Apple declare to improve the privacy of AirTag; Android app arriving this year
Apple has declared a handful of changes designed to improve the privacy of AirTag item trackers. The organization is changing the time it takes for AirTags to sound an alert in the wake of being separated from their owner, and Apple plans to release an Android application for detecting AirTags later this year.
As first announced by CNET, Apple is rolling out this AirTag firmware update beginning today. AirTags will update naturally when in range of an connected iPhone.
With this firmware update, an AirTag will currently play a sound after it has been isolated from its owner at an random time inside a time period hours and 24 hours. At dispatch, AirTag played a sound in the wake of being separated from its owner for more than three days.
The organization is also developing an application for Android clients that will make them aware of an AirTag potentially moving with them. The application will likewise detect other Find My-enabled accessories.
To additionally reassure individuals about its AirTags, Apple said it’s developing an application for Android gadgets that will help individuals “detect” an AirTag or Find My network-enabled device that may likewise be unsuspectedly “traveling” with them. The application will be released not long from now.
“The recent introduction of AirTag included industry first proactive features that discourage unwanted tracking,” Apple said in a statement. The moves, it added, represent a continued commitment to improve AirTag’s privacy and security.
It doesn’t seem like this application will permit Android clients to set up and use AirTag. All things being equal, the application will be utilized to alert Android clients aware of when an AirTag could be moving with them. AirTag features a NFC chip inside that Android clients would already be able to use to identify an AirTag, yet this application will permit Android clients to get proactive alerts to alert them aware of unwanted tracking.
The updates comes after certain worries were raised about the privacy and stalking implications of AirTag. Tests performed by the Washington Post found that AirTag following was “frighteningly easy,” despite privacy protections put in place by Apple. A survey from Mashable likewise raised worries about the privacy implications of the thing tracker.
You can check your AirTag’s firmware version in the Find My application on your iPhone. Apple delivered its AirTag item tracker in April for $29 for a single unit or $99 for a four-pack.
