Airtags buyers and owners thread (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Apple introduces AirTag

Apple today introduced AirTag, an accessory that works with iPhone and other Apple devices to track and find important belongings.

www.apple.com

here we go, 4 for $99 for me

 

[Sam Posten]

 

[Sam Posten]

Here are all the AirTag accessories we know about

As you’d guess, the Hermès ones are not cheap.

www.theverge.com

 

[Sam Posten]

Oh hey cool my employee discount knocks a full $10 off 4 airtags!

 

[dpippel]

Come on, Apple! For one of THE most common reasons to get this device, hanging it on a keychain, you HAVE to buy an accessory in order to use it. This is simply ludicrous IMO. Mold a loop into the case for God's sake!

But damn, thank the maker I can get them engraved for free!

 

[DaveF]

Rest assured there will be $5 and $10 keychains swamping Amazon soon for just this purpose. The Wirecutter and CNET will soon have loads of reviews of the best AirTags keychains.

 

[dpippel]

Rest assured there will be $5 and $10 keychains swamping Amazon soon for just this purpose. The Wirecutter and CNET will soon have loads of reviews of the best AirTags keychains.

Absolutely. I just hate the fact that it could have been avoided. But hey, it's Apple.

 

[DaveF]

But if you don’t want the disc specifically on a keychain, an integrated hole or extending loop is unwanted.

And even if it had a hole or loop, it could well be the wrong size. A bunch of keychains are really thick.

If I get them, they’re for luggage, not keys. Don’t need anything extraneous. Just discs to toss in a pocket.

I don’t really see this as a design flaw. They’re neutral artifacts. You can add to them accessories to suit the specific need.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I don’t know how the airbags work. If I had one on my dog’s collar and he got loose, would I be able to find him?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I don’t know how the airbags work. If I had one on my dog’s collar and he got loose, would I be able to find him?

Just don't engage them while on your dog.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Just don't engage them while on your dog.

GD spell correct!

 

[Robert Crawford]

GD spell correct!

Tell me about it as it screws with me constantly on my iPhone.

 

[DaveF]

I don’t know how the airbags work. If I had one on my dog’s collar and he got loose, would I be able to find him?

1) If the air tag is close to the phone, like 30’ probably, the phone will detect it directly and point you to it. So if you lose your dog between the couch cushions, then yes you can find your dog

2) the air tags talk to each other and then to other iPhones and then to the cloud and then to you. So if you lose your dog like in the city or an airport where lots of people have air tags and iPhones then you’ll be able to find your dog, maybe before he jets off to Paris

3) if your dog runs away into the wilderness and doesn’t take his iPhone with him, and all the other dogs out there don’t have air tags and iPhones either, then you probably can’t find Your dog with an air tag

 

[dpippel]

But if you don’t want the disc specifically on a keychain, an integrated hole or extending loop is unwanted.

And even if it had a hole or loop, it could well be the wrong size. A bunch of keychains are really thick.

If I get them, they’re for luggage, not keys. Don’t need anything extraneous. Just discs to toss in a pocket.

I don’t really see this as a design flaw. They’re neutral artifacts. You can add to them accessories to suit the specific need.

Tile seems to have it pretty well figured out, without forcing their customers to spend, at minimum, almost half again the cost of the tracker just to hang it on something if they want to.

 

[Sam Posten]

Tile doesn’t have billions of iOS devices in their network tho.

 

[dpippel]

Tile doesn’t have billions of iOS devices in their network tho.

What does that have to do with device design? Apple doesn't have billions of Android devices in their ecosystem either.

 

[Sam Posten]

What does that have to do with device design? Apple doesn't have billions of Android devices in their ecosystem either.

But they do, kind of. They are actually leveraging the nfc readers in Android devices to extend their network outside of the Apple ecosystem.

my point is that Apple can leverage every device in their network to find lost things, even if 99.9999% of those owners don’t currently have a single Air Tag. And they can add those android owners as a second tier. Because Apple owns the whole stack. There’s no way tile can compete with that so they have different design priorities.

Apples priorities include things like battery life, network reach, materials considerations including strength/destruct ability, UX, and simplicity at least as a first product introduction. Tiles priorities are having multiple form factors, compensating for smaller networks, branding/market leadership, etc.

Will there be air tags with different form factors in the future? Almost assuredly. Probably strong ones with holes for loops. Probably credit card form factor. But it makes zero sense for them to have multiple form factors at launch. This one thing is the “hero” version of what an air tag is and does, and Apple already knows what it’s weaknesses are far better than we do.

Some of those weaknesses they will grind away. Some they won’t just because they think that the fix does not fit with their vision for the product and honestly people continuing to bitch about it doesn’t hurt them. witness the whining over headphone jacks on phones. Either you can get on board with wireless headphones, you can add a dongle, or you can go to a competitor.

 

[dpippel]

Wow, that's an awful lot of exposition centered around a simple piece of plastic with a hole in it.

 

[Sam Posten]

Metal

 

[Sam Posten]

And the fact that it’s metal is key to this whole thing. This is Apples concept of what the thing is. Design isn’t something you add at the end of product design. It’s the whole.

and metal has pros and cons. It’s heavier. It might dissuade kids from eating but it’s more likely to choke them if they do. It’s more expensive and LOOKs premium. It’s harder to etch but it looks amazing when you do.