Apple Airtag - handling of the Apple connected tag - News - UFC -Que Choisir

What are the connected keychain for?

Tile, chipolo, wistiki… These small connected Bluetooth tags to your smartphone have been around for years.They allow you to put their hands on your lost objects.You can locate their position on a card, ring them, sometimes even receive an alert on your smartphone if you get away from it without them.They are therefore intended to find its keys at home, but quickly find their limit since the tag must be within reach of the bluetooth of your smartphone so that the system works.Unless Apple found the parade ...

Can I locate my object if it is out of reach of my Bluetooth smartphone?

These tags do not integrate GPS chip or SIM card.It is therefore impossible for them to communicate if they are not connected in Bluetooth to a smartphone.But manufacturers have imagined solutions to get around this limitation.The best known American Tile, thus makes it possible to locate a tag based on those of other users of the brand who also installed the Tile application on their smartphone.Your chances of finding your lost objects therefore increase with the community.Airtags work exactly on the same principle.With one difference: the Apple community is without common measure with that of Tile!It counts in hundreds of millions of iPhone users, mac computers, iPad tablets.All brand devices can serve as a relay.Note that Tile does not deserve.Difficult to assess the number of users precisely, but the American company born in 2013 still announces more than 1,700 around a tag located at a point in Seine-Saint-Denis.

Does an Airtag really allow us to find a lost object?

With a little luck, yes.If your object is a Bluetooth range of one of your Apple devices, the precise location is permanent (note that this connection is inexpensive and will therefore not start the autonomy of your iPhone).But if the Bluetooth connection is broken, the iPhone, Mac, iPad of users who are near your object will take over to locate the object.These users will help you without even knowing it.

Things get complicated if the Airtag is lost in the open country or in the forest, where iPhone users are necessarily less numerous.In this case, the location from your iPhone is indeed broken.But you can activate the "lost mode" of your Airtag, provided for this case.From then on, when an iPhone passes nearby, its owner will be warned of the presence of the Airtag and solicited to make it.Apple goes even further since an Android smartphone user who would find an Airtag can also be useful: it is enough for him to pass his smartphone near the Airtag to access the owner's phone number (his smartphone must however be compatible withNFC technology).With a little kindness, and a little luck, it can work.Note that an AirTag associated with an Apple account has no interest in the person who finds it: he will not be able to use it.

Can I use an Airtag as an anti-theft for my bike or my car?

Airtag is designed as an accessory intended to find objects lost on a daily basis, not as an anti -theft.To design a product that respects privacy, which does not trigger untimely notifications on the surrounding iPhone as soon as the owner moves away from it, does not accuse a friend a friend to whom you lent your keys, Apple juggled withThe algorithms, whose details it does not reveal (logical, it is better that thieves do not know precisely how they work ...).Thanks to the Apple network and the lost mode, an Airtag could be useful in the event of theft.But better not to count on it.

How much are the AirTags?

Airtags are sold either by unit for € 35, or in a pack of 4 for € 119 (or € 30 each).Apple is more expensive than competition, which will not surprise anyone.Count 75 € for a batch of 4 tile tags and € 50 for a pack of 3 chipolo tags.Add to this that unlike them, the AirTags do not have a hole that would hang them directly to a trousseau or a backpack strap.It will be necessary to buy, as an option, aircraft carrier.Their price varies between 14 € for a silicone compatible version at 45 € for a leather model signed Apple.The manufacturer thus seriously increases the invoice.

Airtags are not compatible with Android smartphones;On the iPhone, the latest version of the internal software, iOS 14.5, is necessary (this version of the OS is available for iPhone SE, SE 2020, 6 and following).

How are Airtags distinguished from tiles or chipolo, which already existed?

They are more expensive than those of competition, but as usual Apple manages to distinguish themselves.In addition to the very dense mesh of Apple user, which significantly increases the chances of finding a lost object, the AirTags are perfectly integrated into the Apple ecosystem.Tile, chipolo and the others require the installation of an application on its smartphone, which wants to constantly access your location, sends you advertisements to encourage you to move on to a premium subscription with additional functions, and are not necessarily veryergonomic.At Apple, everything happens in the LOCALIZE application, installed by default, and which is already used to locate your Apple devices, to erase them remotely if you lose them, to locate your friends (if they are consenting!).It’s more intuitive, simpler.Airtags are also more precise thanks to the UWB (Ultra Wideband) technology they incorporate (this degree of precision is only reached with recent iPhone, iPhone 11 and following).However, unlike competing models, AirTags do not send an alert if you leave without your keys or without your backpack.

What is the autonomy of AirTags?

Airtags work with an easy to replace battery (CR2032).Based on a daily use of four sound emission requests and a specific location request per day, Apple announces 1 year of autonomy.The user receives an alert when it is time to change it.

Chipolo Classic, Tile Mate, Samsung Smarttag… The majority of Bluetooth trackers work with this same CR2032 battery.This is not the case with the models in credit card format such as the Slim Tile or the Chipolo Card, intended to be slipped into a portfolio.Once their battery is flat, they will be good ... for the trash.Not terrible ecology side.

Can AirTags be diverted to track someone?

Nope.An Airtag is linked to the Apple account of its owner.If someone slips into your bag an Airtag that belongs to them, with the idea of following your trips, you will receive an Apple alert message.You can then deactivate it using the instructions offered.

Samsung also offers a tracker, the smarttag.What differences with Airtag?

Smarttag is the equivalent at Apple Airtag Samsung.It allows you to put their hands on the object to which it is hung when it is at Bluetooth range.The SmartThings application serves as an interface to locate it on a card, make it ring or declare it as lost.In this case, the Samsung community is called to help.Galaxy devices passing nearby capture the Smarttag signal, which then informed the owner of the location.As with Apple, network links, members of the Samsung community, do not have access to the information from the beacon.They just allowed the owner to find her, without knowing it.

Samsung has launched a new version, the smarttag+, which now incorporates the UWB (Ultra Wideband) to offer a very precise location of the object.Apple guides the user to its object with an arrow system, Samsung goes even further by relying on augmented reality.But this function is currently only available on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, S21+ and 21 Ultra.

In summary, the AirTags are worth it?

On a daily basis, AirTags can be useful for people who regularly lead their keys to their homes.They will reassure those who fear losing their bag, and will give a chance to find a suitcase if it is lost in airport transfers.But it is better to live (or lose your belongings) in urban areas to maximize its chances of finding a lost object ... and these AirTags remain confined to iPhone users.So afford airtags why not, but that is to invest in a product that you hope to have to use.