Google and Apple announced this week that they have partnered up to create a new industry specification — Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers. Available to Android 6.0+ and iOS 17.5+, the spec was created with Google’s new Find My Device network in mind, which utilizes Bluetooth-powered trackers to pinpoint the location of items.
Here’s Google on what this means for both Android and iOS moving forward.
With this new capability, Android users will now get a “Tracker traveling with you” alert on their device if an unknown Bluetooth tracking device is seen moving with them over time, regardless of the platform the device is paired with.
As Google explains, should users come across this, they’ll be able to locate it and access instructions to disable it. Furthermore, tag producers like eufy, Motorola, and Pebblebee are committed to launching tags that are compatible with the spec.
If a user gets such an alert on their Android device, it means that someone else’s AirTag, Find My Device network-compatible tracker tag, or other industry specification-compatible Bluetooth tracker is moving with them. Android users can view the tracker’s identifier, have the tracker play a sound to help locate it, and access instructions to disable it. Bluetooth tag manufacturers including Chipolo, eufy, Jio, Motorola, and Pebblebee have committed that future tags will be compatible.
I suppose this is one less announcement we’ll see at Google I/O.
Interestingly enough, seems like no one cared about Android users being tracked when Airtags first came out.
Or when Tile released trackers. Or when Samsung released theirs. It wasn’t until Apple had one of their Apple “hits” that everyone got all panicked.
I’m jumping down a dark path, but couldn’t this help people disable trackers on things they stole? Besides that question this is a good direction for peoples safety and privacy.
Maybe an option to mark your device as stolen before it goes missing, overriding the option to disable? But that would then nullify this as a safety setting so…. We’re back to having just basic Tile trackers.
Correct. One of the main uses for these trackers is to find your stollen stuff and now the thieves will be alerted that the thing the stole has a tracker in it.
The trouble is that no one has claimed these are stolen devices trackers. They’re for mundane tasks like locating your lost keys, not finding a stolen backpack. We all know that’s a more relevant use, but this tracking paranoia is killing that use case.
This needs to be thought out better. I’ve commented on here before that I just don’t understand the use cases for these things at all beyond the keys thing and someone mentioned stollen gym bags and purses as well as children’s backpacks. But even if they’re not aimed at combating theft, they are anti-theft adjacent. Where do most women keep their keys when they aren’t at home? These things are really a solution looking for a problem if the best use case is finding your keys under the couch while the more likely scenario is someone’s purse gets lifted from a coffee shop with their keys inside.
Amazing
Can we stop up-voting that silly comment? It’s almost as bad as Apple users giving the “Safari seems snappier” comment on every post.