User profile for user: weeniewawa
weeniewawa Author
User level: Level 1
11 points

Airtag accuracy on more than one Find My devices

I have Airtags on various devices like vehicles and even my dog but the thing I find frustrating is not how accurate they are or battery life but if I look at the Find My application on different devices, MBP, iPhone or my desktop Macs, I get different locations for the same Airtag. Sometimes it takes days for them to all sync up and be the same. I sometimes can look for the location of my dog which is always with me and it shows his location somewhere I was a few days ago, maybe in another state, but the other Airtags I have either on me or in a vehicle I am near are correct. I doubt there is anything i can personally do to change this. I keep all the batteries fresh.

AirTag

Posted on Aug 6, 2024 11:44 AM

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User profile for user: Tesserax
Tesserax
User level: Level 10
158,604 points

Posted on Aug 6, 2024 11:58 AM

What you are experiencing first-hand is the limitations of a device that relies on Bluetooth and the Apple Find My Network to provide its (actually the iPhone's GPS) location to the Find My app on your (or any other iPhone.)


If your goal is to have real-time / accurate location information, you should consider getting a device that relies on GPS, not Bluetooth.


Apple did not design the AirTags for tracking of a dynamically moving object. Instead, they were primarily designed to help you locate a missing static object, like your car keys. If your iPhone is within Bluetooth range of the tag, you should get the tag's location fairly accurately. However, if the tag is outside of that Bluetooth range, it will rely on other nearby iPhones to relay its ID + that phone's GPS location to the Apple servers over the Internet. In turn, that is where you would see the location (of the iPhone) with the Find My app on your phone.


The biggest advantages of the AirTag is there low cost and long battery life ... just the opposite of that of dedicated GPS trackers.

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User profile for user: Tesserax
Tesserax
User level: Level 10
158,604 points

Aug 6, 2024 11:58 AM in response to weeniewawa

What you are experiencing first-hand is the limitations of a device that relies on Bluetooth and the Apple Find My Network to provide its (actually the iPhone's GPS) location to the Find My app on your (or any other iPhone.)


If your goal is to have real-time / accurate location information, you should consider getting a device that relies on GPS, not Bluetooth.


Apple did not design the AirTags for tracking of a dynamically moving object. Instead, they were primarily designed to help you locate a missing static object, like your car keys. If your iPhone is within Bluetooth range of the tag, you should get the tag's location fairly accurately. However, if the tag is outside of that Bluetooth range, it will rely on other nearby iPhones to relay its ID + that phone's GPS location to the Apple servers over the Internet. In turn, that is where you would see the location (of the iPhone) with the Find My app on your phone.


The biggest advantages of the AirTag is there low cost and long battery life ... just the opposite of that of dedicated GPS trackers.

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Airtag accuracy on more than one Find My devices

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