Have you ever lost your keys or wallet? If you haven’t, you’re probably the only person. Everybody else in the world will want to look at a tagged digital device like Tile, or Apple’s new AirTag.
The AirTag is, as Apple describes it, “a supereasy way to keep track of your stuff.” The technology, which is about the size of a poker chip, hides neatly inside a purse or on a keychain and connects with Apple’s Find My app. When you lose your keys, the AirTag tells you where you left them.
AirTags sell for $29 each, or four for $99, making the AirTags an affordable purchase.
But that’s not the whole story.
The AirTag “Here I Am” Experience
“They are very easy to set up, they are a great tool for finding lost or misplaced items, and they are just a very Apple-y experience for people that are looking for a product like this,” says David Lee of David2D.
David Lee on the beautiful simplicity of the AirTag
Indeed, as unboxing videos show, the set-up is dead simple. Simply place the AirTag next to an iPhone and allows users to name the Tag (like, “keys” or “purse”). That’s it.
When you lose your keys, use your iPhone to mark the AirTag as lost. If you’re within range (around 30 feet), the iPhone Precision Finder tool can help you locate the lost keys. It’s almost like using a metal detector: your iPhone will give directions to the lost AirTag, and the AirTag will emit a sound on a nearly invisible speaker—a tiny “Here I am!”
If you left your backpack on the bus, the finder will pinpoint your lost AirTag on a map.
Marquis Brownlee loves the style of the AirTag
Marquis Brownlee calls the AirTags “a 21st Century luxury tag.”
The accuracy of the Precision Finding tool—Brownlee gives the tool “9 out of 10”—gives this luxury accessory heft, and at a reasonable price. But, he notes, to use the Precision Finding function, you need to have purchased one of thew newer iPhones.
The most impressive part of the AirTag system is how it leverages Apple’s massive network of iPhones. More than a billion iPhones exist on planet earth, and any of those phones can read an AirTag and tell the stranger who finds your lost keys how to contact you. AirTags can also communicate with Android phone, extending the network even further.
AirTags offer an important benefit to the accessibility community: Greater independence. As James Rath, a legally blind filmmaker explains on iJustine’s channel, AirTags can help people like him find what he’s misplaced more quickly than in the past.
AirTag and accessability according to James Rath
Stalker Safe?
Privacy and security of information are two big issues for Apple, and when the AirTags were announced, much was said about the threats to privacy that might come from carrying around a location tracker.
That’s because the AirTag and its competitors look like something out of a James Bond film. Bond slips the AirTag into his victim’s car, tracks the man to his house, and then—ka-pow.
Is the AirTag stalker safe? asks Sara Dietschy
Sara Dietschy addresses the real-world concerns about stalking. What if a stranger slips an AirTag into a woman’s backpack? How much can the stalker discover about his target through the AirTag, and could he actually find out where she lives?
Apple’s solution gives some control of the situation to the potential victim. When she arrives home, or to a location she regularly visits, the potential victim’s iPhone will alert her to the presence of an unknown AirTag nearby. She then has the power to disable the AirTag—or, if the tag belongs to a friend who’s come to visit, to turn off the notification.
But, as Dietschy points out, if a thief steals the woman’s purse, his iPhone will notify him that an AirTag in the purse is tracking his. If he is smart, he’ll throw it in the trash before anybody catches up with him.
Safety and security are such important concerns that David Lee took up the question in a special spot about privacy concerns with AirTags. Apple, he argues, has found a balance between the need to locate a lost set of keys (the entire point of the AirTags) and the security of individuals. AirTags likely won’t deter theft, says Lee, “and they aren’t for that.”
Style and Luxury
Apple hasn’t lost its sense of style with AirTags. The tags are small, discreet, and like all things Apple, sleekly designed. Apple entered into a partnership to the French luxury design house Hermes—the design house selling t-shirts for $500—to deliver attractive accessories for the airTag, including key rings and suitcase tags.
“This,” remarks Lewis George Hilsenteger at Unbox Therapy, “is how Apple maintains its position as a luxury electronics brand.”
Third-party vendors are already releasing affordable, creative fashions and accessories to go with AirTags, including snaps to attach AirTags to a pair of glasses. Justine Ezarik calls the possibilities for accessories “endless.”
But, as Marques Brownlee notes, as sweet as AirTags look, they scuff easily. That’s a problem for a technology that will crash around at the bottom of purses and backpacks—scuffs easily. “Looks great when it’s brand new, but it’s going to take some wear and tear,” says Brownlee.
Unbox Therapy gets a taste of luxury
To Sum Up the AirTag
AirTags represent a stiff competitor to Tile and Samsung’s SmartTags. They have a replaceable battery, a waterproof rating of IP67 (meaning you can put the AirTags in two four of water for 30 minutes), and options to customize the AirTags, so if you want to put your initials on the tags, you can. Add in the ease-of-use, opportunity for third-party accessories, affordability, and the primary function—to find what’s important to you—AirTags offer something new for gadget hounds dying for something new from Apple.
They can help you find lost keys. Put one in your dog’s collar, and you’ll always find him when he runs away.
And, as Ezarik jokes, AirTags can even help busy people from losing their marbles.
“I should honestly wear this around just so I can find myself,” she says.