Morning all,
So my wife is heading interstate with 2/3 kids for an extended weekend holiday, I want to get her either a Tile or Airtag to slip into the suitcase in case it gets lost. But I haven't really read up on either too much. For context I'm all Android device based and she's Apple. So yeah interested in people's opinions what's the best option here.
Thanks!
AirTags, because there is a HUGE market share of Apple phones and the AirTag is baked into the operating system on Apple phones. The Tile relies on people having the app up and running on their phones, and that is a lot less of the population.
Tile if you only want to track your keys/things in your own house, AirTags if you need to track lost things outside your phones range.
And you need a iPhone for full use :)
AirTag all the way
Bought Tiles for my dad to put on his keys, phone, and wallet. Lost his wallet a few weeks ago, the tile was definitely in there. Opened the app, and last place it registered was at the grocery store. Went up there, and asked around and they couldn’t find it. Ended up being in the driveway in the bushes!
Thanks all, sounds like AirTag it is! Just don't want her to end up interstate with two kids and no suitcase!
I thought she was only travelling with 2/3s of a kid?
Buys only one airtag; ends up interstate with a suitcase and without the kids!
I'm Android for my phone as well, but have an AirTag. Also trackable via iPad.
stupid question but is there anyway for the air tag to be tracked from an android device?
Only to see if there are unwanted AirTags near you as far as I know.
Pretty sure you can access it through a web browser and check its location, but I dont think it will do live updates.
To do the initial pairing, you will need an Apple device, like an iPhone or an iPad (unsure if the can be initialised using macbooks)
can't access my airtags through the browser, only apple devices such a Mac, iPad, iPhone and AirPods
does it mean you can't search for your AirTag if you don't have your iPad with you?
Yes, but I’m never in that scenario
Not even a comparison. I've had AirTags, Tile and Trackr. AirTags are so much better it's not even comparable!
I want to get her either a Tile or Airtag to slip into the suitcase in case it gets lost.
May be illegal, need to check with your airline.
The only news I have seen involved either Luthansa or Air NZ, so seems unlikely OP's wife is travelling 'interstate' with one of those airlines.
(Plus AFAIK both of those airlines have now clarified to state they are allowed.)
According to airline regulations, if they use mobile/wifi/bluetooth, all devices must be set to flight mode during the flight.
You should check with the airline you are travelling with if they allow them.
Which airline regulations? There's so many flights with onboard wifi these days.
(like my bolding too? haha)
@jv: The onboard wifi on flights means that phones no longer have to be in true flight mode… so do those regulations still exist for those airlines?
At the minimum, we at least all know it's not a safety issue anymore. And no-one even seems to enforce or care about any of that.
so do those regulations still exist for those airlines?
I assume they do because they tell you before take off to turn all electronic devices off, and into flight mode when at altitude.
Most (all?) airlines do not require you to turn electronic devices off.
Most that I've flown with require it during take off and landing.
@jv: Must have been a quite while since you've flown. The only thing they don't want you to use during take-off and landing are laptops.
You can still use flight mode and Bluetooth at the same time.
How do you set bluetooth headphones to flight mode?
Imagine if Malaysian Flight 370 had one on board
and everyone's iphone was turned off.
Do the tags work a few hundred meters below the oceans surface?
you can still use flight mode with bluetooth and wifi enabled.
electronic devices don't have to be turned off at any stage of a flight now on domestic or international flights in or out of australia.
talking to many pilots, they know and their systems know when someone doesn't have their phone on flight mode and still has celluar enabled.
They seem to think the reason for putting phones into flight mode is to stop people being on calls during take off and landing to give their attention to the event.
what happened to the other 1/3 of your kid.
1/3 of your kid.
Being the OP?
The airlines that demanded you not use luggage tracking seemed to be the worse offenders at losing your luggage. The media stories of people having to tell the airline where to look for their luggage were embarrassing. But media stories about them demanding people not use luggage tracking turned out to be even more embarrassing, so they pulled their heads in.
5G is still a point of contention in the US though. Nobody in Europe was blaming 5G for the odd reports that pilots were lodging, but in America the FAA (Federal AVIATION Administration) took them seriously. Which caused friction with the FCC (Federal COMMUNICATIONS Commission) which said there was no good reason 5G should be interfering with flight instruments unless those flight instruments were faulty. The problem is that 5G is just starting to use the radio frequency band adjacent to the one used by pilots when landing and taking off to get an exact altitude off the ground. The current positions seems to be that 5G in that band will be delayed around airports until old radio altimeters can be replaced.
As uncomfortable as I am with the heavy-handed nudging to go all-in on Apple's ecosystem, there's really no comparison. Airtags are just superior, and comparably priced.
The fact that you’re android shouldn’t matter too much as you can only attribute your AirTag to one apple account (as an apple user it may have to be your wife’s account).
It’s one of the only things I dislike about my AirTag because I want my wife to be able to track our cats on her account too… but I digress. The AirTags are far superior to any other tracker I’ve ever used.
Eufy has a tag too now.