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Clickbait alert spreading FUD. > The safeguards are a work in progress They aren't, the safeguards existed from day 1. > After another 10 minutes, my heart s

Clickbait alert spreading FUD. > The safeguards are a work in progress They aren't, the safeguards existed from day 1. > After another 10 minutes, my heart started to race; still nothing. Author seems to not understand how AirTags work by communicating with other devices?

madeofpalk 5y ago
More importantly, it doesn't appear to actually do what the title says? Did the privacy features (AirTag popping notification on iOS device and making a sound after three days) actually work?
- datfrojo 5y ago
  It did not because the author had not updated the user’s device (aka the babysitter) to iOS 14.5. Either the author doesn’t understand that 14.5 is required or they are being deliberately misleading for views.
  - madeofpalk 5y ago
    It sounds like this was still the same day (did his kid not return home for three days), so even on 14.5 it wouldn't have triggered this. So much for testing
  - nathancahill 5y ago
    IS iOS 14.5 required to get notified? I'm having trouble finding information on that. I know iOS 14.5 is required to setup AirTags.
codyb 5y ago
My impression from “work in progress” was that they’ll continue to be evaluated and evolve as time goes on. Seemed like a decent faith attempt to try the things out. I didn’t know, for instance, that without upgrading iOS they wouldn’t work, although of course that makes sense. Or about the three day beeping feature. Or even that they only communicate with the network via other devices. Presumably the kids on the school bus didn’t have updated iPhones I guess.
- datfrojo 5y ago
  The find my network has existed for some time (2019 if I recall correctly) and was originally introduced so that the network of iPhones could locate lost MacBooks. Airtags can be located by the find my network using devices running older ios versions. It is only the Airtag specific features which require 14.5 (I.e privacy features, pairing, identifying found airtag). I
soneil 5y ago
> The safeguards are a work in progress I find it curious that I've never seen any such articles for Tile and co. It really feels like that by taking any steps to solve it at all, all Apple have actually achieved is to bring awareness to an issue which either already existed, or never existed? Why are airtags being treated specially here?
- madeofpalk 5y ago
  Probably for the same reason why Apple added additional measures that Tile and co. didn't - Apple is placed on a higher pedestal and has a lot more attention focused on it. Put bluntly, people don't care about Tile as much as they care about Apple (in both a positive and negative way).
- michaelt 5y ago
  Getting super-high levels of press attention is both a blessing and a curse for Apple. A blessing because they get loads of hype and attention when they release a new laptop or cell phone - far more than Dell or HTC product releases do. A curse because it's been possible to buy generic GPS tracker modules on ebay for years, and yet the moment Apple starts selling trackers they get far more attention than ebay sellers ever did. And stories about chinese factory worker suicides, right-to-repair and environmental damage from raw material mining all like to mention Apple by name.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  Apple's surveillance network is a lot bigger.

madeofpalk 5y ago

More importantly, it doesn't appear to actually do what the title says? Did the privacy features (AirTag popping notification on iOS device and making a sound after three days) actually work?

datfrojo 5y ago
It did not because the author had not updated the user’s device (aka the babysitter) to iOS 14.5. Either the author doesn’t understand that 14.5 is required or they are being deliberately misleading for views.
- madeofpalk 5y ago
  It sounds like this was still the same day (did his kid not return home for three days), so even on 14.5 it wouldn't have triggered this. So much for testing
- nathancahill 5y ago
  IS iOS 14.5 required to get notified? I'm having trouble finding information on that. I know iOS 14.5 is required to setup AirTags.

codyb 5y ago

My impression from “work in progress” was that they’ll continue to be evaluated and evolve as time goes on. Seemed like a decent faith attempt to try the things out. I didn’t know, for instance, that without upgrading iOS they wouldn’t work, although of course that makes sense. Or about the three day beeping feature. Or even that they only communicate with the network via other devices. Presumably the kids on the school bus didn’t have updated iPhones I guess.

datfrojo 5y ago
The find my network has existed for some time (2019 if I recall correctly) and was originally introduced so that the network of iPhones could locate lost MacBooks. Airtags can be located by the find my network using devices running older ios versions. It is only the Airtag specific features which require 14.5 (I.e privacy features, pairing, identifying found airtag). I

soneil 5y ago

> The safeguards are a work in progress I find it curious that I've never seen any such articles for Tile and co. It really feels like that by taking any steps to solve it at all, all Apple have actually achieved is to bring awareness to an issue which either already existed, or never existed? Why are airtags being treated specially here?

madeofpalk 5y ago
Probably for the same reason why Apple added additional measures that Tile and co. didn't - Apple is placed on a higher pedestal and has a lot more attention focused on it. Put bluntly, people don't care about Tile as much as they care about Apple (in both a positive and negative way).
michaelt 5y ago
Getting super-high levels of press attention is both a blessing and a curse for Apple. A blessing because they get loads of hype and attention when they release a new laptop or cell phone - far more than Dell or HTC product releases do. A curse because it's been possible to buy generic GPS tracker modules on ebay for years, and yet the moment Apple starts selling trackers they get far more attention than ebay sellers ever did. And stories about chinese factory worker suicides, right-to-repair and environmental damage from raw material mining all like to mention Apple by name.
maxerickson 5y ago
Apple's surveillance network is a lot bigger.