I’ve recently learned about coin sized discs called ‘air tags’ which transmit signals detectable by a specifically linked mobile phone.

They can be used to electronically ‘tag’ just about any object such as luggage, wallets, keys and of course bicycles or panniers. They work by signals geolocating off other similar devices and smartphones. They aren’t the same as a Spot or Garmin type tracker. 

My questions are if others have real world experience using these air tags for finding lost or stolen possessions such as bicycles or luggage? Do they really work as claimed?

It seems as though they really do work;  Bicycle Recovered Due To Air Tag.  I haven't used them, but my sister put one on my bro-in-law's bike so she can track his whereabouts in real time.  Do read the linked article, that cyclist would have never recovered his bike without the air tag. 

The people we know who have used air tags seem to find them useful, and they do work with one caveat. You need to be in the Apple world  to really get the utility of the tags. While Android does also have a similar system, the gotcha is that there are fewer of the Tile devices to piggyback on to and you may not be within range of a compatible device to be able to locate your item.  We found this out when we bought the Tile system and often could not really pick up enough signal to reliably say "our stuff is here". There are such an overwhelming number of Apple devices that it would be easier to daisy chain your way to your lost item if you are already using Apple.

I'm surprised you say Android devices are more rare than Apple devices. Global smart phone market share is 70.89% for Android and 28.36% for Apple. My anecdotal experience (mostly in rural parts of the U.S.) is that Android devices are far more common than Apple devices.

Thanks George that’s an informative article.

The surprising thing to me is that the bike owner had to launch a Twitter campaign to convince the airline to extract his bike from the depths of Heathrow Airport. The good news is that the Air Tag did work as intended.

Thanks Steve. For better or worse I’m firmly entrenched in the Apple ecosystem, so that’s not an issue for my bike finding aspirations.

I did wonder how effective the Android system is because one of my regular co-tourers (my son) has a Samsung phone.

Wayne when I was looking online, there are air tag devices claiming to work on either Apple or Android devices. As well as Android specific and Apple specific tags. 

My understanding is that the air tag must be paired with a specific device, and once that pairing is done, it can’t be paired with another one. For example it seems that a tag can’t be paired with both my iPhone and my mini iPad. It has to be linked to one or the other.

I’ll investigate this further, as I’d like to pair to both in case I lose my phone on tour. Everything else is backed up on iCloud. 

EDIT: The good news is that air tags do pair to all devices on the same Apple account. In my case, I could find my tagged bike with either my iPhone or my mini-iPad. They automatically cross-share geo location information via the iCloud back-up.

I edited Dodie's post now, to say "Tile" rather than Android.  Tile is the actual competitor to Apple in the tracker field. Tile does work on IOS as well as Android, but I would guess few Apple (IOS) users would choose Tile. There are an estimated 1.8 million Air Tag users and only 425,000 with Tile.

---Steve

Steve do you know if airlines allow the devices to go with checked in luggage? Presumably the air tags / tiles have a small battery in them. Airlines usually like batteries to be carried in carry-on luggage. 

"Airlines usually like batteries to be carried in carry-on luggage. "

While that's certainly true of particular types and sizes of batteries (they ask about/specifically mention "lithium" batteries) I'm less certain that their preference applies to all types of battery.

According to the all-knowing Google:

"Each AirTag relies on a circular CR2032 battery..."

Okay.  That in turn led me to inquire what such batteries are made of.  It turns out they are "lithium" batteries, or at least batteries that contain lithium:

"Specifically, the CR2032 battery is a Lithium-manganese dioxide battery (LiMn02). It is composed of a Mn02 cathode and a lithium anode. The device is specified for a 225 milliamp hours (mAh) and typically operates over a temperature range of –20 ºC to +70 ºC."

Okay, next question: do airlines permit CR2032 batteries in checked luggage?  (That's the real underlying issue here, isn't it?).  Once again the Big G has an answer, harvested from the FAA:

"Spare (uninstalled) lithium metal batteries and lithium ion batteries, electronic cigarettes and vaping devices are prohibited in checked baggage. They must be carried with the passenger in carry-on baggage."

However, note here that the restriction specifically references "spare (uninstalled)" batteries.  The batteries in an AirTag would definitely be categorized as "installed" and therefore would seem not subject to this clause.

Finally, FINALLY, I asked the question in a way that got what is (to me) a clear and unambiguous answer:

"Are coin batteries allowed in checked baggage?

Checked Bags: Yes

in the most common sizes: AA, AAA, C, D, button cell, 9-volt, etc. Batteries must be protected from damage and creating sparks or a dangerous evolution of heat."