Yesterday, Apple announced upcoming AirTag updates designed to combat stalking and other unwanted tracking.
“AirTag was designed to help people find their personal items, not track people or other people’s property, and we condemn in the strongest terms any malicious use of our products,”Apple said in a statement. Thieves used AirTags to track expensive cars and stalkers used devices to track women. In an update yesterday, Apple acknowledged that the company has “observed reports of malicious attempts to misuse AirTag for malicious or criminal purposes.”
AirTags already have some security features, such as beeping when they haven’t been connected to their linked devices during the day. The iPhone also receives warnings about unknown AirTags nearby. But the beep can be difficult to hear, and the timing of the warnings appears to vary. One person who was followed “said she was notified four hours after her phone first spotted the rogue gadget”, while “others said it took them days before they became aware of the unknown AirTag”, the New York Times wrote in a December article.
Software updates “later this year”
Apple said it would roll out “precise search”that “allows recipients of an unwanted tracking alert to pinpoint the location of an unknown AirTag. iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 users will be able to use precise search to see distance and direction. to an unknown AirTag when it is in range. As the iPhone user moves, Precision Finding combines input from the camera, ARKit, accelerometer and gyroscope to guide them to the AirTag using a combination of audio, tactile sensations and visual feedback.”
Apple said the update will be released “later this year”but didn’t specify a timeline. Other changes planned for the end of this year are as follows:
- Additional alerts sent to iOS devices: “When AirTag automatically plays a sound to alert everyone nearby to its presence and is detected on the move using your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, we also display an alert on your device to let you know could take action. for example, play a sound or use an exact search if it’s available,”Apple said. “This will help in cases where the AirTag may be in a place where it is hard to hear, or if the AirTag’s speaker has been tampered with.”
- Previous Alerts: “Our unwanted tracking alert system uses complex logic to determine how we alert users. We plan to update our unwanted tracking alert system to notify users earlier that an unknown AirTag or Find My network accessory may be traveling with them,”Apple said.
- Louder Alarms: “Currently, iOS users who receive an unwanted tracking alert can play a sound to help them locate an unknown AirTag. We’ll be tweaking the sound sequence to use more of the loudest tones to make it easier to find the unknown AirTag.”- Apple. said.