Introduction:
How many of us keep losing things or misplace them that we dearly love? So many of us. We all have butterfingers when we use technology extensively to keep track of work, contacts, people, and even time.
To salvage you from losing your stuff, Apple recently announced a product called Airtags. It is a very small device that can be tagged on the stuff you don’t want to lose. As the name itself has a “tag” in it, you can tag it to the things you think you’ll lose easily.
This stuff could be your backpack while you travel, or keys when you go to the gym. There has been a lot of noise within tech enthusiasts and Apple fans regarding Airtags.
To understand this, let us first see what exactly is Apple Airtag?
What is Apple Airtag?
Apple will officially launch Airtags on April 30th but has been available for pre-ordering since April 23rd. Apple Airtag is a small wireless tracking device that has Bluetooth tracking in it. Since Bluetooth is a short-range signal, you can track the stuff with an airtag on it, from a small distance only.
But there lies the cherry on the cake. If your airtag is not in the Bluetooth range of your device, it can send you a signal through any Apple device in its range. You may have lost the airtag-attached stuff. In that scenario, you can put it in the lost mode through your phone. Airtag gives out a signal silently whenever someone with an Apple device walks past it.
The device owner will not know about it. Yet, the phone senses the signal anonymously. This phone sends the message through iCloud to your account. It will send you the details of the most recent location. And all this without letting someone else know about it. Privacy, much?
So the Apple enthusiasts ask whether they can use Airtags to track the pets or even kids?
I would say, no. So, as I said previously, airtags are powered by Bluetooth. Now, Bluetooth has a range of approximately 30 feet or 10 meters. The range also depends on the physical obstacles it has between the Bluetooth sender and the receptor.
Using airtags to track pets:
Now imagine that you are taking your dog/cat out to walk or to a garden to play. You have attached an airtag to its collar. So, your cat or dog would be visible or “findable” only until it is within the Bluetooth range.
Once the pet steps out of the range, it would be difficult for you to find it. You won’t be able to track the pet until someone with an Apple device passes it by. As the device owner will pass it by, your phone will receive the location. All will end well.
But what if you have taken your pet to an open ground where the human population is extremely sparse? You won’t be able to find your pet. Moreover, the Apple airtag will lose its purpose entirely in such a situation.
Therefore, you should use the Airtags on your pets (if you must) only when you are taking your pet to a densely populated area. Hence, if you lose your pet, chances of finding him are maximum.
Now let us see whether you can use Apple Airtag on your kids.
Using Airtags to track your kids:
Imagine a scenario where you go to a super mall, and your notorious kid goes hiding behind numerous shelves. You can assume that the supermall is going to have an area larger than 30 feet (which is the Bluetooth range).
In a supermall scenario, Airtag will be useful enough to track your kid. This is because you can find your kid by visiting every shelf you see. Moreover, since it is a closed space, the kid may be easy to find through airtags.
But what if you have taken your kid to an open space like gardens or open grounds? In that case, the chances are very slim ( I am not saying zero chances). How many iPhone-using adults will pass by your child in a garden? Maybe other parents. Maybe there are none! So that will render your airtag useless.
Hence, being a mom, I recommend using airtags on stuff and not tracking your kids or pets. Well, using Airtag on pets is still fine sometimes. But using a GPS-enabled collar on a pet’s neck functions better than an airtag.
Conclusion:
Airtags are a better option if you want to tag a suitcase that has a probability to get lost while traveling. It is also a good option to add it to your house keys so that you can find keys immediately.
