this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2023
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Oh I've looked for a while, as I am not a fan of apple software, but these things are amazing. True innovation. I think the only reason apple is the only ones with something out there like this is because they have the infrastructure for it. Samsung or internet providers are others in the position to do something like this, but I'm still waiting
They aren't some GPS tags, which would just gobble through the battery, they ping the nearest apple device. You can spoof an air tag with an esp if you are into that, but you still need an apple device. The real magic is again, the infrastructure. Luckily for me, my wife has a mac =P
So innovative it's just a Tile. They do have the advantage of having really good coverage in the US, but I don't see the innovation.
Directional location is pretty innovative.
I suspect device coverage, relative to tile, even in countries not dominated by Apple, composes of a couple orders of magnitude more devices.
Tile didn't use Ultra Wideband until after AirTags existed, and I think even now it's only the Tile Pro that has it.
I used Tile for years before AirTags came along. The difference is night and day.
Tile is pure garbage. I say this as someone who has used both.
So I have a Mac and an iPad but a pixel phone and I'm about to do some international travel. I passed on getting a tile because of the smaller network. Do you think airtags have been useful for you without having an iPhone?
My wife has an iPhone, but I have an old iPad hooked to her account. I can see where all the air tags are, and locate them or activate the noise function. For traveling, there's no real benefit to having an iPhone vs an iPad.
The main bonus that the newer IPhones have is the ability to locate them like a homing device. If you're within 30 feet, it will actually tell you which direction and how far away it is. Like a compass, it points you towards the air tag, letting you get to within a foot or so to find it. For locating a lost item at home, it's much easier to use the iPhone.
But for gps tracking, the basic Bluetooth check in network with apple devices gives you the location of all the devices, within a few meters or so.
Samsung's SmartThings tracker is apparently just as good, strangely enough