AirTag icon always follows my iPhone - it doesn't move when the AirTag moves

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Level 1

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AirTag icon always follows my iPhone - it doesn't move when the AirTag moves

I have just purchased four new AirTags and paired one of them with my iPhone (which runs iOS 15.8.2 and cannot be updated further). However, the AirTag icon that appears in FindMy is always pinned to my iPhone's location. If I move my iPhone the AirTag icon follows it. If I move the AirTag then it stays in the same place as the iPhone icon in FindMy. It behaves as though the iPhone and the AirTag are a single item (the iPhone). What am I doing wrong? This should be intuitive and obvious, but there appear to be no settings that can amend this.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 15

Posted on Jul 23, 2024 1:48 AM

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Answer 1

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Rudegar

Level 10

181,710 points

Jul 23, 2024 4:38 AM in response to CRB-CRB-CRB

the way they work is they have no idea about their location themselves, if within Bluetooth range of an iPhone with Bluetooth (the only means of communication the airtags has) it get the iPhone it is within reach to send the phone GPS location across the internet to the servers which send it to the iPhone they are connected to, so if your iPhone is within Bluetooth range of the airtag (around 30meters) then the location is your iphones location

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Answer 2

CRB-CRB-CRB Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 23, 2024 11:27 AM in response to Rudegar

Thanks for your quick reply Rudegar. What you are saying is understandable, but it appears to contradict how these things are advertised. You are saying that the AirTag will "lock on" to the searching device as soon as it gets within 30m so, in other words, its location cannot be defined to within 30m. However, the precision locate feature implies that an AirTag's location can be identified to within a few metres. OK, so I can ask it to beep, but that is not what is advertised.

I did travel away from the AirTag today, and yes, the elastic broke such that the iPhone and AirTag became separate entities. I'm sure they will be useful, but how they perform is not quite up to expectations.

Thanks once again for your response.

CRB

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AirTag icon always follows my iPhone - it doesn't move when the AirTag moves

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