Air tag location

Is this AirTag currently within Bluetooth range (~30-40') of your iPhone now? If not, then since it participates in the Apple Find My Network, another iPhone (with Internet access) must be within range in order for it to pick up the Bluetooth signal from the tag to relay its location to the Apple servers. This is where you would see it in the Find My app on your iPhone.

Note that the tag's beacon transmits every 3-5 mins. to save battery life. That other iPhone would have to be near it when it transmits to work.

AJsgrandpa wrote:

For example, if I put an AirTag in my car and there is no one around with an iPhone, how will I know where my car is? Is there something that would help me find it?

You won't be able to. If no iPhone is around, for a specific amount of time, the AirTag will show its last "known location" for up to 24 hrs ... after that it will appear as "No location found."

One thing to note. The AirTag does NOT know its location. It requires an iPhone to relay two things to the Apple servers, both are sent encrypted:

1. The tag's ID information.
2. The GPS location of the phone itself.

What you want is a device that relies on GPS, not Bluetooth. If, for example, your concern is what if your car gets stolen. For that, a GPS-based tracking device would be your best bet. One well-known brand is the LoJack.

What AirTags are best designed for is helping you locate a misplaced item ... like your car keys. They are poor at tracking either for pets or people. However, some folks use them with their luggage and have been fairly successful in "knowing where it's located" at "busy" locations where there are numerous iPhones present nearby ... like an airport or bus terminal.