Apple AirTag really frustrates some people. It’s a great way to find a missing set of keys, but Apple has intentionally built in features to prevent the tracker tag from being used to find stolen property.
You might be less irritated by these features when you realize that stalkers find these exact same features just as frustrating – for the opposite reason.
AirTag should only be used for good
The recently launched AirTag 2 is even better than the original at finding lost items. My iPhone 17 can connect to a tracker tag for a surprising distance, including the ability to point in the exact direction of the tag.
And if the item to which the AirTag is attached is truly lost, the Find My network will help. If any iPhone passes near a lost tracking tag, the owner’s iPhone is securely notified of the AirTag’s location—whether it’s across town or across a continent.
Knowing this, many people realize that a device that can find a lost wallet is just as good at locating a stolen one. But Apple actively discourages this, to the point of adding features to the AirTag to make it easier for thieves to detect the tag.
That’s because the better the stolen bike tracking device, the better it is for stalking ex-wives.
Preventing AirTag from being used for evil
If you plan to use AirTag to track a stolen item, you must know in advance that iPhone users receive a notification if an unknown AirTag is detected traveling with them. (Many Android phones display the same warning.) The Find My app will then help them find the brand.
Even without a phone, AirTags, separated from their owner for too long, will start making sounds to alert them to their presence.
All of this means that it won’t be difficult for a smart thief to find the tracker you’ve hidden on your bike. But turn it around – consider how someone who was persecuted would feel about the same characteristics.
It comes down to this: the very features that frustrate people trying to recover stolen property are the same features that protect strangers from surreptitious surveillance. AirTags can’t become better anti-theft tools without also becoming better stalking tools — and that’s a line Apple won’t cross.
Think twice before using AirTags to track thieves
Even though the AirTag has built-in anti-stalking features, many people still use it as an anti-theft device. If this is you, be careful. If you’re not smart about it, you can end up badly injured.
To fully understand the dangers of using AirTag to track stolen property, there is no better example than what happened to Stephen Herbert. He put one of the Apple trackers on his scooter so he could get to it when it was stolen. The thieves then beat the $%#@ out of him and took his scooter anyway.
“I think about how stupid I was to stand up to someone and maybe let my life be ruined in a much more serious way,” Herbert said.
AirTags can help you find stolen property if you’re smart
Now let’s look at a very different example of a Virginia carpenter who used AirTags to track down some of his stolen tools and led the police to find such items. The police eventually managed to find 15,000 stolen construction tools, and it all started with one tip.
The difference between these two examples should be obvious: one man got help from the police and ended up a hero, the other tried to handle the situation on his own and ended up in a bloody heap on the ground.
Contact the police
To make this clear, law enforcement and public safety officials have urged AirTag users numerous times not to personally confront suspects tracked with AirTags.
Before you head out on your own, consider boxer Mike Tyson’s famous quote: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.”
Just call the cops. You get punched in the face less.
Apple AirTag (2nd generation)
The next generation AirTag has its loudest speaker yet and an expanded Precision Finding range. It’s never been easier to track and find your stuff.
Ed Hardy He has been writing about the technique full-time for 25 years and has been using it for much longer. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but he now uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. It is written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthandas well as other sites.