241–250 of 332 posts
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If you hide the tag in a way that it can’t be removed (locked to the bike etc) then what option does the thief have? They might actually decide not to steal the item!
hulk smash. hulk defeat security
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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…
This is not compatible with AirTags in any way, no? Wouldn't this be a great opportunity for a common standard? Or is there one?
Oh sure, it would be a great opportunity, but the idea of Apple voluntarily interoperating with anyone else on most things is just funny to think about. Google isn't significantly better on that metric, of course, but I feel like it's often in Google's business interests to interoperate more often than it is in Apple's.
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How do hidden trackers "prevent" theft? If a thief steals your bike and is notified that it's being tracked, they're probably much more likely to abandon it somewhere, at which point you can recover it. This seems like a safer bet than trying to hunt them down yourself. (It should go without saying the police are not going to go get your bicycle back for you even if you do hand them the GPS coordinates.)
It’s a massive deterrence. LoJack has been in business since 1986 for a reason. Also, the attitude of “don’t go and get your stuff back yourself, it’s not safe” is just castrated cowardice and only emboldens thieves. Thieves should be afraid of both law enforcement and vigilante response. Better society when both are on the table.
For instance: One or more well-hidden surveillance cameras cannot ever deter anyone from doing anything. However: One or more cameras placed out in the open can do so. (They don't even have to be functional cameras to be a deterrence.)
LoJack isn't a deterrence. It is instead a way to react after a theft has already occured.
The AirTag, meanwhile: It also can't prevent or deter the theft -- if a thief is going to steal a thing, they're going to steal it whether it has an AirTag hidden somewhere or not.
And when an iPhone-using thief is alerted to the presence of that AirTag tracker, they have options beyond just ditching the bike: They can make the AirTag make noise, and also use Precision Finding to draw an arrow on the screen of their phone that helps them to locate the AirTag so it can be destroyed.
(This is a deliberate anti-stalking feature on the part of Apple.
Tracking stolen goods is fundamentally incompatible with anti-stalking measures: There cannot be both things in the same ecosystem, since if a person can silently track their [stolen?] bicycle, then they can also silently track a living human being.)
Google posted another blog on how they built the new Find My Device network: https://security.googleblog.com/2024/04/find-my-device-netwo...
As a chronic loser of keys and wallets, I recognize the user need here. However, this is a prime example of a piece of software that can only be trusted when an open-source implementation is provided. Google and their customers don't have much to gain through a proprietary implementation. If anything, open-sourcing Find My Device Network would allow third party devices to join the network, enhancing its value to Goog…
https://support.apple.com/guide/security/find-my-security-se...
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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…
While technically true, there are non-AirTag third-party devices you can buy that still work with Find My: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/find-my-network-accessory-pr... Both variants you list are supported by Chipolo: https://chipolo.net/en/products/category/chipolo-spot
The one thing I want to find is my earpods inside their case. I mean how hard is it to implement this for a company? Take my money please ? Just allow me to find my earpod and its case ?
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While technically true, there are non-AirTag third-party devices you can buy that still work with Find My: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/find-my-network-accessory-pr... Both variants you list are supported by Chipolo: https://chipolo.net/en/products/category/chipolo-spot
More expensive and the batteries are non-replaceable seems like a double fail.
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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…
Apples Bluetooth stack Has had problems for quite a while.
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And if you misplace your Apple Watch®, grab your Apple Vision Pro® to look for the Apple Watch® in Augmented Reality!
You make fun of it, yet the ecosystem is so popular and well integrated that the US Department of Justice is suing them over it.