Images of Android's promised AirTag tracker app revealed

Following Apple and Google's joining forces to combat stalking via tracking devices, screenshots from a forthcoming Android app show how it will alert users to nearby AirTags.

Apple and Google announced their joint work on anti-stalking measures in May 2023, with the first Android app expected to be officially released by the end of the year. Now according to Twitter user and Android journalist Mishaal Rahman, a series of screengrabs from the app have been leaked.

Manual scanning in the forthcoming Android tracking app

In all, four images have been released with two demonstrating the use of manual tracking. One of those shows what the app displays when there are no tracking devices nearby, while the other "finds" an AirTag and a Pebblebee Clip.

Setting up automatic tracking alerts in the forthcoming Android app

Manual scanning for trackers is obviously only of use when users have sufficient reason to suspect they are being tracked and so want to check. More generally useful will be the options for automatic scanning — and so also its automatic alerts.

"Apple launched AirTag to give users the peace of mind knowing where to find their most important items," said Ron Huang, Apple's vice president of Sensing and Connectivity, at the announcement of Apple's partnership with Google. "We built AirTag and the Find My network with a set of proactive features to discourage unwanted tracking — a first in the industry — and we continue to make improvements to help ensure the technology is being used as intended."

"This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections," continued Huang, "and through collaboration with Google results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android."

Neither Apple nor Google have commented on the screenshots.

5 Comments

stoneyg 11 Years · 56 comments

About 1 year ago

There's a Catch-22 with all these anti-stalking features being more prevalent. They make it easier for thieves to identify when an object has an AirTag hidden in it and now they're more likely to find and destroy the AirTag, which means that the AirTag is less likely to help the original owner find the object that was stolen.

FileMakerFeller 7 Years · 1561 comments

stoneyg said:

There's a Catch-22 with all these anti-stalking features being more prevalent. They make it easier for thieves to identify when an object has an AirTag hidden in it and now they're more likely to find and destroy the AirTag, which means that the AirTag is less likely to help the original owner find the object that was stolen.

Everything in this world is a trade-off. The harm from a stalker is greater than the harm from a thief.

gatorguy 14 Years · 24639 comments

stoneyg said:

There's a Catch-22 with all these anti-stalking features being more prevalent. They make it easier for thieves to identify when an object has an AirTag hidden in it and now they're more likely to find and destroy the AirTag, which means that the AirTag is less likely to help the original owner find the object that was stolen.

Were these ever intended to be antitheft devices? I know some people use them for that, but it's not what Apple designed them to be, is it?

gatorguy said:

stoneyg said:

There's a Catch-22 with all these anti-stalking features being more prevalent. They make it easier for thieves to identify when an object has an AirTag hidden in it and now they're more likely to find and destroy the AirTag, which means that the AirTag is less likely to help the original owner find the object that was stolen.

Were these ever intended to be antitheft devices? I know some people use them for that, but it's not what Apple designed them to be, is it?

Does Apple use that as its selling point? No. Is it a reasonable use for finding an item that is lost because it was actually stolen? I think so. But obviously prioritizing people stalking or tracking you is of greater concern.

chutzpah 2 Years · 392 comments

stoneyg said:

gatorguy said:

stoneyg said:

There's a Catch-22 with all these anti-stalking features being more prevalent. They make it easier for thieves to identify when an object has an AirTag hidden in it and now they're more likely to find and destroy the AirTag, which means that the AirTag is less likely to help the original owner find the object that was stolen.

Were these ever intended to be antitheft devices? I know some people use them for that, but it's not what Apple designed them to be, is it?

Does Apple use that as its selling point? No. Is it a reasonable use for finding an item that is lost because it was actually stolen? I think so. But obviously prioritizing people stalking or tracking you is of greater concern.

So it's not at all a Catch-22 then, it's just a lower priority side effect. Maybe read Catch-22, because I don't think it means what you think it means.