409
AirTag stalking protection is live on Android — here’s how to set it up (www.tomsguide.com)
submitted 1 year ago by Alobarap@lemmy.world to c/android
78 comments fedilink hide all child comments
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] Zorque@kbin.social 218 points 1 year ago

Google took its time stepping up, but it’s better late than never

So Apple completely fails to give any kind of fuck that some people don't use their products but might be affected by them... and Google is the bad guy for not being timely enough to account for Apples douchebaggery? I mean, I'm no google fanboy, but jesus christ that's some shitty logic.

[-] Moonrise2473@feddit.it 107 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Apple created an app to detect airtags for Android but...

  1. It takes 2 full minutes to do a scan (only manual scans are supported)

  2. For some reason you need to wait a timer of TEN FUCKING MINUTES before make the tracker beep (close the app and you need to wait the ten minutes again)

It's the most minimum viable product that they could ship, I think the long waits are all artificial because there's no way that someone actually waits all that time each time that wants to check if he's stalked by an airtag. It's clearly designed for compliance "see? We made a detection app for Android users" and not for being actually used

[-] avogadro@lemmy.world 46 points 1 year ago

Any form of Android compatibility must be maximally enshittified to encourage switching -- see iMessage. Unless of course it generates revenue for Apple -- see Apple Music. Not being stalked/murdered using Air Tags does not generate revenue for Apple: next time buy an iPhone.

[-] NightOwl@lemmy.one 16 points 1 year ago

Including the most basic task of plugging in an Android phone to access files on MacOS. It just works on Linux or Windows, but with MacOS I had to go the extra step of having to download and install Android File Transfer. And then wasn't even able to preview pics from the phone storage and had to move the files to the PC.

Apple probably wants people to go I should get an iPhone. But, given the experience of how it just works on Windows and Linux my thought was wow Apple is shit at compatability with everything that isn't Apple.

load more comments (4 replies)
[-] Whirlybird@aussie.zone 2 points 1 year ago

Google do it to some as well so they’re just playing the same game.

See Picture in Picture - it’s an OS level greater yet google went out of their way to disable it for YouTube so they could sell it to you via YouTube premium.

[-] Gahedros@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

The waits are by design. Without them, it would be trivial to find an airtag in something you are going to steal and remove it.

[-] natanael@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

As long as the protocol on the device allows it you can just mod the app to do it quicker

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Google took its time stepping up, but it’s better late than never

And Google is postponing the launch of their trackers compatible with Google Find My network (Chipolo Point, PebbleBee) because Apple didn't get around with adding stalking detection for these in time.

In this case if someone needs to step up and get their shit together, it's Apple.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 36 points 1 year ago

Google has already confirmed that Unknown Tracker Alerts is only compatible with AirTags for the time being, but didn’t specify why

It would seem like the “why” is pretty obvious. Most active iPhones now have AirTag tracking installed on them. That’s not the case for trackers like Tile.

That means Apple has the biggest tracking network right now. It dwarfs the others. FindMy network devices should be the clear priority. They’re more precise, encounter fewer dead zones, and in other words, are likely a stalker’s preferred tracker.

[-] nbafantest@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

Don't you have it backwards? It's not the phones, its the trackers.

And the obvious reason is apple and google built it, so of course Tile is behind. If google already had trackers, that sentence would say AirTags and googleTags*

[-] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 year ago

Tile is not as useful if you are trying to stalk someone because its network is much, much smaller. Therefore it is less dangerous than the Airtags.

[-] mp3@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

Tile uses both phones with the Tile app instand and all Amazon Alexa speakers are part of the Amazon Sidewalk network, which also detects and reports Tile tags.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

That is also likely a factor. There are more AirTags in the wild than Tiles.

That said, my point is that AirTags present more risk because they’re a better product. And they’re a better product because of the substantially bigger network.

load more comments (16 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] mojo@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago

Think they're referring to Tile tags.

[-] Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I am as well. AirTags have outsold Tile significantly, and they’re waaaay more accurate because of the much bigger network.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] pjhenry1216@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I fail to understand where the "why" comes in. You gave some disparate conclusions. yes airtag is installed on iPhone and tile isn't. So what? Yes, airtags is a big network. Again, I repeat, so what? Are you saying they did the largest network first? Whatever it is, you forgot to state the obvious part of your claim. It definitely isn't obvious.

[-] EliasChao@lemmy.one 6 points 1 year ago

I think the thing is that, in order to have a successful and reliable Tile network, you need as much people as possible to install the Tile app so their phones can communicate with their trackers.

Whereas with Find My, you have everybody’s Apple devices being part of the network without them doing anything, their devices just do it, without intervention from other users. That’s a massive advantage for Apple’s offering.

