Fascinating but Terrifying: AirTag Review

Apple's AirTag is finally here. Gizmodo reporter Caitlin, who recently lost headcovers at golf courses and tends to lose sunglasses on a daily basis, thought the AirTag would be perfect for this kind of thing.

However, as a result of her long lockdown and irregular life, she has fewer opportunities to carry a bag, and has started carrying her employee ID card and wallet in her leggings pocket. For that reason, even though they were able to return to their daily lives with peace of mind, they became worried that they might forget something at restaurants or at the airport.

So Caitlin tried out the AirTag in various situations, hoping that it might help him get back to regular life.

Can AirTag really find lost items? What about privacy issues? Check out Caitlin's AirTag review.

AirTag

What is this? : Apple lost property tag

Price: $29 each (3,800 yen including tax in Japan), $99 for 4 (12,800 yen including tax in Japan)

What I like: Apple's Find My network keeps the AirTag's location updated and accurate. Also great that it's easy to set up

What I don't like: Immediate improvement of the tracking prevention function is necessary to prevent stalking damage

Amazingly Simple to Set Up

Like all Apple products, AirTag is super easy to set up. First, open the AirTag package and remove the attached vinyl. Then the AirTag will start ringing, so bring the iPhone closer and pair it. If successful, the AirTag setting screen will be displayed on the iPhone, so follow the instructions on the screen and enter the necessary information. On this setting screen, you can select the item to attach the AirTag to and associate it with your Apple ID.

To use AirTag, your iPhone or iPad must be updated to iOS14.5/iPadOS 14.5 or higher.

Once you've gone through all the settings, open up the Find My app on your iPhone or iPad and tap the Find My Items tab. Items with AirTags attached should appear as emojis on the map (third-party tags such as Chipolo and Belkin that work with the Find My app also appear here).

How to find your AirTag and how it works

There are several ways you can use your AirTag to locate your belongings.

When you think an item with an AirTag is nearby, ask Siri. If you're within range of Bluetooth, the AirTag will ring on command (you can always play the sound from the Find My app without asking Siri).

AirTag has an Apple-designed U1 chip inside. The U1 chip uses ultra-wideband wireless technology (UWB), which can use spatial recognition to locate other Apple devices equipped with the U1 chip with a few centimeters of error.

As for iPhones, the 11 and 12 series have the U1 chip, so you can use the Find My app to more accurately locate the AirTag. However, the power of UWB is demonstrated only when AirTag is nearby. If there is an AirTag within a few meters from the iPhone, a "Search button" will appear in the "Search" app. Tap that button to see the distance to the AirTag and the direction to go. The screen of the iPhone also switches to green, and the vibration is also transmitted. So when you find a lost item, you'll feel a sense of accomplishment similar to a treasure hunt (this is the "find the exact location" feature).

I've tried placing AirTags around my house a few times to see if they really find them, but I've never been able to successfully find any AirTags using the "find my exact location" feature or playing a sound. is ready!

Apple products around the world help you find it

So what if you lose an AirTag-attached item while out and about instead of at home? Are you looking for it? Apple says its network of hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world can help find your AirTag. In other words, when an iPhone user happens to pass by an AirTag, the iPhone receives the Bluetooth signal from the AirTag and sends the AirTag's location information to iCloud, so the AirTag owner can open the "Find My" app and have the latest information at any time. You can check the location information of.

Furthermore, there are Apple-like considerations here, and the series of processes is encrypted and performed anonymously, so even Apple can find out where the user's AirTag is and who the device helped to find. I can't tell if it's from

Q. Can the AirTag be found quickly even in large areas?

Next, I asked my husband to help me find an AirTag outdoors, and had him hide the AirTag in an outdoor facility. After my husband got home, I turned on the AirTag's Lost Mode in the Find My app and turned on notifications when it was found. With this, if the AirTag moves even a little, a notification will be sent to my iPhone.

I immediately checked the location of the AirTag with the Find My app, and the last detected location appears to be a shopping center. So I drove to pick it up, and when I arrived at the scene, I opened the Find My app, but it didn't seem like there was an AirTag nearby, I couldn't hear it ringing, and the Find Exact Location feature worked. There was no response, so I had to walk around the mall for a few minutes.

A few minutes later, however, my husband gave me a hint that he hid the AirTag in that store after seeing the troubled look. So I went inside the store and used the "Find Exact Location" feature to find the AirTag. Then, when approaching within 3 m from the AirTag, the iPhone screen turned green and an arrow was displayed. I then followed the arrows and eventually found a mannequin in jeans, where I managed to find the AirTag hidden in his pocket.

