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Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

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Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#91

Post by Alive-in-2025 »

bookofjoe wrote: post #72
dalemhurley wrote: post #3

This is amazing. I love Apple AirTags but they are so bulky and an odd shape. I would love a AirTag the shape of a credit card to go into my wallet. I would love a smaller AirTag to go on my cats collar.

Here's my 8.5 lb calico cat with the AirTag* she's had on her collar since she was a 3-month old kitten: https://imgur.com/a/r9EGSOc *Photo taken a moment ago with Meta Stories glasses

Kind of a weird flex by mentioning the meta glasses. Nice looking cat

* Wrote this on my cell phone. ;-)

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#93

Post by hattmall »

exabrial wrote: post #84

Can someone point me to something I saw earlier? Apple alerts users to "tags that might be following you". Someone made an implementation that used a KDF to rotate the mac address or private key or something, but it was predictable in a way you could track each derivation of the of the mac/private key. There is a really obnoxious petty theft problem where I live, and the time it takes to constantly get my windows fix…

You can buy GPS cellular trackers. Then just get a really cheap or even free IOT sim.

Alternatively you could probably just walk to your nearest drug addict hangout with case of bottled water and ask them to stop breaking into your stuff.

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#94

Post by ferfumarma »

suddenexample wrote: post #65
sorenjan wrote: post #56

I wish there was a good option for non Apple users. From what I've heard Google made their version pretty bad, as expected. They rate limit how often you can search for your own tags, they won't show the location until a tag has been seen by multiple phones, there's poor coverage. One test I saw showed that Samsung's network was better, which makes no sense since Samsung phones should be a subset of all Android phone…

It's actually hilarious that whoever was in charge of Google's finder network decided to cripple the product's one and only function by prioritizing privacy. In this tradeoff, Google gained a handful of articles mentioning the "innovative" privacy improvements (before the writers had a chance to test how terribly the network actually performs). For that, they sacrificed the chance to compete with Apple in this catego…

> It's actually hilarious that whoever was in charge of Google's finder network decided to cripple the product's one and only function by prioritizing privacy.

That is a hilariously apt and depressing point. Wow.

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#96

Post by talldayo »

KennyBlanken wrote: post #87
suddenexample wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's actually hilarious that whoever was in charge of Google's finder network decided to cripple the product's one and only function by prioritizing privacy. In this tradeoff, Google gained a handful of articles mentioning the "innovative" privacy improvements (before the writers had a chance to test how terribly the network actually performs). For that, they sacrificed the chance to compete with Apple in this catego…

Google's interest in user privacy extends as far as keeping competitors or customers of google from getting data about an Android user other than through Google.

Well sure, you could accuse Apple and Huawei of the exact same thing and still be right. Hardware OEMs are extremely desperate to force their customers through first-party services to extend the value of their sale. News at 11.

Because America lacks any form of conscious consumer protection, this is apparently fine to our regulators. Our market is entirely comfortable with OEMs fighting over who gets the right to exploit a customer with their defacto monopoly.

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#97

Post by ASalazarMX »

suddenexample wrote: post #65
sorenjan wrote: post #56

I wish there was a good option for non Apple users. From what I've heard Google made their version pretty bad, as expected. They rate limit how often you can search for your own tags, they won't show the location until a tag has been seen by multiple phones, there's poor coverage. One test I saw showed that Samsung's network was better, which makes no sense since Samsung phones should be a subset of all Android phone…

It's actually hilarious that whoever was in charge of Google's finder network decided to cripple the product's one and only function by prioritizing privacy. In this tradeoff, Google gained a handful of articles mentioning the "innovative" privacy improvements (before the writers had a chance to test how terribly the network actually performs). For that, they sacrificed the chance to compete with Apple in this catego…

Google is a timid shell of its former self, it won't dip a foot in a pool without making sure the water is warm.

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#98

Post by culi »

1024core wrote: post #92

QQ: Why would one build your own? Is the cost of building one's own lower than just buying an Airtag off the shelf? I recently bought some for about $15. Would building my own be cheaper?

I used to put one on my indoor/outdoor cat. She was a small cat so I always felt bad by how large the airtag was.

If we were still doing this, I would consider building an optimized one that's smaller and a better shape for her

Another use-case could be to build a tag that is able to leverage multiple different networks (Tile, Chipolo, etc)

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#99

Post by bartvk »

groby_b wrote: post #77
RobotToaster wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> From what I've heard Google made their version pretty bad I have one on my keys. The one time I tried to use it, despite refreshing multiple times, it gave me a bubble with a quarter mile radius. It turned out to be in my bag right next to me.

So, you're saying it was correct? ;)

It was technically correct.

Re: Openhaystack: Build 'AirTags' – track Bluetooth devices via Apple's network

#100

Post by Tijdreiziger »

miki123211 wrote: post #55
LelouBil wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw someone use this to track his mail state. They have a contact sensor inside their mailbox that rotates the broadcasted key based on the trigger count. If the key changed, aka a new different device is visible, you know mail has been dropped in, very clever !

I wish we had more / more easily accessible networks that let you do this. Something that would let you send extremely tiny ( Amazon has a network like this called Sidewalk, using Alexa devices as gateways, but I don't think it's very open to third-party experimentation, and it's definitely not an interoperable standard on the gateway side.

How about LoRaWAN?
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