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Apple AirTags
i don't fully understand how they work- could they be used as a bike tracker/ anti-theft device if you popped one in the seat tube, say?
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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One more update from me. I can confirm that a carbon bike frame acts as an insulator and doesn't let the Airtag connect. That's stuffed up a carbon seat post inside a carbon seat tube so YMMV.
If your AirTag is not near you, but is still moving, it will play a sound that will alert a thief that they are being tracked.
This is to stop someone e.g. slipping one into your pocket, or bag, or car, and tracking you without your knowledge.
A final update on this from me. These appear to be a winning way to use as tracker provided you can find a place to hide them on your bike.
I mistakenly thought that one of my iDevices had to be in range to track the AirTag if not in "lost" mode but it appears that any passiing iDevice will silently (and hidden from the user) pass on the location.
Tested by keeping an "eye" on my bike whilst 300 miles away in Cornwall with my iDevices.
Now get someone to go and move your bike. You will find that the AirTag plays a sound alert.
It's useful as a "your bike has been nicked" alert, but you won't be able to track where it is unless the thief is deaf.
This is wrong. See my post about the 3 day alert. Also tested by taking the Airtag on my car keys for a drive without my phone.
You're right. I can see that period being shortened, drastically, soon after the product's release. Being able to track someone for three days without their knowledge (unless they have an iPhone) is a slightly alarming capability.
it will need to be a drastic reduction if the intention is to stymie covert tracking - for which a spouse or partner is the most likely subject.
Since the counter resets each time your own iStuff hoves back into range, for most couples this will mean the period out of range will only be the working day. So even if the reset delay is only 12 hours, for most domestic couples that means it remains permanently in stealth tracking mode.
But of course a 12 hour limit makes it almost useless for tracking stolen bikes.
Not correct. The Airtag has to be out of contact of all of your iDevices for 3 days before it starts making a noise. Tested just now by taking the AirTag on my car keys for a drive without my iPhone.
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/04/21/airtags-play-sound-after-three-days/
Thanks for the updates. Shame that you need an idevice for this, but I might be able to persuade my partner to get this set up on hers.
All we need now is a precision scale that tells you where things are in the house...
Lidl are doing the Tile equivalent shortly. I don't think it has the anti-stalking feature to alert the thief, and a hole is included in the ￡12.99 price (for attaching it somehow).
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/p/home-gadgets/tile-mate/p42465?ar=10
Price wins it for me. Will be off to Lidl on Sunday specially. Thank you.
Airtags do exactly this if you have an iPhone 11 or newer or the equivalent aged iPad I think. The app guides you to the exact location.
Love the idea of these devices. I've got quite a bulky frame so I think I might be able to squeeze it inside. My only concern is that the reception will lose signal once inside?
My Airtag arrived on Friday and is just buried at the bottom of my saddlebag for now.
Annoyingly it's a fraction of a mm too big to fit down a 31.6mm ID oversize seat tube. If you were brave I think you could file it to fit.
Apple allows you to mark the tag as a Bike. Location updates every time one of my iDevices comes within about 10m, through a shed and brick house wall. I don't have an iDevice with the fine location UWB feature but Bluetooth appears to suffice. Location sometimes appears "off" on the map.
iPad appears to get better range to the tag than iPhone, I'm guessing because the Bluetooth antennas are bigger.
Funnily enough I was about to post the same question. Ordered a pack to experiment with. The tracking protection is a good point, was going to fix it under the saddle, now I guess I try to find somewhere more hidden.
Let's hope the thieving toe rags mostly use android
If the anti tracking causes them to abandon the bike I guess it's still a win.
Apple have thought of that too - the tag starts beeping occasionally if it's been away from it's owner for a while or reported lost!
Tile is another company to consider, they make relatively small Bluetooth trackers, you can set geofence alerts and AFAIK there's no way for the thief to know the bike is being tracked.
I have some for my keys/wallet etc and they do work well. Once lost my keys on a ride and was able to track them down using the app.
One issue with Tile is that the battery is non-replacable so when it goes flat you just have to chuck it.
Depends which Tile
https://tileteam.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/229572348-What-is-the-dif...
If I've understood things right the advantage of an Airtag over a Tile, is that Air Tags can be automatically discovered by any modern iThing/MacThing that passes once lost mode is activated, whereas Tiles rely on a user with the Tile app passing by.
TL;DR The chances of a lost Airtag being found should be much much higher.
Yeah that's not so great on the sustainability front, the slightly larger trackers now have replaceable batteries and you could probably hide one of those under the saddle or something if you didn't want to use the disposable one.
Tile certainly push the bike angle:
https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/blog/bike-trackers
Interestingly, they suggest hiding the device inside the frame. However I'm not sure whether radio signals would penetrate through a metal, or even a carbon fibre, frame.
I suppose you could test it on your own phone but I'd have thought the sticker version under the saddle or stem would be your best bet.
A bar end plug version would be pretty good though.
Bear in mind BT uses the same frequency as WiFi, which has pretty good penetration through objects and most bike frames regardless of materials have thicknesses in the 1mm range.
Carbon I would expect no probs, metal frame experiments would be interesting.
Carbon fibre is electrically conductive and will attenuate an RF signal.
I'm thinking somewhere like epoxy bonded to the inside of the right crank, under the chainrings covered with a bit of black tape? Or stuffed up the steerer tube from under the fork crown? Maybe someone will make a security stem cap that could fit one...
Would only work as an anti-theft device if the thief didn't have an iPhone. There's an 'anti-tracking' feature whereby your iPhone will alert you if it notices a tag that's following your movements but is not registered to you. Likely it wouldn't be too long before the thief realises it's being tracked.
It also lacks the movement detection that bike-specific trackers have, so that would delay you getting notified that something is up. Not sure if you can set a GPS ringfence on it, but would be surprised if not.
That said, it's discreet, cheapish and low maintenance. If you can find somewhere to stash it that's not going to interfere with the radio signal too much (i.e. away from and not enclosed by metal), then it's a lot better than nowt.
Yes, I can't see why not. AFAIK they work using Apple's existing 'Find My' network that they use for locating your Apple devices, they piggy back on other Apple devices around them to update their current GPS location so it would update location details if the bike was on the move, once your'e in Bluetooth range then you get step by step directions to your AirTag. I guess the only barrier to using one on a bike would be finding somewhere discreet and secure to attach it (it's just under 32mm in diameter), seems like Apple might be missing a trick* here by not having a custom accessory or shaped AirTag to make them bike specific.
*Very out of character for Apple so expect one to become available an an astronomical price anytime soon.
Seems like they're focusing more on getting third-party partners to build custom devices instead: https://ebiketips.road.cc/content/news/vanmoof-s3-and-x3-e-bikes-among-the-first-items-to-work-with-apple-s-find-my-app-2949
https://youtu.be/vjLbxywixro