Google’s upcoming app will notify Android users when an unknown personal item tracker, such as Apple’s AirTag, has been detected near them.
Screenshots from Google’s upcoming AirTag tracker app show how it will detect nearby AirTags and warn users if an AirTag has been following them.
The app is still being developed and will launch later this year.
The software is the result of a May announcement by Apple and Google of a cross-platform solution to combat stalking and prevent tracking via Bluetooth devices like Apple’s AirTag personal item tracker.
Screenshots of an upcoming AirTag tracking Android app
Journalist Mishaal Rahman has been testing the upcoming app for some time now, and he shared a few screenshots on Twitter to show how it works.
The images reveal manual and automatic scanning that’ll let Android users check for trackers around them separated from their owners. The system will alert the user via a push notification if an unknown tracker has been found traveling with them.
After finding and identifying the tracker, the user can contact law enforcement, read the tracker’s serial number by holding its white side to the phone’s back or disable the tracker, which stops it from updating its location. “The owner can see its last shared location and may know if it was disabled,” the app warns.
Aside from manual scanning, the app can also continually poll Bluetooth in the background to receive unknown tracker alerts. It can also play a sound on the unknown tracker without notifying its owner.
The current version is compatible with Apple’s AirTag and Pebblebee’s Clip trackers. Apple already provides a dedicated Android app called Tracker Detect to help Google’s customers combat stalking via AirTags.
Preventing unwanted tracking
Apple users have been able to use the Find My app on the iPhone, iPad, Mac and the web to track the locations of their AirTags and personal item trackers from third parties that are compatible with Apple’s Find My network.
Item trackers like the AirTag have been used for nefarious purposes. People wanting to keep tabs on someone else would simply drop an AirTag into a victim’s bag or a car. With the upcoming solution from both Apple and Google, iOS and Android users will be notified when an unknown AirTag is nearby.
“This new industry specification builds upon the AirTag protections,” said Ron Huang, Apple’s vice president of Sensing and Connectivity, “and through collaboration with Google results in a critical step forward to help combat unwanted tracking across iOS and Android.”
Third-party accessory makers that have pledged support for the specification include Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security and Pebblebee.
The announcement in the Apple Newsroom explains how the submitted proposal strives to prevent potential privacy misuse concerning personal item trackers. You can also read more about this solution in a post on Google’s The Keyword blog.