Apple AirTags: Hands-on with the tiny tracker By CNET

Apple is best known for its iPhones max and well, of course, ted lasso, but now they make this it's an air tag, and it's downright tiny. You attach it to an object like your keys, and you can keep track of it with apple's find my network pretty nifty right. So, let's start out with some basics. This kind of tracker isn't new, but the biggest selling point for the air tag is apple's find my network, which is made up of hundreds of millions of Apple devices, and last week the find my network was opened up to third parties who can take advantage of it, which will just increase that number even more and that's important, because let's say you lose your keys, but they have an air tag attached as soon as someone with another device on the find my network, like an iPhone, crosses its path. The air tag will communicate with the iPhone securely in the background to update its location, kind of like using Bluetooth to piggyback this information. Back to you now, unboxing and AirTag is curious.

It comes with lots and lots of paperwork and a battery that's already installed, and I can't emphasize enough how tiny it is. It weighs roughly the same as two quarters: it's bigger than a junior mint, a milk dud and a mentor, and not by much one side is white. The other is stainless steel and yes, it feels well-made, in fact it's rated ip67 for dust and water resistance and can survive being submerged for 30 minutes up to a 1-meter behind the stainless steel back is a replaceable cr2032 battery, which apple claims will last a year and when it starts to get low, your iPhone will notify you CR cr2032 batteries are very common, can be found in stores, drugstores and online, and what's nice is you can replace it yourself? Setup is easy. You just pull off the battery tab, bring it close your iPhone and tap connect. Now I had to update my iPhone to iOS, 14.5 and sign in to my iCloud account and verify the lock code on my iPhone, but pretty straightforward from there you're prompted to name it. For example, I named this one keys because it's going to go in my keys yeah, I know original, and now this air tag is tied to my Apple ID, and that allows me to do a number of things.

First of which is, I can ping the air tag, and it will play a sound. The air tag uses the surface here as a sound actuator. Hence, the lack of a tiny speaker, grill and get this you don't even need to have to find my app open. You can just say: hey Siri, where are my keys looking for keys and the air tag will chime it's right here, but it gets better. If you have an iPhone, 11 or 12, you can use precision finding to locate your air tag and that's because the air tag like the iPhone 11 12, has an u1 ultra-wide band chip and that helps it determine if the exact distance and direction from the iPhone to it.

Now this really cool interface pops up on your iPhone to guide you visually with haptics and sound to help. You find your lost item. The iPhone uses its cameras AR kit the accelerometer gyroscope, along with data from the air tag. To do all this, it's really impressive precision finding works within Bluetooth range of an air tag, but let's say the air tag is a bit farther away. You could enter it into lost mode which allows you to enter a phone number now.

If someone comes across the air tag, they can tap the air tag with a NFC phone and will be taken to a website with info on how to contact you. It works on iOS and android devices. Let's talk privacy. Unfortunately, there are people who might want to take advantage of the anonymity and the privacy that the air tag provides and might try to use it to track another person without them knowing well apple. Have you covered with a number of features to discourage unwanted tracking your iPhone or iOS device can detect an air tag? That's not with its owner, and it'll notify you.

If it's traveling with you over time, you'll then be able to play a sound on the unknown air tag to help locate it and view information like its serial number and instructions on how to disable it like by removing its battery you're. The only one who can see where your air tag is any location, data or location. History isn't stored on the air tag itself and when the air tag comes in contact with another find. My device like an iPhone info is relayed anonymously and encrypted. No one, not even apple, knows the location of your air tag or the identity of the find my device used to find it and any Bluetooth signals used by the find my network rotate frequently.

So you can't be tracked by them. Air tags work with any iPhone or iPod touch on iOS 14.5 or any iPad on iPad. Os 14.5 single air tag costs 29, but you can get a pack of four for 99. They go on sale, friday, April 23rd and will be available on April.30Th also apple sells a few accessories for the air tag, including a leather loop and a leather caring, and these cost between 29 and 39. But before I finish, I want to talk about pets and kids.

As soon as air tags were announced. I saw friends online joking about how they wanted to put one of these on their kid or ROG or whatever. If you attach this to a pet, that pet has to come within Bluetooth range of a device on the find my network for your pet's location to be updated as far as kids, the air tag is meant for items say, for example, your child's backpack, if it gets left in the cafeteria built-in features aimed at preventing tracking that I mentioned earlier mean that an air tag isn't the best option for keeping dibs on your kids' location you'd, be better off using an Apple Watch with family setup which lets you know your kids, location and the location of other family members. So that's all I got look. I got to tell you that um I've had this air tag for about eight hours, which is not a lot of time, but I do look forward to testing it out more in depth.

But now I want to hear from you guys. What do you think of apple's air tag? Are you going to buy one or two or four throw your thoughts in the comments that was satisfying?.

Source : CNET