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Apple’s AirTags debuted at the end of April, and people are using them in some creative ways. These tiny devices attach to objects and allow owners to find them using Bluetooth technology. Also, if an object goes missing, AirTags can use the brand’s Find My network to help reunite the object with its owner.
These devices are also handy around your property, whether they go in the garage, the yard, or even in your home. Keep reading to discover some ingenious ways to use Apple AirTags around your property.
Locate Remotes, Keys, Wallets, and More
This might be the most obvious and practical way to use your Apple AirTags, but it’s still worth mentioning. Tagging your keys with an AirTag or slipping one of these devices into your wallet provides a frustration-free method for finding them. Simply activate the AirTag’s speaker, or use your phone as a handheld compass to pinpoint its location. You can even attach the tags to a remote control device or your child’s favorite toy for easy locating.
Make Sense of Your Storage
Shelves of storage bins might appear organized, but you can really dial in your organization with an AirTag. Simply name a tag, such as “Winter Clothes,” “Tax Documents,” or “Holiday Decorations,” and slip it in the appropriate bin. Instead of wondering which bin holds the mittens on an unexpectedly cold morning, choose the appropriate AirTag on an Apple device for foot-by-foot directions to the bin.
With an expected 1-year battery life, it’s best to use this method in bins you access annually so you can change the CR2032 battery.
Keep Tabs on Fido
Some dogs are natural-born escape artists. While an AirTag won’t keep your dogs in the yard, attaching one to their collar can help you locate them if they get out. If you notice your pooch is on the loose, you can activate the “lost” setting on the AirTag. As long as you live in an area with other iPhone users, the dog’s location will update as the AirTag interacts with the Find My network. (AirTags might be a bit large for a cat’s collar.)
Track Your Trash Can
Whether from a windstorm blowing your trash can down the street or Yogi dragging the bin into the woods for a midnight snack, trash cans can disappear. And if you live in a municipality that supplies them, they can be pretty expensive (which can make them targets for not-so-friendly neighbors). Sticking an AirTag to the side of your trash bin will make finding these smelly receptacles in the woods, down the street, or in a backyard that much easier.
Secure Your Power Equipment
If your garage or shed isn’t as difficult to get into as you’d like, you can go the extra mile toward protecting your power equipment with an AirTag. Just slap one of these tags under the seat of your riding mower or tractor, 4-wheeler or ATV, snowblower, or other expensive power equipment. Should these machines go missing, the data provided by an AirTag can provide the authorities with helpful information they can use toward tracking your items down.
Have a Tech-Infused Scavenger Hunt
If the littles ones are getting too much screen time, consider mixing technology with the great outdoors. Hide a few AirTags around your property and let the kids track them down, either by sound or with the iPhone-turned-compass feature for a fun, high-tech way to spend some time together. They’ll get the benefit of a little exercise and some outdoor adventure without complaining that they can’t use their phones.
Things to Know
AirTags are new and fun technology, but they aren’t the only option out there. In fact, there are tracking devices that some believe offer more features. For example, some trackers, like this model from Cube, feature GPS to provide real-time tracking. Also, some devices, like the Tile Pro, have built-in phone finders that will activate a linked phone at the push of the button.
Users also might have uneasy feelings about a network of phones actively grabbing the whereabouts of other devices and sending them to a central network for monitoring. Apple assures that the AirTags are safe against stalkers and other undesirable situations, but you should ensure that the potential benefits outweigh any potential creepiness that could come with this type of technology.