AirTags: Helping you find your items

Using your iPhone together with the ‘Find My’ app, you can make the AirTag emit a sound. If your AirTag is close by, you can follow the sound. If that doesn’t do the trick, you can use the ‘Find’ feature to get directions to your AirTag using Precision Finding, providing your phone is in Bluetooth range of the AirTag.

Please note that precision finding only works on the iPhone 11 or later (not including iPhone SE 2nd and 3rd generations).

If you are not in Bluetooth range of your AirTag, you can get directions to its location, or last known location, using the Maps app, but this won’t get you to its exact location.

You can also use the Find Items app on the Apple Watch to find your AirTag, however you can’t use precision finding to find your AirTag using your watch.

If you don’t want to use the ‘Find My’ app, you can ask Siri to locate your item, for example you can ask Siri to ‘find my handbag’ and if a connection is established, Siri will tell you it’s nearby and the AirTag will emit a sound.

If the connection with your AirTag cannot be made, Siri will inform you of its last known general location, and when it was last seen. You can then use the Find My app for more detailed information about its last known location.

If your AirTag has moved from its last known location and is not in range of your iPhone, you can enable ‘notify when found’ using the ‘Find My’ app. If someone with an iPhone walks past your AirTag, it will anonymously let Apple know. Then Apple will tell you its location, via a ‘Find My’ notification.

Also, you have the option to receive a notification if you move away from your AirTag’s location and leave it behind. This feature could be incredibly useful if you’re prone to forgetting your essentials!

If you lose your AirTag,you can enable lost mode, and programme in a contact number or email address. If someone finds your AirTag and has an iPhone, or even an Android phone, they can connect to the lost AirTag, which will let them know the AirTag is lost, together with the contact number and/or email address that you programmed in when you reported it lost. You can then arrange to get your AirTag and items back.

As the AirTag is compatible  with the Find My app and network, there is no need to install external apps onto your device. The pairing process will automatically start as soon as your iPhone comes into contact with an AirTag (providing you have removed the cover and hear the Audible tone), so you do not need to initiate any pairing processes manually, making the process efficient and hassle free.

If you have an iPhone 11 or later (not including the iPhone SE 2nd or 3rd generations), you can use Precision Finding to locate your AirTag, providing it is within Bluetooth range of your iPhone. This will guide you to the exact location of your AirTag using directions (which VoiceOver can speak out loud), haptic feedback and visual cues on-screen.

If you lose your AirTag, you can enable Lost Mode and provide a contact number or email address, so that somebody can contact you if they find your AirTag. While Tile offers the ‘notify when found’ feature that airTag also offers, it does not offer the features that Lost Mode offers.

Do you commonly misplace your phone and spend a long time trying to find it? You can press a button on the Tile which will sound your phone if it is in Bluetooth range.

Tiles have a keychain attachment built in, Apple AirTags do not.

If you want to attach your AirTag to an item such as your keys, you will need to purchase additional accessories.

The AirTag feels like a smooth button, just over 3cm across, making it sometimes difficult to handle.

A solution to make handling your AirTag easier is to place an elastic band around it. The smooth texture may also make it difficult for you to replace the battery.

The Tile has a rough texture so is easier to handle without needing to customise it