‘The Fine Print: What Apple Didn’t Talk About’

Dan Moren has a good rundown of some details from today’s announcements:

An AirTag that has been separated from its owner for a long period of time will make an audible noise when it’s moved, as part of a privacy feature to let you know there’s a tag present. You can reset an AirTag by tapping with an iPhone or “NFC-capable device” — strange wording that implies maybe other non-Apple devices?

I talked to folks from Apple today about some of this. The timeout period for when an AirTag will play a sound if separated from its owner is currently three days — but that’s not baked into the AirTags themselves. It’s a server-side setting in the Find My network, so Apple can adjust it if real-world use suggests that three days is too long or too short.

The “NFC-capable device” thing means Android phones.

★ Tuesday, 20 April 2021