Is there a technical reason why this can't work with Apple's Find My network, or is it just that they don't want to work together? Using the "Unknown Trackers" feature my Samsung phone can scan for nearby AirTags and tell them to play sounds.
Find My Device on Android
211–220 of 332 posts
Re: Find My Device on Android
#212Does anyone have a comparison of Airtag vs "Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee"? I imagine Airtag is superior due to non-reliance on Bluetooth? Can Chipolo/Pebblebee tap into the Android network without Bluetooth? And is their tech comparable to Apple's work?
AirTag relies on Bluetooth as well, right? It certainly doesn't have a cellular connection.
In addition to BLE, AirTags use UWB. I assume this is how AirTags can provide fairly high-fidelity directional guidance, something that wasn't clear the new set of Android tags provide.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course it isn't. The time of interoperable standards in consumer devices is long past. Bluetooth used to support file transfers from device to device on feature- and early smartphones no matter the brand; now there's AirDrop (and maybe sometimes Google Nearby, but only if the humidity and lunar phase is just right). In home audio streaming, there was once DLNA; now there's AirPlay and Google Cast. We have two mutu…
Good call out, it’s incredible we went from local file transfers with Bluetooth to needing an internet connection to transfer to a person sitting next to you just because they have a different OS. If only the EU could pressure the big folks to adopt one wireless transfer protocol like it did USB C recently with Apple.
Oh, my (optimistic, but I think not unrealistic) read of the DMA is that this is the case already!
There are clauses in there that mandate gatekeepers to give access to all kinds of interfaces only accessible to the native OS or first-party apps. I'd expect AWDL/AirDrop to match the type of thing the EU wants Apple to open up quite nicely.
If Google had any interest in shaking the duopoly, they'd of course be first to request Apple to open up AirDrop access to Android.
Realistically we'll hopefully see at least some third-party app vendor that bridges the gap with something that doesn't need an install on both iOS and Android, since in many AirDrop scenarios people don't have time, knowledge, or a network connection to install some unknown third-party app.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
AirTags only come in a single size and shape that only makes sense for larger container objects. Tile makes a flat credit-card sized variant that you can slide in your wallet, and the adapters required to put an AirTag on a keychain is pretty ridiculous in comparison to the tiny variants you can get from Tile with a built-in hole for this purpose. (Also: AFAIK the "large"--not really, in comparison to the AirTag + ad…
Insane that this seems to be getting downvoted (I assume? It's faded to light gray) just because you are daring to question the superiority of the Apple Solution.
One of the most informative post, downvoted. I guess the traditional HN crowd has moved on and the Apple(TM) crowd is its replacement.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#215Is there a technical reason why this can't work with Apple's Find My network, or is it just that they don't want to work together? Using the "Unknown Trackers" feature my Samsung phone can scan for nearby AirTags and tell them to play sounds.
Typical Apple hiding behind the walled garden to avoid actual competition via users not having any path to switching platforms.
The Apple value prop used to be “it all works together”, now it’s “half the shit you spent thousands on won’t work if you leave the island”.
The Tim Cook era is great for stock holders, but he’s one of the prime enshittifiers in Silicon Valley.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Of course it isn't. The time of interoperable standards in consumer devices is long past. Bluetooth used to support file transfers from device to device on feature- and early smartphones no matter the brand; now there's AirDrop (and maybe sometimes Google Nearby, but only if the humidity and lunar phase is just right). In home audio streaming, there was once DLNA; now there's AirPlay and Google Cast. We have two mutu…
Bluetooth file transfer was always nearly useless in my experience, airdrop was somewhat revolutionary in that it actually worked reliably most of the time
AirDrop has its issues too. Used to work in educaiton at a school with 100+ iPads within reception range. Quite common to have A-to-B drops work but not the reverse direction i.e. B-to-A. Solution was often to ask another student C and use their iPad as a proxy i.e. B-to-C-to-A to get something from B to A. Quite fustrating given it would be an issue one day and not the next and what device it appeared on was totally random too. The same device B would send/receive fine to other devices but just not to A, and A itself would send/receive file to others but just not to B! No rhyme or reason to it, and of course being Apple no way to properly debug it.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yep. They never adopted or pushed USB-C (it was on laptops for years), Thunderbolt, SCSI, USB, Ethernet, HDMI, WiFi, Bluetooth, FireWire…
It's unclear if you are being sarcastic or not. Apple adopted USB C on their phones because the EU compelled them to. They tend to oppose standards they aren't already using.
Excatly right. They switched to USB-C only on certain classes of devices and even then only over a incredibly long period of time when they could have moved all of their devices over to USB-C fairly quickly given their vertical integration advantages. It's interesting how my non-Apple ecosystem has me using USB-C across all devices across multiple manufacturrs but my Apple friends have multiple cables/chargers/etc to accomodate Apple's approach of using different standards across their own product lines. Thankfully EU has made this a thing of the past but if it wasn't for EU there'd be no change or it would have happened years from now.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#218> thanks to specialized Pixel hardware, Pixel 8 and 8 Pro owners will also be able to find their devices if they’re powered off or the battery is dead. This suggests there is separate hardware with its own power and network capabilities, designed for location tracking, designed to be always on. Is there a way to disable it?
Does this have any implications for "Airplane mode". Or the requirement to turn off your cell phone during takeoff.
Re: Find My Device on Android
#219Is there a technical reason why this can't work with Apple's Find My network, or is it just that they don't want to work together? Using the "Unknown Trackers" feature my Samsung phone can scan for nearby AirTags and tell them to play sounds.
Typical Apple hiding behind the walled garden to avoid actual competition via users not having any path to switching platforms. The Apple value prop used to be “it all works together”, now it’s “half the shit you spent thousands on won’t work if you leave the island”. The Tim Cook era is great for stock holders, but he’s one of the prime enshittifiers in Silicon Valley.
As much as I hate defending them, Apple does license out "Find My" tech, so is this really their fault?
Re: Find My Device on Android
#220> thanks to specialized Pixel hardware, Pixel 8 and 8 Pro owners will also be able to find their devices if they’re powered off or the battery is dead. This suggests there is separate hardware with its own power and network capabilities, designed for location tracking, designed to be always on. Is there a way to disable it?
Does anyone know if the baseband chip communication with the tower is disabled in airplane mode?
I've measured with an external, unconnected RF monitor. The cell phone shows clear activity when not in airplane mode, and then zero activity when in airplane mode.
There's my anecdata...