Airtags and multiple users?

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tin2001 Author

Level 1

12 points

Airtags and multiple users?

We have a need to track several items - mainly a fleet of vehicle keys for our family. But as the family part implies, there are multiple users of these vehicles. So I have questions.

1) I know you need iOS above 14.x to activate the tags. But once activated, will older devices show them in FindMy still? EG I have an iPad Air 1 with iOS 12. Can it be used to find Airtags even though it can't register them? I'm aware UWB hardware may not be present in the older models. Ignore that feature in regards to this question.

2) Similar to the above, I see Airtags can be shared across a "family" since iOS 17... Once enabled, does this also work on older iOS devices, or are shared device locations only shown on iOS 17's version of FindMy? EG could an iOS 15 device show shared Airtags after the sharing is set up on the account in 17 or 18?

3) I've seen reports that tags start beeping when non-owners are moving with them. Some suggest this is automatic and intentional to advise people they might be being tracked. Is this the case? Or is the beeping initiated when the user (owner or not) presses a prompt on their phone (such as the tracking warning or the lost item warning)?

4) Related to the above - if the "owner" of the tags leaves 7 of them hanging on the key hooks at home when they take the 8th one off to drive the car it belongs with, is there going to be a bunch of warnings? I noticed my girlfriend's phone nagging her recently about her watch being left somewhere (intentionally)... Is it going to do this with airtags? Is it optional for things expected to be left behind?

5) Is there a better way to achieve this that anyone else can think of? I'm leaning towards Airtags over something like Tile because of the greater coverage in instances where the keys are left somewhere away from home (like if I leave one at work or we drop one down the couch at church)... But would I be skipping a lot of hassles with iOS versions and sharing if I just got a different set of devices and ignore the limited coverage?

Posted on Jan 15, 2025 11:48 PM

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Answer 1

Tesserax

Level 10

153,408 points

Jan 18, 2025 8:15 PM in response to tin2001

tin2001 wrote:

1) I know you need iOS above 14.x to activate the tags. But once activated, will older devices show them in FindMy still? EG I have an iPad Air 1 with iOS 12.

The Find My app actually only requires iOS 13, but it more useful features, like sharing location or locating offline devices, requires iOS 14.

2) Similar to the above, I see Airtags can be shared across a "family" since iOS 17... Once enabled, does this also work on older iOS devices, or are shared device locations only shown on iOS 17's version of FindMy? EG could an iOS 15 device show shared Airtags after the sharing is set up on the account in 17 or 18?

For Family Sharing an AirTag for Find My, the requirements get a bit harder.

They are:

All participating must be in same Family Group.
The minimum OS requirements now are:
- iOS 17 or later
- iPadOS 17 or later
- macOS Sonoma (14) or later
All those participating must have devices with those minimums.

3) I've seen reports that tags start beeping when non-owners are moving with them. Some suggest this is automatic and intentional to advise people they might be being tracked. Is this the case?

Yes, those reports are correct!

4) Related to the above - if the "owner" of the tags leaves 7 of them hanging on the key hooks at home when they take the 8th one off to drive the car it belongs with, is there going to be a bunch of warnings?

You have the option to stop being notified of an AirTag being "left behind" for locations you specify. For example, you can set your home location as one where you would not be notified for any tags left there when you leave.

For you last item, the biggest hurdle will be for all family members to have devices with the minimum OS versions to properly participate in what you are trying to achieve.

If you have an Apple Store nearby, you can consult with an Apple Associate. Alternately, Apple provides you a 14-day return policy should you want to "experiment" with this set up.

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Answer 2

tin2001 Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 18, 2025 4:23 PM in response to tin2001

OK, a bump, but also some partial possible answers to my own questions...

1&2: I still have no idea and can't find information on these. I'm going to work on the assumption that it won't work on older stuff at this stage, but if anyone can confirm, that would be great.

3&4: On further research, it appears this is user error. According to reviews and articles, it seems the "tracked" user may be pressing the "make a sound" option, or the owner is being notified they "left it behind" and presses the same button. I feel less concerned about this now... I'll just have to tell people not to freak out when they take the cars somewhere :-D

5: As much as I don't like Apple or the price of the Airtags, I think I'm still going that way. Coverage is best as far as I can tell... Would be handy if Google and Apple could work together on this stuff, but good luck convincing companies to work together to benefit their customers LOL

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Answer 3

Tesserax

Level 10

153,408 points

Jan 18, 2025 8:24 PM in response to tin2001

tin2001 wrote:

OK, a bump, but also some partial possible answers to my own questions...

"bump-ing" is really not going to help you here. This is not a real-time chat, but a user-to-user forum, where most of us here responding to posts just volunteer our time to try helping others.

5: As much as I don't like Apple or the price of the Airtags, I think I'm still going that way. Coverage is best as far as I can tell... Would be handy if Google and Apple could work together on this stuff, but good luck convincing companies to work together to benefit their customers LOL

Not sure we are supposed to take the first sentence as it seems that you would rather not use Apple products. That, of course, is totally up to you. The Apple AirTags are not perfect by any stretch of the means, but they are well designed for helping folks locate missing objects. Their greatest advantages over GPS trackers are cost and longer battery life ... but, unlike, GPS trackers, they lack the ability to provide you with real-time location updates.

As far as Apple & Google working together, they do when it best suites both of them. We just get to be the "beta" testers of their results.

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