cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/795697
Archived version: https://archive.ph/55yyZ
Archived version: https://web.archive.org/web/20230728012552/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/android-phones-can-now-tell-you-if-theres-an-airtag-following-you/
This has already existed for a long time now
No it hasn’t.
Before, you had to install an app. This is a play store services update, which neans ALL android phones will be able to do it by default.
You mean it’s built in now. It still has objectively existed for a long time now. There has been an app called AirGuard around for a long time. Also not every Android has play services. There’s a large degoogled operating system community now.
With the official Apple app, you had to know that it existed, find it in the Google Play Store, install it, and then manually run it every single time you wanted to check for trackers.
With AirGuard, you had to know that an unofficial implementation existed, find it, install it, and then either run a manual sweep or have it permanently run in the background if you wanted to get notified of trackers near you.
Neither implementation would tell you how long a tracker had been following you, or where it first started following you. Neither option would allow you to ring the tracker. Neither option would allow you to read the information on the tracker via NFC.
So no, this has not “objectively existed for a long time now.”
What you mean is that other, far more limited options have existed for a while now.
I’ve had that on my Android phone for some time now.
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.seemoo.at_tracking_detection/
Yes there’s an Apple version
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/airguard-tracking-protection/id1659427454
This will be built-in Google Play for all Android 6+, no need for external app
There’s an official apple version on Google Play too just search for com.apple.trackerdetect
They can? Because I just checked on my Pixel 7 running latest update of Android 13 and the documented feature does not exist under safety and emergency. The update I’m running was released on July 5th and there are no newer updates available.
So again… “Now”??? I guess they mean it’s in the next version.
From the article:
Now Android users will soon get these “Unknown Tracker Alerts.”
Emphasis mine.
Rule of android: if a post reads “now” in the headline, this means anywhere from 1 week to Never depending on where in the world you live and what phone you have.
But we still don’t have an equivalent android tag.
I have a Tile Tag and it’s not bad. I keep them on my keychain, in the car, and when traveling. They aren’t as predominant as Air Tags yet, but they work.
I seriously suspect that Google will eventually acquire the Tile brand so they can absorb the patents without having to start from scratch.
I have a Tile Tag and it’s not bad.
But afaik, that doesn’t have the same functionality as the air tag?
Air tags can ping any iPhone and report their location back through the cloud.
Most android devices won’t have a location reporting function active, unless the person happens to have also installed the Tile app in their phone, which is a pretty small percentage of phone users.
That’s not going to help me locate my suitcase that Air Canada sent to the other side of the world.
That is correct, currently the tile needs the app running in the background. Which actually a lot of people have. Funny thing is a friend was traveling through Europe so I loaned them a tile to put in their backpack to track if lost. I found that popular travel spots like airports and town squares around Europe worked just fine. It was harder when traveling down the highway for example as far less people would have tile running on their phone in the background.
Like I said, I hope Google acquires Tile and integrates it like Apple did with the airtag. But instead it sounds like google is working on their own tracking chip, and will be releasing it as soon as Apple integrates their side (so both android and apple will alert users if someone else’s tags are tracking them)
Aren’t there a number of small gps trackers on the market that are compatible with Android? Tile and Chipolo to name a couple.
That’s the amazing thing about air tags that no other tracker can offer. For better or for worse, every modern iPhone is - by default - reporting the location of nearby tags. It’s nearly impossible to actually lose something with an AirTag on it assuming it doesn’t come off and the area has even the faintest cell signal.
That’s far from the case with tile or any other tracker.
I’m optimistic Google will be able to wave a hand and bam now 2 billion Android devices do it courtesy of Google Play Services
just for clarification, they are Bluetooth trackers. They don’t have a GPS radio within them and have no intrinsic knowledge of where they are located. Essentially just a Bluetooth beacon
The drawback of non-AirTags is that they depend on people consciously opting in to the network (by, say, buying Tiles themselves and running the app). The AirTag network just exists because every iPhone is part of the network, whether or not people have bought AirTags themselves. The AirTag network is orders of magnitude larger and denser than, say, the Tile network.
This vast difference between coverage networks will also push Tiles to extinction, as the Tile network is now far, far worse than the AirTag one, and there’s not much point in buying one. If you’re serious about tracking your stuff, it’s quite possibly worth buying a used iPad just for this purpose.
Air tags do not have GPS either. They use UWB+bluetooth but rely on the phone for location data.
They’re coming as part of the new Find My Device network. The launch has been delayed until Apple releases their portion of the joint anti-tracking effort.
Is this just apple airtags or all tracking devices? Honestly all these articles do is teach stalkers not to use airtags and instead use something else.
Stalkers don’t give a shit. It’s not like they’re thinking rationally anyway. There’s quite a few non-tag options out there but you need a subscription that’s attached to the device’s unique ID. You can regulate and put in a million ways to prevent stalking but they will always find a way.
