Apple adds new AirTag tips to a revised Personal Safety User Guide

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AirTag Setup
AirTag Setup (Image credit: Joe Keller / iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has added a new section AirTag to its Personal Safety User Guide.
  • Apple added the new section amid ongoing privacy and safety concerns related to AirTags.

After a number of high-profile instances of AirTags being used to stalk people and property, Apple has updated its Personal Safety User Guide to add tips related to its item tracker.

The AirTag tracker has been found attached to cars that were later stolen, as well as hidden in the property of women of late and the reports, keep on coming. Seemingly very aware of that fact, Apple has updated its Personal Safety User Guide with a section all about AirTag and how people can "stay safe."

Both AirTag and the Find My network are designed with privacy at their core. AirTag and Find My network accessories have unique Bluetooth identifiers that change frequently. To discourage unwanted tracking, Find My notifies you if an unknown AirTag or other Find My accessory is seen moving with you over time by sending you the message, "Item Detected Near You." (This feature is available on iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 14.5 or iPadOS 14.5 or later). If you see this message on your device, an AirTag or other Find My accessory that has been separated from the person who registered it is traveling with you, and the owner might be able to see its location. It's possible that the AirTag might be attached to an item you are borrowing.

The documentation then goes on to show people how to check for AirTags using an Android device as well as explain what to do if they hear an AirTag make a sound.

While the guide isn't new, Apple has confirmed to TechCrunch that the AirTag text was added today. Despite the ongoing privacy and safety concerns, AirTags are still the best iPhone item trackers around. Perhaps they're almost too good.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.