# Question about AirTags **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 7, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249 "2025-03-07T15:47:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/1 "2025-03-07T15:47:25Z")
My daughter just left today for a 3-day camping trip in the mountains with her class (western Switzerland pre-Alps), her first time doing this. She was not allowed to carry her phone. Being the ever-worried dad, I insisted that she carry an Apple AirTag so that I can have a general idea of where she is, and if she gets lost, it might help track her down. I was able to track her during her train and bus ride to the trailhead (which was in a small village), but since then (5 hours now) there has been no update. It still shows her at the trailhead. I know that the AirTags cannot actively broadcast their location and need to connect with a smartphone in close proximity. But, although she is not carrying her phone, there are several adults in the group who do have phones. I should add that the location is not very remote nor very high, and most Swiss mountains have good network coverage. Any explanations? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/2 "2025-03-07T16:07:47Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > I should add that the location is not very remote nor very high, and most Swiss mountains have good network coverage. > > Any explanations? Cellular communications is line-of-sight. Even if the area the group is in has good network coverage, being down in a valley or anyplace not within a direct line to a cell tower will not get connection. If you want to maintain regular contact in remote areas you really need to equip her with something like a [Garmin InReach](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/765374), which is a satellite-connected radio and GPS tracker that can send and receive limited text messages anywhere that it can get overhead signal. (Not pitching for Garmin; there are other devices but this is by far the most popular.) But I honestly wouldn’t be worried; your daughter is probably safer up in the mountains than she is crossing a busy street, and any contingency that might occur in a location “not very remote nor very high” that would require evacuation is readily supported by emergency medical and search & rescue, of which Switzerland has excellent services. The most common maladies in the backcountry are actually infected scratches, scalding their feet with hot water because people try to brace their hydrated meal pouches with open shoes, and the occasional scrape or sprain from bad footing on a trail or crossing a stream. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/3 "2025-03-07T16:11:23Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > I know that the AirTags cannot actively broadcast their location and need to connect with a smartphone in close proximity. An _Apple_ smartphone. Android smartphones do not by default. Even after installing a third-party app to detect an AirTag, it won’t be able to contribute to Apple’s tracking network. So if none of the chaperones have iPhones, you’ll get no updates. And obviously, an iPhone would need connectivity to report. Backcountry, I wouldn’t necessarily count on that happening. ---
**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:** [March 7, 2025, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/4 "2025-03-07T17:01:03Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > if none of the chaperones have iPhones, you’ll get no updates Even if the chaperones have iPhones, the phones need to be close enough to the AirTag to interact with it; about 10 meters. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/5 "2025-03-07T17:18:15Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > It still shows her at the trailhead. How old is the location ping? Maybe the tag is in a jacket pocket on the bus? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/6 "2025-03-07T17:18:33Z")
By the way, newer iPhones can actually talk to satellites directly and provide location updates and texts: [Send your location via satellite in Find My on iPhone - Apple Support](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/send-your-location-via-satellite-iph2aac8ae20/ios) (nothing to do with Airtags though, so won’t help your daughter relay her location). If you frequent the wilderness, a dedicated messenger like the Garmin is still better, but the iPhone fallback is a nice backup that doesn’t require cell network coverage. You might want to check with the group chaperones to see if they have a supported model, and if so, whether they might be willing to provide a location update once a day or whatever? ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/7 "2025-03-07T17:26:21Z")
thanks for the replies so far. I am not really concerned about my daughter’s safety (and Stranger is right, we have amazing emergency services in Switzerland). I was just trying to understand how these Airtags work. I have done the Tour du Mont Blanc (circa 140 km hiking in the Alps over 8 days) several times and I had mobile coverage for 90 percent of the time. There are lots of cell towers in Switzerland, even in the high mountains. And where my daughter is going is just a few kilometers from villages. You are never far from civilisation in Switzerland. But the point about only connecting to Apple devices in a good one. I somehow assumed that they had some sort of an agreement of reciprocity with Android. That could be the reason if the adults don’t have Apples. And the point about proximity is also a possibility. The adults are deliberately keeping some distance from the kids (this is meant to be a learning experience), so maybe the Airtag is not connecting. But not at all in 6 hours seems odd… ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/8 "2025-03-07T17:28:49Z")
