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Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

gizmodo.com

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Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#91

Post by RegnisGnaw »

rootusrootus wrote: post #28
andrepew wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What tracker is comparable in price? An AirTag is $30 with no other monthly costs. Genuinely asking, I would love to find a better solution.

A quick search on Amazon for 'gps tracker' will yield at least one option on the first page for $29.99. GSM for communications. Not as small as an AirTag, but 1.5 inches by 0.9 by 0.6 inches isn't exactly huge either. A legitimate point is that the battery life isn't great. But that's not too hard to solve, if you tolerate a little more space for a bigger battery. I'm sure there are even better options out there, tha…

Monthly fee?

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#92

Post by dheera »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #71

Anecdotal regional issue: I had an AirTag on my AirPod Pro's case that was stolen. I immediately notified Austin's police (APD) as I could see where it was going. Unfortunately, due to understaffing of 100-200 police officers and detectives, most calls unrelated to imminent threats of injury or death aren't being handle for days or ever. So, it's open-season on packages and property because APD can't or won't do its…

Same, I had $4K of camera equipment stolen in the Bay Area and police just closed the case.

I wouldn't be surprised if the next 10 car smashings were the same crooks because the police department won't do its job. They keep letting the crooks go, and we wonder why there are so many thefts in SF these days. Well maybe don't let the crooks go!

That said though I wonder if AirPods are having success in other countries with more competent police.

For the US I really wish we could commercialize some kind of tracker that releases fart spray, honey, flour, ink, glue, and other annoying substances if stolen. If the police won't do their job we need to do it ourselves.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#93

Post by panzagl »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #76
shiftpgdn wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is every major city right now, unfortunately.

Which? Where?

Every city in the US. Between 'are we the baddies' and relatively meh pay most municipalities are short of officers.

I'd link an article, but googling 'police shortage' would seem to do the trick.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#94

Post by caconym_ »

post_break wrote: post #4

Taping them together tightly silences it. Airtags have to be the most nerfed product I've bought. Day one, they were fantastic. Then they lowered the beeping and rogue alerts to a threshold my wife gets them from my keys or wallet all the time. Then they just beep randomly. I regret buying them to be honest. Tile never really got harped on for stalking. The samsung trackers work just as well as Apple and don't have a…

I have not had any issues like this with mine, and I use them all the time to find things. I would buy more if I had anything else to attach them to.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#95

Post by mushbino »

radicaldreamer wrote: post #79
errcorrectcode wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which? Where?

San Francisco, for one.

They've never responded for things like this, be it now, pre-pandemic, or 20 years ago. It's never been an understaffing issue.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#96

Post by jccooper »

babyshake wrote: post #47

If I wanted to make sure I knew about an AirTag attached to my vehicle, for example, is there something I can do or something I can put in the vehicle to detect it?

An iPhone will eventually notify you about a tag that is following you. You can get a "Tracker Detect" Android app that will do a similar thing. There's also plenty of apps that'll just tell you all the NFC devices in your vicinity.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#97

Post by mckeed »

pajko wrote: post #30

So this is a failed product then. Too good for tracking because it can be abused. While the new version alerts the thieves in the intended use case. Should have been given a 10x-50x price tag right from the start, to make it less available and affordable for malicious activities.

Finding stolen items isn't the only use-case, and you still have 8-24 hours to track the thief before it starts beeping.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#98

Post by rootusrootus »

flounder3 wrote: post #86
errcorrectcode wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which? Where?

San Francisco. Los Angeles. Seattle. San Jose (albeit theft has never received attention in San Jose)

Portland, of course, definitely belongs on the list.

I live in a small town outside of Portland and it's not bad, we haven't cut the funding for our police.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#99

Post by k8sToGo »

spike021 wrote: post #33
k8sToGo wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You also need an Apple device.so it is not just $30

Your comment is akin to "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" I highly doubt there's (much of) a market looking to buy AirTags without already owning the pre-requisite Apple hardware.

Maybe. But if I buy a third party GPS thing for $50 that also works with my Android, PC etc. then it is cheaper than getting the apple devices plus airtag.

Re: Silenced AirTags with disabled speakers are popping up for sale online

#100

Post by reustle »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #73
errcorrectcode wrote: post #71

Anecdotal regional issue: I had an AirTag on my AirPod Pro's case that was stolen. I immediately notified Austin's police (APD) as I could see where it was going. Unfortunately, due to understaffing of 100-200 police officers and detectives, most calls unrelated to imminent threats of injury or death aren't being handle for days or ever. So, it's open-season on packages and property because APD can't or won't do its…

This is every major city right now, unfortunately.

Every major American city*
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