanks. What if the stolen car is going one way and a car with an Apple is going the other? 30 MPH each way, 60MPH combined. Will the Airtag be detected? 60 MPH is about 27 m/s. Therefore the Airtag will be in range for approximately 1/3 second. It transmits only every 2 seconds, so probably not. Not for any individual passing car, anyway. > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Hiding 2 Airtags in the same vehicle, one of which is inaudible in the passenger compartment, seems like a decent approach. Who knows? People do put them in cars, bicycles, and motorcycles. Can’t hurt. But would you bet your car on it, when thieves can trivially detect the presence of a smart tag (beeping or not), routinely discard them, and the cops don’t care even if they don’t and you find the chop shop? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/37 "2023-12-30T03:03:28Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > But would you bet your car on it, when thieves can trivially detect the presence of a smart tag (beeping or not), routinely discard them, and the cops don’t care even if they don’t and you find the chop shop? I understand this question is rhetorical, but my answer is, “Absent better alternatives, yeah I would, with some frustration.” I’ve had my car stolen three times and in all cases my larcenous adversary wasn’t exactly Moriarty. An Airtag might help only 60% of the time, but at least it won’t drain my battery. Also many of these devices on the market connect to the OBD-II port, which is trivially easy to disconnect - you don’t even need an Apple device to scan for it. The Club also works as a deterrent, if you remember to use it, and if the thief doesn’t carry a hacksaw and have a few minutes of visibility to spare. Sincere thanks for the info DPRK - very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/38 "2023-12-30T03:24:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > A friend whose hearing is worse than mine has a dog that was specifically trained to respond to doorbells, buzzers, alarms, etc. This is the kind of function I was envisioning, but a small device that flashes at you keyed on certain types of sound, perhaps even gives you approximate directional information - although I guess that would be tricky for something portable, because you’d need separation between two microphones. If we implement it as a mechanical dog, it could run back and forth when it hears a sound to triangulate. Alexa already has a function for home security purposes that will specifically detect breaking glass, smoke alarms, maybe a few other things. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/39 "2023-12-30T03:36:05Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > What if the stolen car is going one way and a car with an Apple is going the other? More likely to be detected by a car parked next to the thief at a traffic light, or even moving the same direction on the street. I’m riding in a car right now, and scanning I see the driver’s iphone, and 3 others, at 9:30pm in light traffic. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2023, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317/40 "2023-12-30T10:55:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So when I leave home with the luggage left behind I get an alert that particular item is no longer near me, not that it is lost. I look at the alert and go on with my day. You can set a location as Trusted, it will no longer nag you that a device has been left behind. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-do-airtags-work/995317.md?page=3)