Air Tags - Any theft recoveries?

[cnelk]

Anyone use Air Tags and have a successful theft recovery with them?

I don’t use them (yet) but am thinking about getting a couple

 

[Huntin_GI]

In the mountain bike space, especially in the Denver area, there are a lot of recoveries.

 

[NB7]

My daughter just got her Frenchie an air tag dog collar. Seems llike a good idea

 

[slimC]

They work pretty good for locating any item you put them on, unsure about theft but I have used them to locate luggage and keys before with ease. If you have an iphone very easy to setup and use.

 

[Macintosh]

yep, wife's colleague had her son recover his little motor scooter that was stolen using one. He brought it to local PD, they used it to locate the scooter and recovered it, apparently along with half a dozen other stolen vehicles.
I was looking into it, apparently there is a function that alerts any other iphone that there is an unassociated air tag in proximity without the owner present...apparently that is to reduce using it for stalking. But I imagine it will only be a matter of weeks until the dude stealing your car/computer bag/bike etc is savvy to that.

 

[MattB]

A friend helped police recover a stolen car by using a Tile Tracker.

 

[birkandbros]

Anyone use Air Tags and have a successful theft recovery with them?

I don’t use them (yet) but am thinking about getting a couple

I've got one on my dual sport that I use for getting to and from work/school in Gainesville, FL. Still holding up well, and pretty sure just need people with an iPhone to walk by it for it to ping on GPS (pretty common in suburban/populated areas). I guess just hope your thief is running IOS as well.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Only stupid thing is that Apple will notify an iphone if an airtag not registered to the phone is “following” it. It’s an anti-stalking measure, but also means that anyone with an iPhone will know if you are tracking your stolen vehicle after like 8 hours or so.

 

[Bluefish]

While I have not had any theft issues, my wife has one on her road bike. It has been handy in that I can track her rides (rides alone) and see where she is. If I was going to use them for tracking, I would put two in on the item. One easy to find and the other hidden. May slow down removal after notification by Apple.

 

[wyosteve]

Newspaper article here a few weeks ago described the P.D. being able to find a stolen vehicle that was still in town with that method.

 

[wapitibob]

I have a tile on my wallet, works well.

 

[rclouse79]

Only stupid thing is that Apple will notify an iphone if an airtag not registered to the phone is “following” it. It’s an anti-stalking measure, but also means that anyone with an iPhone will know if you are tracking your stolen vehicle after like 8 hours or so.

I found this out when I watched my brothers dog that had one on her collar. It tracks where the airtag has gone with you on a map. It is too bad, it would be priceless to see the look on someone's face when you knocked on their door and said "Excuse me sir, I believe you have my bicycle."

 

[Boxerboxer]

My understanding is that air tags have a pretty short range, but if you use Find my [apple device], as long as the tag is within range of any iphone that also has Find my... turned on you can see it's location. Tile and some of the others have longer range, but I'm guessing they require you to have YOUR phone within range. I would find an up to date and detailed comparison of different brands/models before you pick one, with the understanding that it may not even be in range, even if somebody fails to remove it when they steal your shit. Also keep in mind that if you put it inside a metal enclosure you may reduce it's operating range dramatically.

 

[Ferrulewax]

The ideal thing for a vehicle or the like would be a gps tracker, there are some videos of them online. Bulkier and more expensive but don’t require a cell phone ping to locate.

 

[30338]

Someone steals your car in Denver, you'll be better off calling your insurance and writing it off. Or deal with this type stuff:

Man told dispatcher he was armed and going to 'intercept' stolen car before killing 12-year-old driver

Court records reveal what a man told emergency dispatch when he tried to recover his stolen car, before he fatally shot the 12-year-old driver, who was also armed.

www.9news.com

If your police dept in your town will assist, then I would be a fan of them. They don't assist apparently in Denver.

 

[yfarm]

Stored a utv with guy in New Mexico with a hidden airtag to verify it remained in place over a month it was there.

 

[ElGreco1981]

No theft recovery but I have one on my dog and I keep track on her when she gets a bit "adventurous". I live on an island so she is an outdoor dog.

 

[Z Barebow]

Bought a couple this year. (Tracked luggage on trip). No theft but they work. I have an IPhone and pretty accurate.

When researching AirTag vs Tile, if you are an Android user Tile gets the nod. If you have an Apple (I cannot remember how new model it has to be) Airtag likely better bet. I have an IPhone 11. The difference is Apple not only uses Bluetooth, but another frequency band (UWB) which allows for better range and more accurate location ID.

 

[CHSD]

I am new to these. I want to buy a tile, but I am confused as to how they work. Do I have to be within 250 feet to see the location of the tile? Or can I be miles away and see the location and basically lead me to the lost item.

 

[Dejhavu]

It could potentially have some benefit.

I had an iPad stolen from my office. I used Find My to play a sound, as the office had been ransacked and I wanted to see if it was somewhere in the piles of crap strewn about. Didn't hear it, didn't think about it. Turns out, a few miles away, two dudes got into a shouting match over whose idea it was to steal a trackable iPad and then they chucked it out the window. Cops recovered it from a ditch, because of course Find My showed the location.

Very near the ditch was a car that was stolen from the building parked in the driveway of the thieves. Real bright fellas. That would've been about 5 years ago, so they've got about 5 years left on their sentence then.

I'm not sure Apple has ever marketed these as theft recovery. More finding something you've lost or misplaced. I would imagine Apple's legal team is terrified of the first "My spouse decided to go after a stolen bicycle and got shot confronting the thieves" lawsuit.

I've noticed the same though. My wife and I put AirTags on our keys and the first time I drove my wife's car after we did that, I got a notification within a few minutes of pulling out of the driveway.