At the Apple Event, the organizer announced a change in the firmware of all AirTag trackers used to find lost things and animals. Now it will be harder to use them to track people.
Whereas the AirTag was originally supposed to start beeping three days after losing contact with a tethered iPhone, the “beacons” will now start beeping at a random point in time, eight to 24 hours after losing contact with the owner. There will also be new ways for people to know if an AirTag or other device that supports Apple’s “Locator Network” service (Find My) is nearby. If you find someone else’s AirTag, you can easily get instructions on how to disable it with your iPhone or other NFC-enabled device.
Additionally, the company said that it is already developing an application for Android, which allows you to understand that there is an Apple tracking device nearby. The program will be presented by the end of this year. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to use AirTag with Android smartphones. Note that the iPhone already has an appropriate notification system for other people’s trackers.
The announcement of the new firmware followed a month after the trackers went on sale. They are positioned as a convenient solution to find keys, bags and even animals using the Find My network, which includes more than a billion iPhones and other Apple devices that help locate lost items with trackers.
According to the company, the mailing of updates for AirTag began yesterday. The devices will be reflashed automatically as soon as they are within range of the iPhone. The developers declined to share details about how the AirTag search app and Find My network-compatible Android devices work, promising to provide more information “later this year.”
