4 ms·

> your phone doesn't have internet access > simply based on a BLE ping What if they disable Bluetooth? The linked open source find my device app uses cell ne

> your phone doesn't have internet access > simply based on a BLE ping What if they disable Bluetooth? The linked open source find my device app uses cell network to both receive commands and for location.

md_ 3y ago
On Apple's devices, you cannot disable that BLE broadcast. The same is true on the Pixel 8: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/8/24123909/google-pixel-8-pro-offline-dead-battery-location-finding https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/8/24123909/google-pixel-8-pr.... That's the whole point of this design, and fundamentally different than just having some app ping a server once in a while so long as it has network access.
- extraduder_ire 3y ago
  Even if you turn on airplane mode on the device?
  - md_ 3y ago
    Beats me. I can't find anything definitive on this. Since Apple devices continue to broadcast Find My signals even when powered off (as long as they have a little bit of battery left), I assume they continue to do so in airplane mode. It wouldn't do a lot of good if thieves could just turn off Bluetooth, right?
  - idle_zealot 3y ago
    Airplane mode doesn't turn Bluetooth or Wifi off at all on recent OS versions of Android or iOS.
    - master-lincoln 3y ago
      really? Why did they even leave the feature in then?
      - joseda-hg 3y ago
        It turns off celular which is the main problem (Wifi is common enough in modern airplanes so I have to assume the interference risk is low, same for Bluetooth)
    - grotorea 3y ago
      Really? What's airplane mode even for then?
      - idle_zealot 3y ago
        It disables cell data and calling.
- ranguna 3y ago
  Wow that's a serious privacy concern
  - md_ 3y ago
    Maybe? I dunno. The design of this is pretty clever: https://www.wired.com/story/apple-find-my-cryptography-bluetooth/ https://www.wired.com/story/apple-find-my-cryptography-bluet.... I presume somewhere you can turn this off for real, but the defaults seem sensible to me.
ryukoposting 3y ago
Define "disable" ;) I'd guess that Bluetooth will never fully shut off, it would just look like it's turned off to other apps that would want to use it.

md_ 3y ago

On Apple's devices, you cannot disable that BLE broadcast. The same is true on the Pixel 8: https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/8/24123909/google-pixel-8-pro-offline-dead-battery-location-finding https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/8/24123909/google-pixel-8-pr.... That's the whole point of this design, and fundamentally different than just having some app ping a server once in a while so long as it has network access.

extraduder_ire 3y ago
Even if you turn on airplane mode on the device?
- md_ 3y ago
  Beats me. I can't find anything definitive on this. Since Apple devices continue to broadcast Find My signals even when powered off (as long as they have a little bit of battery left), I assume they continue to do so in airplane mode. It wouldn't do a lot of good if thieves could just turn off Bluetooth, right?
- idle_zealot 3y ago
  Airplane mode doesn't turn Bluetooth or Wifi off at all on recent OS versions of Android or iOS.
  - master-lincoln 3y ago
    really? Why did they even leave the feature in then?
    - joseda-hg 3y ago
      It turns off celular which is the main problem (Wifi is common enough in modern airplanes so I have to assume the interference risk is low, same for Bluetooth)
  - grotorea 3y ago
    Really? What's airplane mode even for then?
    - idle_zealot 3y ago
      It disables cell data and calling.
ranguna 3y ago
Wow that's a serious privacy concern
- md_ 3y ago
  Maybe? I dunno. The design of this is pretty clever: https://www.wired.com/story/apple-find-my-cryptography-bluetooth/ https://www.wired.com/story/apple-find-my-cryptography-bluet.... I presume somewhere you can turn this off for real, but the defaults seem sensible to me.

ryukoposting 3y ago

Define "disable" ;) I'd guess that Bluetooth will never fully shut off, it would just look like it's turned off to other apps that would want to use it.