AirTag locations not reported by iOS17
We have noticed that reports of AirTag locations getting less and less over the last months (since iOS17 has been released). After reading here and checking multiple times, we have come to the conclusion that iOS17 has a serious problem working as "finder" devices (= not reporting AirTag locations anymore at all!).
As simple testing procedure we have
- registered a new AirTag to a phone with iOS16
- switched off bluetooth
- took another phone with iOS17 installed, bluetooth activated
- went for a 2 hour walk in the woods
- the older phone showed no location change of the AirTag
- coming back into urban area (gas station), the location suddenly updated again (someone with an older phone or iPad must have been around there)
- received a notification on iOS17 phone about a device that was moving around with us
- yes, we had internet connection all the time on both phones
Conclusion:
- stalking protection worked, iOS17 was detecting the suspicious AirTag
- iOS17 did not send any location reports to Apple's server resulting in no updates in Find My app
As I cannot believe this as intended by Apple, please consider this as a BUG report.
Further testing needs to be done urgently.
iPhone SE (3rd generation)