[M_Six]

I just picked up the four Air Tag set, two for me and two for Wifey. I got them mostly for baggage when we travel. Wifey is trying one out in her purse first just to see how well it works. But I'm wondering what happens when she leaves her purse in her office to go to a meeting. Once she's out of BT range, will the Air Tag start beeping? And with checked baggage, do other folks on airplanes who have iPhones get notifications that an unknown Air Tag is present? How does that anti-stalking feature work when the Air Tag is not in range of the owner's phone? It sort of gives away the game that there's a tracking device present, right? Good for preventing stalking, bad for tracking a stolen handbag.

[bayarea328xit]

You can configure Find My app to not notify you when you leave a tagged item behind at "safe" locations (e.g., home, work, etc.). This will take care of the scenario in which your wife leaves her purse at her desk and goes to a meeting room - her phone won't reminder her that she left her purse back at the desk if her desk/office is marked as a safe location.

Now, given that the purse is not moving (at her desk), it will not trigger an alert that it is following other iPhone users around -- the AirTag is at a fixed location; hence, it cannot be used to stalk/track people.

Now, if someone were to pick up the purse and take off with it, they would get a notification that an AirTag is following them if they have an iPhone. This notification is delayed - probably by time and distance - they would eventually get an alert that an AirTag unknown to them is following them around.

Finally, if the AirTag owner's device is detected nearby (e.g., on a plane), it will not alert non-owners. Presumably, Apple has figured out how to deal with scenarios in which the AirTag is in a bag and the owner's device may be too far away (e.g., on the plane).

I have AirTags on all my keychains, cable tied to my dSLR, and in my laptop bag. I'm on the lookout for a wallet with an integrated slot for an AirTag.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Onesie

It takes several hours for it to start beeping. Likely longer than what you’ll be away from it to worry about that.

My understanding is that other people would only be notified if she were to be away from it, probably the same amount of time later.

It doesn’t beep or warn people just for being away from it a couple of hours.

I’ve been using it for a year.

Originally Posted by bayarea328xit

You can configure Find My app to not notify you when you leave a tagged item behind at "safe" locations (e.g., home, work, etc.). This will take care of the scenario in which your wife leaves her purse at her desk and goes to a meeting room - her phone won't reminder her that she left her purse back at the desk if her desk/office is marked as a safe location.

Now, given that the purse is not moving (at her desk), it will not trigger an alert that it is following other iPhone users around -- the AirTag is at a fixed location; hence, it cannot be used to stalk/track people.

Now, if someone were to pick up the purse and take off with it, they would get a notification that an AirTag is following them if they have an iPhone. This notification is delayed - probably by time and distance - they would eventually get an alert that an AirTag unknown to them is following them around.

Finally, if the AirTag owner's device is detected nearby (e.g., on a plane), it will not alert non-owners. Presumably, Apple has figured out how to deal with scenarios in which the AirTag is in a bag and the owner's device may be too far away (e.g., on the plane).

I have AirTags on all my keychains, cable tied to my dSLR, and in my laptop bag. I'm on the lookout for a wallet with an integrated slot for an AirTag.

Thanks. We can set her office as a safe place easy enough. 99% of the time her phone is in her purse or in the house with her purse, so it shouldn't be a big deal. I'll be traveling next week, so I'll put one in my carry-on bag and my laptop bag.

[bayarea328xit]

Originally Posted by Onesie

I don’t think there’s such thing as “marking a safe place”.
It’ll beep if it’s not connected to the phone it belongs to.
Apple doesn’t disclose how long that takes, but in my experience is over 8 hours. There must be an algorithm that interprets it being away from the phone and with someone else. As long as it connects to the phone most of the time, it’ll never ever beep, even after 1 day away or so.

In the Find My app, you can turn ON "Notify When Left Behind" and add locations that *do not* trigger the notification that the item was left behind (e.g., home, etc. - a safe location for the AirTag).

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Onesie

That means nothing for what his concern is. That only turns off the notification his wife would otherwise receive about leaving her bag behind. Her bag will still beep if she leaves it there and the bag can’t find the iPhone for too long, and someone moves it. Setting a “safe zone” to prevent that would defeat the purpose of the beep.

The trick with the AirTag is that if it’s not connected to the iPhone that owns it, and it starts moving, it’ll beep.

I believe that notification should be turned off entirely if you’re not to carry the item everywhere you go. It’s useful for keys/wallet, but not for bags, at least in my case.

Good info. If she leaves her purse in her office and it doesn't beep unless moved, that's fine. And if it does move when she's not there, then that's a bad thing and she needs to know about it.