Android phones can now tell you if there’s an AirTag following you
Android phones can now tell you if there’s an AirTag following you
Google says its own tracker ecosystem is on hold until iOS has the same protection.
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/
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
44This will be built-in Google Play for all Android 6+, no need for external app
30But then you have to have Google Play installed 🤮🤮
7
I know a few people that hide them in their bike frames. Will it tell bike thieves that the tag hidden in the stolen bike is following them?
39I would assume so. It's a difficult thing, because I'm really not okay with people covertly tracking others with airtags without their consent, but the it can of course also be used to track stolen items or so.
34Feels like a tragedy of the commons sorta thing. Most people would use air tags responsibly, but a small number of people abuse them and thus kinda ruin them for everyone. We can't have nice things because people suck.
12
Yeah, they aren't really useful for anti theft, but that's the compromise you have to make for safety
12Permanently Deleted
6Yes it will, after some amount of time.
4I think the solution to this problem is embedding the tag into the frame in such a way that removing it would be destructive or at least highly impractical. That's my plan at least. Waiting for my Chipolo trackers to arrive.
2How would you do that, and what'll you do when it runs out of battery?
Embedding it also reduces range by a lot. Gplama did a test
1
They're not anti theft devices. Never were. They are anti losing my shit devices.
Slap one on your keys, wallet, etc, and when you lose them, you can track them to see where they ended up falling out of your pocket.
If you want a tracking device, pay for one. They'll use a SIM card, be undetectable, and track perfectly without needing a network of phones.
1
After reading this, I'm wondering how a phone could differentiate an Airtag following me from for example a guy with an Airtag sitting somewhere near me while inside a train for two hours.
22I believe the tracker doesn't emit the same signal when the phone the AirTag is paired with are communicating directly. So as long as the owner of the airtag is in the vicinity it will not be considered as following/stalking you.
10It can tell because the random guy's Airtag will be connected to his iPhone, it will only notify people if it isn't close to the owner's device
8I'm pretty sure it's length of time. If you're on a train next to someone, you won't be for more than an hour or two. Not two days.
When the device follows you constantly for multiple days is likely when it'll make the alert.
7When I visit family via train, google knows I was on a train ( maps timeline ), so maybe they can tell by how straight the travel is ?
1It warns you but it doesn't contact the police for you. It's still up to you to assess the situation and your next steps. If you're on a sleeper train or have any reason to believe it's not a threat, just ignore it.
5
It only notifies you if the air tag is without ite owner. If this wasn't the case I'd be getting notifications left and right for my wife's airtag. Instead I only get notifications when her phone is left behind but her tag is with me.
1
But we still don't have an equivalent android tag.
18They'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.
11I 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.
10I 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.
1
Aren't there a number of small gps trackers on the market that are compatible with Android? Tile and Chipolo to name a couple.
6That’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.
2
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.
16Pixel 7 Pro running 14 beta, don't see it either.
1
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.
6the alerts currently work only with AirTags, but Google says it will work with tag manufacturers to expand its coverage.
Google and Apple built the specification, but other tracker makers needs to adopt it.
12Stalkers 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.
6And they'll have to do it without a network of billions of phones helping them.
3
These fucking companies create the problem and then also sell you the solution.
5Bit OT, but has anyone used the Samsung tracker? Are they any good?
1I mean they are currently /ok/ but since it's only samsung devices it bounces off instead of every android device it doesn't have the versatility that the Apple airtags have (where it bounces off any apple device and any android device with the app), so if it's between one of the other I would go with air tag since you can still use them on android (with a secondary app) but as always YMMV since it's made for Apple devices
that being said, might be changing with googles support for trackers!
2
This has already existed for a long time now
-12No 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.
20You 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.
-5
Integration into play services so almost all Android devices do it by default without needing to install an app hasn't.
7