I only activated the Airpod a couple weeks ago, but I purchased it (a box of four) a couple years ago. So maybe it is a bit weak? ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/9 "2025-03-07T17:29:59Z")
Yeah, the batteries don’t last forever, but it should’ve warned you (while you were still at home and connected to it). Also, could the chaperones just be on airplane mode to save battery? ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/10 "2025-03-07T17:31:46Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > whether they might be willing to provide a location update once a day or whatever? I wish. No, they said there will be no updates to parents. No news is good news was the exact response 😄 In case you are interested, the outing is for the Duke of Edinburgh International Award programme > **[Home - Intaward](https://intaward.org/)** > > The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award is a non-formal education and learning framework operating in more than 120 countries and territories around the world, through which young people’s achievements outside of academia are recognised and... Sorry for all the sequential responses. I haven’t figured out the multiquote thing ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/11 "2025-03-07T17:49:39Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Yeah, the batteries don’t last forever, but it should’ve warned you (while you were still at home and connected to it). There should be a plastic seal that isolates the battery preventing a circuit before it is activated. The battery itself should have a shelf life of ~10 years of shelf life. [quote=“Reply, post:9, topic:1015249, full:true”] Also, could the chaperones just be on airplane mode to save battery? [/quote] That is certainly possible. I generally set my phone to airplane mode when hiking just so it doesn’t start roaming or spend energy searching for a network, although I tend to be overly cautious about conserving battery even though I carry a separate external battery to charge devices. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/12 "2025-03-07T17:54:20Z")
the airplane mode certainly could explain it, but then you have to wonder why the chaperones are carrying their phones at all. They gave the parents the phone number of the head chaperone to call her in case of emergency… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/13 "2025-03-07T18:01:00Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > but then you have to wonder why the chaperones are carrying their phones at all. Their phones are for them to call for help for the hiking party. Not for them to be kept informed of family “crises” back in civilization. Or at least that’s how I’d treat them were I a chaperone. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/14 "2025-03-07T18:02:09Z")
Camera, timepiece, music (edit: flashlight!). I also put my phone into airplane mode when camping so that it stops trying to connect like @Stranger_On_A_Train describes and the battery laaaaaasts. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/15 "2025-03-07T21:14:01Z")
Makes sense, but why give the phone number to everyone? ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/16 "2025-03-07T21:33:43Z")
So you’d know that if a call comes from the no news is good news number, it’s bad news. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/17 "2025-03-07T21:55:14Z")
Or so there’s a chance you recognize the number and actually pick up. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/18 "2025-03-07T22:48:48Z")
> [@Orville\_mogul](#): > > That could be the reason if the adults don’t have Apples. For shits and giggles and provided the chaperones are Swiss, Statcounter says the mobile operating system market share in Switzerland is pretty evenly split between iOS and Android. Currently, 54% iOS vs. 44% Android. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/19 "2025-03-08T05:52:14Z")
So my daughter’s location was updated yesterday evening when she reached the campsite, and then nothing in the 10 hours after that. So it seems pretty likely that all the adult phones are kept in flight mode except for a brief period (at the camp) when they decloaked to see if there were any urgent attempts to reach them. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2025, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249/20 "2025-03-08T05:59:17Z")
I’m going slightly off topic here, but I’m not sure I agree with that policy. My wife has a heart condition and I think we should have a right to reach my daughter quickly if something should happen. At the very least, the school should have warned us that the chaperones would only be checking their phones every eight hours. And I see the logic in using flight mode to conserve the battery, but how much juice would it use to check the phone every hour or so? Edited to add: It just occurred to me that there is a 44% possibility that the head chaperone who shared her number with the parents has an Android and maybe she is checking her phone often… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-airtags/1015249.md?page=2)