Where’s my AirTag?!

ByDon

Java is an active dog and quite the leaper.  We put an AirTag on his collar just so we could track him and because we wanted to get some experience with AirTags.   Another local dog whose owners let him run loose comes over to visit Java and they like to run and play.  The other day they were playing, splashing in the little creek and having a good time.  The black dog went home but Java decided to visit our neighbors who have a fenced in area for the two Havanese dogs.  Java jumped the fence and played with the little dogs until my neighbor shooed him away. He jumped back over the fence and headed back home through the woods.

Once home we noticed that his AirTag was missing from his collar. We did not have signal from it so it was not in the immediate vicinity.  So, Grace took her iPhone (since the AirTag was linked to her iPhone- which ends up meaning I get messages that an AirTag is following me around whenever Grace leaves and I am here with Java) and she started tracing Java’s steps.  She walked all over our yard, telling the Find My app to play sound and try to find the AirTag but it always failed due to lack of signal.  But when Grace started down the road to our neighbor’s house, suddenly she got a notification that the AirTag was somewhere within 100 meters.   As she followed the path for the precise locator section of the Find My app she ended up in the neighbor’s yard.   She was then able to play the sound and found the AirTag under their Apple tree.

We are upgrading the holder for the AirTag so Java can’t shake it off when he jumps or shakes his ears like he does so often.  We don’t have to do that for Jezebel, our bulldog, since her jumping is pretty limited and well she’s a bulldog.

Grace had an iPhone 11 Pro so it was one of the iPhones that support Precision Finding. Precision finding is supported by these iPhones:

  • iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max
If you have a supported iPhone model with Ultra Wideband and your AirTag is nearby (within BlueTooth range which is about 30 feet) , you can use Precision Finding to help find it, even if it’s stuck between couch cushions or hiding under a stack of mail. If your AirTag is out of range of your connected device you can get directions to it first but getting directions will only work if there is some signal to broadcast the AirTag location which out here in the boonies doesn’t work that well but in more urban environments might give you a clue.
But if you do have the right iPhone here’s how you use precision finding:
  1. Open the Find My app, then tap the Items tab.
  2. Choose the AirTag you want to locate, then tap Find .
  3. Follow the onscreen instructions and move around the space until your iPhone connects to your AirTag.
  4. Your iPhone displays the distance and direction to your AirTag. Use that information to get closer to your AirTag until you find your lost item or as Grace did select the Play Sound button to narrow your search.
  5. Tap the X button  when you’re done.

You can tap the sound button  to play a sound on your AirTag if it’s within Bluetooth range of your connected device. If it’s too dark, a flashlight button  will appear. To turn on the flashlight, tap it

The dogs are always with us, so I don’t know how useful the AirTags will be but we are definitely installing them on our bicycles down in Key West and I am sure we will find other uses, too.

 

Similar Posts

  • Grace has tired of riding the little Vespa scooter so we are selling it. I bought an almost antique Victory cruiser so we both have bikes down here. I am going to Jasper, GA to pick it up this weekend and riding it back through the back roads of Georgia. It should be a nice little break.

    I am going to miss Johnny Dread and the reggae show down here but I am sure Grace will be there. It is hard to believe that we are heading into March already. My granddaughter, Gracie, is a Feb 29 baby so she is celebrating her 4th birthday as a 12-year old. My other granddaughter, Khadija, was off this week visiting colleges in the Boston area. Sure makes me feel old. I remember announcing Khadija’s birth here in Kibbles with the line “just call me gramps” and they still do!

    Thank you for reading this issue of Kibbles & Bytes!

    Your Kibbles & Bytes Team,

    _Don, Emily, Morgan & Hadley_

  • _Dear Friends,_

    I am off to Daytona for the 75th Bike Week. We went out to the 75th anniversary of the Sturgis Bike Week so it is only appropriate for us to hit the one sort of in our neighborhood, too. We will be riding on our 2003 Victory motorcycles and trying to avoid any big roads.

    Sugaring season in Vermont is well underway and this time of the year in Vermont always reminds me when we used to sugar the old-fashioned way. Now it is mostly pipelines and big sugaring operations but back when we lived in North Wolcott, Vermont I had a big work horse. The horse was kind of untrained but hitching her to the sled with the big heavy sap gathering tank made her behave. We would tap the trees by hand, hang buckets and as the sap began to flow we would tramp through the deep snow to empty the buckets into the tank. One horsepower was a lot of power as the horse would make her way through the sugar maples and the tank got full. We would take it to our makeshift sugaring arch and boil the sap into yummy syrup. Some of the best times! I still prefer the “grade b” syrup over fancy grade.

    This week’s Kibbles & Bytes exclusive brings back the “**Chill Pill six-pack special.**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002006/ These little portable speakers have been around for a long time and I need to reduce our inventory. So, you can get 2 Black, 2 Red and 2 White Chill Pill speakers for only $29 this week. They make great gifts and are great for camping or just hanging out in the yard. Normally, they are $9.99 each but this week 6 for “**$29!**”:http://www.smalldog.com/wag900002006/