Anyone make the “leap” into AirTags yet? Am about to travel and want to do some “anti-theft/anti-loss” work and was debating Tile Pro vs. AirTags.
I found a few good articles and have hit the purchase button online and will have some soon.
I’m still getting ONE Tile pro to “double-down” on my camera bag. They have a special where it’s a few bucks more and a year’s subscription comes with a Tile Pro (not sure if it will still be going on when you read this).
I looked at them in an Apple Store; then looked at the Tile Pro features list on my phone and asked the employee about them. Was leaning toward Tile only.
THEN, found this MacRumors article with a useful table in it:
I was still going to get some of the flat Tiles (the “Slim”) for things like my Passport, etc., but found a passport holder and even a wallet w/ built-in AirTag holders; so I will be trying those.
Two things made me lean more toward AirTags:
Uses any nearby Apple device with “Find My” on it to “report home”/“call the mother ship.” HUGE, built-in user base! and
A PC Mag article (and Apple) describing the Ultra Wideband technology’s “Precision Finding” tech (with direction and distance cues). … The PC Mag Article said “In testing, we were able to track down lost items much faster using the AirTag than with any of the Tile models. Whereas the Tile Pro took around an hour to locate a lost item, the AirTag took just a minute. And while the AirTag can offer directions to guide you directly to your lost object, the Tile app merely shows whether you’re getting closer.” (italics and emphasis, mine).
I think the only thing I’ll miss from the Tile Pro and Pro Protect is the 30 day location history, the replacement warranty (plus free batteries), and the item reimbursement coverage. But I have insurance and that is likely better.
I hope to update this message, w/ a reply in a month or two to let you all know how it’s going.
What’s the use case for the 30-day location history? All my ideas are pretty grim.
My two issues with Tile when I tried it out a decade ago were the lack of replaceable batteries and the patchwork install base for tracking lost/stolen items, and they remain issues, while AirTag has solved both.
Unless it gets licensed by Android, Tile will always be disadvantaged by its coverage depending on app installs. Disposing of the entire tracker when just the battery would suffice always rubbed me the wrong way, too.
As far as my AirTag review goes: last year I gifted one to my mother, who is a very basic user on an outdated iPhone 8, and she loves it for finding her car keys. If it works for her, I know it’s rock solid.
I’ve had 4 since the launch day and I am generally happy with them — I use them on two sets of keys, for the backpack, and one in the wallet. I have just swapped batteries in all of them as low battery notifications started popping up, so in the end the batteries lasted some 15 months. Luckily I’ve never lost anything so I’ve had no need to actually track a lost item.
Do note that, as far as use cases go, there are some cool automations you can do with the Shortcuts app (for example: when a particular AirTag is detected, turn on lights in a room or set lightning brightness and colour, depending on what your bulbs support).
What gear are you proposing to tag with an AirTag? Camera bag, passport, what else? Keep in mind also that if you are concerned about theft, you’ll want to put the AirTag in a hidden place so a thief can’t find it. AirTags and Tiles are more about locating items when they are misplaced or left behind, and not theft location.
I have AirTags on my backpack, gym bag, and car fob. My Apple wallet also works with FindMy but is not as feature-rich as a full AirTag. They work great.
Don’t overthink it. Too many people here do that. Just get the AirTags and be done with it.
I got a four-pack yesterday, primarily to stick in luggage and bags. Setup was dead easy.
What I am wondering is how they work in a family setting. I have associated one with my Apple ID and one with my wife’s, but would like both tags to show up in both our FindMe apps.
I have not found a setting to enable this, and it doesn’t look like it is ON by default. (Her devices are visible for me and vice versa, just not the “items”.)
The most surprising part of the story is that some people still have such trust in the airline luggage handling system that they chuck jewelry worth $15k in their checked bag. Surely, it would be small enough for the carry-on.
