After their launch in April, AirTags were promoted as a way to keep a track of your belongings and being able to easily find them.
Critics had earlier warned that this small tracker could be used to monitor people’s real-time location. As the tracker is small enough to fit inside bags or pockets, the raised concerns for its potential misuse were rightly placed.
Despite being only a month old, the company has already tweaked certain features due to these privacy concerns. Before this update, AirTags would only make a noise three days after being away from their owner, if detected that they were moving. If you had the latest update on your phone, you’d get a notification that stated “AirTag Found Moving With You”.
Now with the recent update, AirTags will make a noise within the timeframe of 8-24 hours since being ‘lost’. This has significantly reduced the duration an AirTag can travel before making a noise.
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If an iPhone detects that someone else’s tracker is following it around, the phone will display an alert. However, people with Android smartphones do not receive an on-screen warning. To solve this concern, Apple will be launching an app for Android sometime later this year.
“Later this year, we will also introduce an Android application that will enable users to detect an AirTag or Find My network-enabled accessory separated from its owner that may be travelling with a user,” said the company in a statement.
There are still concerns that 15-second warning beeps aren’t loud enough to be heard over general everyday noises.
