Apple’s new AirTags, a $29 wireless Bluetooth item tracker that is a tiny little puck and pairs with your iPhone, helps you impressively locate your item’s precise location.
However, the Apple AirTag Bluetooth tracker is solely an alluring theft-detection tracker for stolen items. This means that the AirTags are not a strong set of proactive deterrents for stolen items.
These item trackers are instead industry-standard small tracking devices intended to retrieve lost items only i.e. when you can’t remember where you left your car keys in your home.
But, why is Apple AirTag still the best Bluetooth tracker for iPhone users? Why do people keep using it in hopes to hunt down their stolen items? Why is it that iPhone users rely on this latest controversial weapon against theft?
To answer your questions, we have provided an explanation of why Apple AirTag is the ultimate item tracker for iPhone users along with a few anecdotes of people recovering their stolen items.
Let’s figure out if these ornamental tracking devices are worth the $30 spend or simply money down the drain.
Apple AirTags are the Best iOS Compatible Bluetooth Tracker At Recovering Stolen Items
The concern that AirTags are actually useful for recovering stolen items is a mere personal experience. The white and shiny silver little button, known as Bluetooth trackers is a blessing for anyone who fruitlessly digs the couches and cushions hoping to locate their lost items, often ending the evening on a pretty low note.
But, the latest controversial debate is around its creative use case to track stolen possessions. People have been obsessing over it and sharing their saga dealing with the stolen items and how they used Apple AirTags to recover the stolen items. Therefore, let’s go over some of the interesting and little emotional anecdotes of people who actually recovered stolen items using Apple’s Bite-size Bluetooth item tracker.
Anecdote 1
Dan Guido, a technology CEO in Brooklyn got his electric scooter stolen. Amusingly, he had placed Apple AirTag in the stem of his electric scooter and another in the wheel. The scooter was his primary mode of transportation. Soon he followed the signal on his iPhone and narrowed its likely location down to one block. Eventually, he recovered his stolen electric bike from a bike store, which was sitting in the open, all dreadful.
Significance of the story
Sometimes even the police personnel can not help much in these cases. Therefore, you should act quickly in those situations, preferably tracking the stolen item down using AirTags.
Anecdote 2
In one scenario, the simple and cost-effective Apple AirTag recovered $7000 worth of stolen photography gear. Graham Tait, a Sydney, Australia-based photographer lost his gear in the parking lot of his hotel. Speaking to 9News, Graham said his car was broken and they took a laptop bag and camera – both of which had AirTags fitted.
Quite fortunate, the coin-shaped item tracker let Tait use the Find My app to locate his stolen gear. He was lucky to recover everything, including a waller, camera, laptop, and GoPro. Tait traced his stolen items in a room in the hotel he was staying in.
Significance of the story
In-case of Grahan Tait, AirTags helped him recover stolen items. This small investment in these trackers helped him save lots of time, money, and precious gear. Hence, we can safely conclude that in Tait’s case, Apple AirTags were actually good at recovering stolen items using the Find My app.
Recommended Read: AirTag Beeping or Making Random Noises Might Mean Something
Anecdote 3
Apple AirTag helped a man retrieve his stolen vehicle in Memphis. The car owner had placed an AirTag in the Hyundai to track its movement. The man could trace the thieves stealing the car on a surveillance camera and proceeded to track down his car with Memphis police to a nearby address. Apple’s Find My Network helped this man locate the stolen car and saved him thousands of dollars of damage.
Significance of the story
Well, in this case, the man was fortunate enough to clip a button-sized AirTag in his car. The incident itself is disturbing but Apple AirTag were actually good at recovering stolen items from thieves.
Anecdote 4
Mike Taylor lost his electric cargo bike when he was full speed through Seattle. The street photographer had put an AirTag in the shaft of the $1,900 bike. Moments after the bike was stolen, Mike Tayloe called the police with the location, but the police didn’t seem interested.
Well, he then got closer to keep an eye on his bike as it was moving with the thieves. A little while late, he spotted his bike by a bench. He could see a man asleep next to his bike, his feet resting on the back of the bike. In rush, Taylor walked to the bike, jumped on it, started pedalling and didn’t look back.
Significance of the story
Taylor felt empowered that he recovered his stolen bike. This signifies that trackers bring people like Taylor closer to the humans who actually take their things.
Anecdote 5
Chance Oyer lost his backpack when an intruder smashed the car window and took away an expensive gaming laptop, Beats headphones, iPad and an Apple Pencil.
He tried to wait for the police at first. Eventually, the police escorted him to a house where the past geolocation from the AirTag was registered. Soon, the police retrieved all his stolen belongings and Oyer was delighted by it.
Significance of the story
In Chance Oyer’s story, the Apple AirTag Bluetooth tracker worked like a charm which motivated him to never travel without clipping the AirTag hidden in the bag or car. This shows that Apple AirTags are pretty useful for recovering stolen items.
Are AirTags Good For Stolen Items? What are the Caveats?
The major concern “Are AirTags good for anti-theft?” or “Can Apple AirTags help retrieve stolen items” is now becoming the latest controversial weapon against theft. Apple has clarified multiple times that AirTags are not to be used on pets or people, including children.
In Apple’s marketing, all the use cases are for lost items, not stolen ones. Still, the allure of being able to track a camera bag that may have been stolen out of your car remained.
Users have been going nuts about the concern about how we stop AirTag from being detected when it gets into the hands of thieves. They are also concerned about their stolen airtag.
Some fanatic iPhone users are also disturbed by the fact that if a thief has an iPhone and it detects stolen airtag, how do we save our belongings? This also raised concerns about AirTags being used for stalking.
In response to these concerns, Apple states that they don’t recommend attempting to find devices you suspect are stolen on your own. Furthermore, people with stolen items should resort to the police and report a missing property with AirTags to local law enforcement.
Similarly, the concerns about AirTags being used for stalking, the company soon tweaked its anti-stalking features, making AirTags less useful for theft. The coin-sized tag will not let out a beeping noise in less than a day if separated from its owner.
If someone steals your AirTag and that person has an iOS device, a push alert will let them know someone else’s AirTag is with them. This will not happen if that person has an Android phone.
All other tracker companies recommend contacting law enforcement first until you find yourself waiting endlessly in parking lots or on the streets for the Police officer to look into a relatively low-priority crime.
Well, the concern that “Can thieves disable AirTag” is obvious. When an unknown AirTag moves with your phone you will get a notification. This would mean that a thief who has an iPhone will get notified about the stolen item being tracked. The vicious thief could then locate the AirTag with their own iPhone and disable it.
Are AirTags actually good at recovering stolen items?
Apple AirTags have been really helpful in helping find stolen equipment as we can testify from the above-discussed cases.
I also believe that Apple has made a remarkable and well-thought-out Bluetooth tracker that ensures privacy and safety while still making it easier for you to locate your stuff.
It’s just not so good for things that are stolen or taken away by thieves. So, yeah. AirTags are wonderful Bluetooth trackers unless there’s some way to make sure your tracker isn’t seen or can’t be removed.