Separation Alerts

[Wagbh]

Yeah, so currently, AirTags can alert you when you move away and you leave your AirTag at a location. Works fairly well.

But actually, the reverse is not possible...
It would make much more sense to also have the option to receive an alert when the AirTag moves away from your location. (i.e: someone took your keys or bag, cat escapes the house, kid wanders off, etc...)
Why didn't Apple thought of that?

I was kind of hoping they would improve this with iOS 17, as they finally figured out AirTag sharing, but it doesn't seems to be the case for this basic feature.

Am I the only one missing this?

 

[iStorm]

It's most likely one of the anti-stalking features to prevent you from seeing when someone leaves if you were to plant one on them or their vehicle.

AirTags are strictly marketed to find lost items...not stolen items or things that can run away.

 

[Wagbh]

I don’t really see the stalking purpose here as what I would like is simply a push notification whenever the item moves away from me and is no longer within range.
(As opposed to the notification I can already get when I am myself moving away from the item location).

This explanation doesn’t make much sense to me.

 

[fischersd]

I don’t really see the stalking purpose here as what I would like is simply a push notification whenever the item moves away from me and is no longer within range.
(As opposed to the notification I can already get when I am myself moving away from the item location).

This explanation doesn’t make much sense to me.

You're talking about geofencing an item. The simple explanation is that you drop an airtag in a person's purse, then you get an alert when they leave their location.

 

[Wagbh]

You're talking about geofencing an item. The simple explanation is that you drop an airtag in a person's purse, then you get an alert when they leave their location.

Not necessarily geofencing based on an arbitrary location, as I understand the stalking potential.

What I would just like here is an alert whenever the item leaves MY (iPhone) immediate proximity. No stalking potential here, because I should be with my item at all times, and should be alerted when it’s no longer the case.

 

[fischersd]

Not necessarily geofencing based on an arbitrary location, as I understand the stalking potential.

What I would just like here is an alert whenever the item leaves MY (iPhone) immediate proximity. No stalking potential here, because I should be with my item at all times, and should be alerted when it’s no longer the case.

Yeah, so you buy a cheap iPhone and leave it at location X, so when the person leaves, you get an alert.

 

[Wagbh]

Yeah, so you buy a cheap iPhone and leave it at location X, so when the person leaves, you get an alert.

If I go by your far-fetched logic, well, I can already buy a cheap iPhone and plant it directly in a car & al. and stalk someone, and this will trigger ZERO stalking alert on their device...

 

[fischersd]

If I go by your far-fetched logic, well, I can already buy a cheap iPhone and plant it directly in a car & al. and stalk someone, and this will trigger ZERO stalking alert on their device...

Well, then you need to buy a cellular subscription for that phone...and it's a lot easier to find than an airtag is.