A. Depending on the location, it may take some time to find

AirTag is different from a GPS tracker, so unless your iPhone picks up the signal from the AirTag, it will "find the exact location". I cannot use the function. So if you lose something in a large place like a shopping mall, you may end up walking around looking for the Bluetooth signal emitted by the AirTag.

Could I find an AirTag at the mall without my husband's hint this time? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Android users might be able to help you find it

If you still can't find your AirTag, try this: When you turn on Lost Mode in the Find My app, you'll be prompted to enter your phone number. Once you've done that, Lost Mode will be activated, and you can only hope that NFC-enabled smartphone users will pick up the AirTag and hold it up to a white surface.

I also tested whether the AirTag reacts with an NFC-enabled Android smartphone. It actually took a few taps for the smartphone to recognize the AirTag, but the result was a huge success. My phone number and how to return it to the owner were displayed on the Pixel screen.

Good battery life

The AirTag is one of the few Apple devices that doesn't require charging. The battery is a button battery and lasts for more than a year. Furthermore, if you turn it around, the back cover will come off, making it easy to replace the battery. You can always check the AirTag's battery level from the Find My app.

The tracking prevention function needs to be improved immediately

Apple said that AirTag can safely track important things while protecting privacy, and has a tracking prevention function to prevent stalking damage. However, this is by no means safe.

If a malicious person slips an AirTag into someone else's bag, iPhone users who are unknowingly carrying an AirTag will not only receive a notification, but the AirTag will also ring to warn them that it is not your AirTag. I will give it to you. However, for Android users, the AirTag just rings and the smartphone does not receive a notification. Other companies' lost-and-found tags don't have this feature, but apparently Apple needs to seriously reconsider this feature.

I put the AirTag under the driver's seat before my husband got in the car to try out the AirTag's anti-tracking capabilities (he agreed, of course). But then, even though his husband drove for hours, his iPhone didn't receive any notifications. Because his iPhone had not been updated to iOS 14.5.

So I had my husband's iPhone updated to iOS14. On the other hand, I was able to easily check his whereabouts from the Find My app on my iPhone, and I was able to figure out even the shops I stopped by on the way. Perhaps it was because the test time was too short this time, but Apple has not officially disclosed how many hours after the tracking function prevention alert will be notified.

Also, as I found out this time, iPhone users who haven't updated to iOS 14.5 can't receive tracking prevention alerts. Therefore, iPhone users who have not yet updated to the latest software can rest assured that they will update early just in case.

By the way, this feature has little effect on Android users, and even if you are stalked using AirTag, the AirTag will not sound a notification until 3 days have passed. As there are many users using Android smartphones all over the world, it is also necessary to improve this as soon as possible.

AirTag is not only affordable but also easy to use, so in the near future you may see people wearing it around town like AirPods. That's why I commented to Apple, "I think we need to improve tracking prevention as soon as possible." In response, Apple said, "There is a possibility that we will improve it through future updates to further strengthen the tracking prevention function."

Comparison of AirTag and other company's tags

Even though it is a lost-and-found tag, the function differs slightly depending on the manufacturer. But where the AirTag outperforms other lost-and-found tags is how easy it is to find things.

While Tile uses the Internet to find lost items, AirTag works with hundreds of millions of iPhone, iPad, and Mac devices around the world to find lost items. Therefore, AirTag has a higher probability of finding lost items than Tile (1 billion Apple users worldwide vs. 35 million Tile users). Also, Tile does not support UWB at this time, but a UWB compatible version will be released later this year.

Samsung's Galaxy SmartTag+, on the other hand, supports the same UWB as the AirTag, and can find lost items more accurately. However, the price is a little high at $40 (about 4,400 yen), and SmartTag+ uses a network of Galaxy devices that have been allowed to cooperate in finding lost items, and the tag's location information is updated. Apple's Find My network, on the other hand, keeps iPhone users up-to-date with their location when they walk near an AirTag, even in areas where Bluetooth isn't available.

With the purchase of an Apple product, basic new users must enroll their device in iCloud and join the Find My network. So if you consider that there are 1 billion Apple users worldwide who are part of the Find My network, the odds of finding an AirTag go way up.

Summary: Should you buy AirTaga?

If you're reading this review and you're an iPhone user who tends to lose things, you can't go wrong with an AirTag (or four). AirTags are affordable, easy to set up, and work perfectly. The AirTag is Apple's quintessential device in all respects.

When the day comes when I can go on a trip again without worrying about getting vaccinated, I would like to use it by attaching an AirTag to my bag and putting it in my wallet. Hopefully the tracking protection will be better by then too, Apple.