Ars TechnicaAndroid phones can now tell you if thereโs an AirTag following you
Google says its own tracker ecosystem is on hold until iOS has the same protection.
Danie van der Merwe@arstechnica but I carry my own AirTags without any iPhone as I carry an Android phone. Does this mean my Android phone will keep warning me about my own AirTags? This all seems to be designed around stalkers, but what about legitimate AirTag users who don't have an iPhone?
Angelo Verlain@danie10 @arstechnica your question is answered in the article:
For now, if an AirTag you don't own "is separated from its owner and determined to be traveling with you," a notification will tell you this and that "the owner of the tracker can see its location." Tapping the notification brings up a map tracing back to where it was first seen traveling with you. Google notes that this location data "is always encrypted and never shared with Google."
@vixalientoots not really as it will think it is separated. My iPad is at home and I have an Android phone. The AirTags are "separated from the iPad" and travelling with me. But I own them and they are actually with me. You can disable alerts, but then it is for all tags including those which are not yours. Android has no idea who the tag belongs to.
@danie10 and again, from the article: if an AirTag you don't own "is separated from its owner.
also note that the specification is co-developed by Google and Apple.
basically if you don't get the same notifications on your iPhone, you won't get them on Android
@vixalientoots driving with my sister a month ago, she got alerts about the AirTag I was carrying. So it seems my Android phone will be alerting me every day then that I'm carrying my own AirTag with me? I can either except that, or turn it off, but then I won't be alerted about anyone else AirTag following me.
@danie10 in that case it seems like you can just ignore the warning...
Site Reliability Enby๐ณ๏ธโโง๏ธ๐๐ฆ๐๐บ๐๐ท@danie10 @arstechnica I assume it allows allowlisting...
@SiteRelEnby that's not mentioned in Google's blog. I would have hoped so, yes. They just mention disabling all alerts for tags.
Fubaroque@danie10 @SiteRelEnby The iPhone of my girlfriend does exactly that. Keeps warning her about the airtag on my keyring, whenever I am not carrying my iPod touch. No way to turn it of and rather annoying.
@fubaroque @SiteRelEnby yes the focus does not seem to have been on legitimate users. They should allow the remembering of a specific tracker and mute just its alerts.
@danie10 @SiteRelEnby I just filled out Appleโs feedback form to explain the problem and to propose this improvement.
Please do help with getting the message across: https://www.apple.com/feedback/ ๐ฅณ
@fubaroque thanks, that is appreciated. Apple has been on the forefront of both privacy and protecting people from stalkers. But their assumption that everyone is fully inside the ecosystem, is the flaw that led to this probably.
meejah@danie10 @fubaroque Also, prematurely releasing a thing without considering the consequences. They made the problem, and only now (years later!) have a partial fix.
(...and obviously this doesn't help people without a cellphone, or one without Apple or Google OSes).
@fubaroque I submitted too
John Bell ๐บ๐ฆ๐ช๐บ๐ธ๐ท๏ธ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ท๓ ฌ๓ ณ๓ ฟ@arstechnica the alert for a tag following you makes the AirTag useless for its majority use case; tracking stolen property
Gaรซtan Duchaussois@johngbell95 @arstechnica The choice is then between what we want to protect more. Goods or human beings (mostly women). I guess my choice is made.
@gduchaussois @arstechnica itโs a sad indictment of modern society that there are always people who will misuse tech intended for good
Scooter ๐ณ๏ธโ๐ โฝ ๐ดโโ๏ธ ๐ป@arstechnica so.... googles own tracker is on hold indefinitely? Apple ain't gonna do anything to help Android
Ben Virgilio@aggiepm @arstechnica that was my thought too! What incentive would Apple have to encourage Google to develop a competing product. Seems like a no-brainer for them to just not update or slow roll it as long as feasible.
Gotta wonder what's in the agreement, maybe more details about it are available...?
martinhamel@aggiepm @arstechnica I'm with you. That all seems very strange. I guess the truth is not really that.
Orca ๐ป | ๐ | ๐ช | ๐ด๐ณ๏ธโโง๏ธ@arstechnica Is it available in AOSP or it's just another function in Google Play Service?
Dym Sohin@arstechnica
hey girl, are you an airtag, coz you've been following me everywhere
hey girl, are you an airtag, coz you've been following me everywhere