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#Apple air tag detector android
Even if you don’t own an Apple device the AirTag will automatically draw attention to itself by playing a sound if it’s been separated from its owner for a long period of time but still moves location – plus if you have an Android phone you can use Apple’s Tracker Detect app to scan for AirTags manually if you think you’re being tracked. You can’t activate an AirTag on behalf of someone else, and if your iPhone, iPad, or other iOS devices spot that an unknown AirTag is traveling around with you it will alert you to the tag. Given the nature of the tracker, you’ll be glad to hear that Apple has put plenty of thought into privacy measures, especially when it comes to making sure the AirTags can’t be misused. Stalking isn’t cool, in any context, and is often illegal.Last but not least, if someone finds the Apple AirTag the old-fashioned way they can use any NFC-enabled device (whether it’s an Apple product or not) to find out basic contact information for you (if you choose to opt-in to this feature) so that they can return it to you. Just make sure everyone who uses the vehicle is fully aware of the AirTag’s presence. If you share a family car or have lent your car to someone, it helps you locate them without having to call them. The other reason is simply to know where someone is. You’d have to catch the perpetrators in the act. Note, however, that AirTags provide no location history, you only get the last known location. If you can show, for example, that your car is 30 miles from where it should be when you left it with the airport parking firm, that is pretty strong evidence. I can see this being particularly useful in places such as theme parks or shopping malls, where one parking lot looks much like another.Īn AirTag might also prove useful is you suspect a repairer or valet parking is up to no good with your car. There are other strong reasons, besides straight theft, why it might be handy to have an AirTag sat in your car permanently.įor one, it can help you find the car if you’ve forgotten where you’ve parked it. Other reasons to leave an AirTag in a car That again may alert a thief to its presence. The AirTag might also beep to draw attention to itself after a sustained period away from its owner. However, that won’t kick in for 72 hours after the AirTag was last in range of its owner, so you should have a decent window to locate a stolen car. If the thief uses a modern iPhone, they may trigger Apple’s anti-stalking feature, which pops an alert on their phone to say that an unknown AirTag is moving with them. That said, there may be one or two telltale signs for the thieves. You could even slip the tiny AirTag disc in the lining of the car or under a small incision the carpet, making it very hard for thieves to know they are being tracked. My partner has put the AirTag in various hidden locations within the car this week, including in the glove box and in a compartment in the boot and the device has continued to send a location beacon. That would make it much easier for car thieves to spot and discard. One concern you might have about using an AirTag to track your car is whether the device has to be placed in open sight to send/receive a signal (ie. AirTags are small enough to easily hide in a car Getty Images
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