On similar note, if Google comes up with something similar where they can leverage all of the Android devices out there, it’d be an enormous network.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Moonrise2473@feddit.it 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I can't find it on Android 12

It is following the usual Google release schedule "USA first, fuck the rest of the world"?

Also, is it possible to dismiss warnings like "I know, that's mine"?

Edit: after a reboot I got the option in settings

[-] Virkkunen@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago

I think this is a rare time that Google remembers the rest of the world exists. In here in Hungary, android 13, and the setting was available and was already on.

[-] Carighan@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I don't have it, Germany, on Android 12.

(edit)
Nevermind, showed up after a restart, so I guess it was just waiting to install the relevant google service update.

[-] Moonrise2473@feddit.it 3 points 1 year ago

Cool, I just rebooted and now I have it too, thanks

[-] jmcs@discuss.tchncs.de 7 points 1 year ago

I have it, and I'm not in the US.

[-] Genghis@monero.town 16 points 1 year ago

Been using this open source app for a while now. AirGuard

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] schnokobaer@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago

Didn't need to set up anything, it was on and worked by default.

[-] notabird@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

I got an alert yesterday when I traveled by Bus. I see false positives scaring people using public transport.

[-] schnokobaer@feddit.de 6 points 1 year ago

Shouldn't really happen because it only alerts for Airtags that are not with their owner. Then again, they only just released the ability to share an Airtag among multiple iPhone users, so false positives in public transport could be shared Airtags that are with people who haven't set up that feature yet.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] yggdar@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

This is great! My phone doesn't get updates very often, but this feature is already available and was turned on by default. (Moto G31)

[-] Chozo@kbin.social 6 points 1 year ago

Yep, it was enabled by default on my Pixel 6 Pro, too. Glad to see that it's on by default, and not something that only a savvy user would ever find to enable on their own.

[-] gabe@literature.cafe 5 points 1 year ago

This is fantastic

[-] 01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 4 points 1 year ago

Pixel 4xl. Don't have it.

[-] jayandp@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 year ago

Your Google Play Services might not have updated yet.

[-] Kanzar@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Restarted my phone, but s21u in Australia - can't find the setting. I'm updated on everything on gplay and sappstore so... 🤷🏻‍♀️

[-] pgetsos@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago

I was waiting for Google tags to put one in my bike and car as an andi-theft measure instead of paying for GPS services (for my car only). But I see that it will soon be completely unusable for such a use case....

[-] SwallowsDick@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I thought there was already an app for this? Good that it's a default part of Android now though

[-] Spider89@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

There's AirGuard. A FOSS app that detects more than AirTags.

[-] nbafantest@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Yea but now it'll be turned on by default on newer androids

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
409 points (97.7% liked)

Android

17233 readers
417 users here now

The new home of /r/Android on Lemmy and the Fediverse!

Android news, reviews, tips, and discussions about rooting, tutorials, and apps.

🔗Universal Link: !android@lemdro.id

💡Content Philosophy:

Content which benefits the community (news, rumours, and discussions) is generally allowed and is valued over content which benefits only the individual (technical questions, help buying/selling, rants, self-promotion, etc.) which will be removed if it's in violation of the rules.

Support, technical, or app related questions belong in: !askandroid@lemdro.id

For fresh communities, lemmy apps, and instance updates: !lemdroid@lemdro.id

💬Matrix Chat

💬Telegram channels / chats

📰Our communities below

Rules

  1. Stay on topic: All posts should be related to the Android OS or ecosystem.

  2. No support questions, recommendation requests, rants, or bug reports: Posts must benefit the community rather than the individual. Please post to !askandroid@lemdro.id.

  3. Describe images/videos, no memes: Please include a text description when sharing images or videos. Post memes to !androidmemes@lemdro.id.

  4. No self-promotion spam: Active community members can post their apps if they answer any questions in the comments. Please do not post links to your own website, YouTube, blog content, or communities.

  5. No reposts or rehosted content: Share only the original source of an article, unless it's not available in English or requires logging in (like Twitter). Avoid reposting the same topic from other sources.

  6. No editorializing titles: You can add the author or website's name if helpful, but keep article titles unchanged.

  7. No piracy or unverified APKs: Do not share links or direct people to pirated content or unverified APKs, which may contain malicious code.

  8. No unauthorized polls, bots, or giveaways: Do not create polls, use bots, or organize giveaways without first contacting mods for approval.

  9. No offensive or low-effort content: Don't post offensive or unhelpful content. Keep it civil and friendly!

  10. No affiliate links: Posting affiliate links is not allowed.

Quick Links

Our Communities

Lemmy App List

Chat and More

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
ijeff
ladfrombrad
Paradox
multimoon
inspector@gadgetro.id
mikestevens
Devgard@lemmy.world
limerod@reddthat.com