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Apple Introduces AirTag

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111–120 of 966 posts

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#111
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tile's been doing one-year battery life with a CR2032 for quite some time now.

only the $35 Tile Pro has user-replaceable 2032 battery.

That's incorrect. The lower-tier Tile Mate has a 1 year user-replaceable CR1632 battery. The Tile Mate is only $62 for a 4-pack compared to $89.99 for a 4-pack of Tile Pros or $99 for a 4-pack of AirTags. User-replaceable 1 year batteries have been the norm for a while as both the Mate and Pro were introduced 2.5 years ago.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#112
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the link: "iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time."

That's cool and all, but how do they handle a trainload of people all going the same direction sitting near each other? I mean public transportation is still a thing.

I assume “over time” means for a long enough period to eliminate the possibility that you’re on a train with other people.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#113

This is truly revolutionary for pet owners. All existing solutions I know of have at least one fault-intolerant property that makes them useless for the lost-pet use case (battery / size / unreliable connection coverage / etc.) If I understand correctly Apple tags solve all of these at once.

The Whistle works quite well. And if your dog is somewhere where no other iPhone's are around, it'll still work.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#114
post #48

I had a Tile set that I put on my keys, backpack, wallet and luggage. In the end it was too annoying with bluetooth usage draining my phone's battery and not working reliably enough when I needed it, now all the Tile stuff is sitting in a drawer. Maybe Apple can do better with their attention to UX but the main thing I learned is that these things are a whole lot less useful than they might sound. Apple probably need…

even if they work properly, i can't get past the idea of having to replace a battery every year. and you probably wouldn't just have one of these either.

its the same reason i could never get into any of that iot stuff since they mostly rely on batteries. its just plain absurd when you work out how many you would go through in your lifetime and is its crazy to think that everyone else would be doing the same thing.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#116
post #41
post #18

This is directly competing with Tile[0] which you can buy 2 for 39.99. I guess the integration with Find My app would be pretty convenient but probably not worth the price difference? [0] https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/store/tiles/sticker

The tile ones only have 150-400ft range, which is fine for locating things in your home, but not so great if you lose something out in public

Ah interesting, I've never used Tile so I didn't know it had such a limited range.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#117
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the link: "iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time."

That's cool and all, but how do they handle a trainload of people all going the same direction sitting near each other? I mean public transportation is still a thing.

When you get off the train, pick the one that sticks with you.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#118
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the link: "iOS devices can also detect an AirTag that isn’t with its owner, and notify the user if an unknown AirTag is seen to be traveling with them from place to place over time."

That's cool and all, but how do they handle a trainload of people all going the same direction sitting near each other? I mean public transportation is still a thing.

It has to be away from the owner to trigger the warning.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#119
post #16

> AirTag is designed for over a year’s worth of battery life with everyday use. The CR2032 battery is user-replaceable and widely available. Replacement batteries are sold separately. That's the piece of information I wanted to know first. Devices like this can be built, but those can't run on batteries for a reasonable time frame. Apple made it practical.

Tile's been doing one-year battery life with a CR2032 for quite some time now.

Only in the Tile Mate and Pro since 2018 models. Their other tiles do not have user replaceable batteries.

Re: Apple Introduces AirTag

#120
post #108

I thought one of the big use cases for this was to track stolen items, like a backpack or maybe even a bicycle. But the "anti-stalking" feature will notify someone if an AirTag they don't own appears to be traveling with them. Does this render it useless for anti-theft, then? Since it will just notify a thief that the bike they just stole is being tracked, and they can look for the AirTag and throw it in the nearest…

>Does this render it useless for anti-theft, then? It's hard to make tracking devices hidden. They need to phone home, so that means they emit a signal. Someone can sniff that out using a RF detector. that's why tracking devices tend to be integrated into the product itself (eg. into the ECU for cars, or part of the CPU/motherboard for computers).

It's much easier to have a phone that will easily tell you if there is AirTag around you than having an RF detector.
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