Can anyone explain how Air tags work please?!

[Cryingoverporn]

I was thinking of getting a few air tags, but I'm not sure they will actually do what I want them to do!

Firstly, I was thinking of getting one for my dog. If he is out with our dog walker, will I be able to see where they have walked that day?

Was also thinking about placing one in a suitcase. If my case went missing, would I be able to see where it was?

In neither of those scenarios would my iphone be near to the airtag. I've read the blurb, but I'm still confused.

TIA!

I use them for my luggage and find it reassuring to know that when I land the case made it too. We travel and have to sometimes transfer onto another plane. As the plane takes off I can see on my phone it’s close by.

I don’t see the point of putting them on a pet you have to be near the animal with an iPhone and if a pets lost they’ll be nowhere near a person usually.

They don’t track in the sense that fitness watches do so you can see the route taken. Instead if you search for them and they are near Bluetooth that they can jump onto, they will show you where they are at that moment.

You could check where your dog but it won’t tell you where it’s been.

They show the current location of whatever they're attached to. Funnily enough I just ordered three - one to attach to my dog's collar (he's an escape artist) and one for each of my boys' bikes (they can be hidden in a special reflector case.) Handy for knowing where my 10-year-old is as he cycles around with his friends, and also in case their bikes are ever stolen.

I also have one on my key ring and in a suitcase, if I ever check in luggage.

The tag doesn’t have to be near your iPhone, just within Bluetooth range of any iPhone

Thanks for replies.

So if my dog got lost and he was in the middle of the woods with no one around, my air tag wouldn't show me where he was?? And I can't log in and see what walk he did that day?

That’s correct on both accounts. Somebody else was walking nearby in the woods with Bluetooth then you might be able to find his location though.

No it won't. They don't have built-in cell access (otherwise you'd be paying for a contract, right?). They work by pinging off of nearby iphones. If there are none nearby, it'll be useless.

No it wouldn't. They need an iPhone to ping off.

They are only useful in busy places where there will be lots of iphones to triangulate with. Useless in the woods or a field.

There is one in my DS's computer case and his sports bag, so if he forgets where he dumps them, he can find them. I know that will work because there are iphones all over the school.

I think you can get GPS collars for pets.