Alternatives to AirTags for Android users?
 

Is there an Android equivalent of the AirTag?

Hello,
For Samsung you have the SmartTag or SmartTag Plus but not sure if it works for all Android devices.

Yes, there is Tile and Samsung have some system.
As an Android user, I am cynical how good they are. AirTags work well because (in the West) there are so many iPhones and they all act as locators. So there are many many phones out there looking for your bag.
By comparison tile sales must be tiny and the Samsung system requires users to optin, which I don't think many bother to do.
It temps me to move to iPhone next time I change phones!
There are some reports Google are working on a common system for Android, but that's just rumors, no actual facts.

This...

While I pretty much despise crApple, this is one of the few things they got right. If they were smart they'd open it up to Android users as well and they could own that market. I'd certainly buy them and put them in my bags despite being an Android user with absolutely no interest in changing to the iCult.

Tile worked well enough, but I think there has been some decline in its crowdsourcing power because of what Apple has been doing. But it still works. I may be buying a few more soon. Just located a set of keys that were apparently lost in Swedish horse country. Not the most rural of places, but out of the way enough that I continue to be surprised where Tile picked up.

The only reason AirTags work is because you're forced into it as an Apple user. When the "Find My" app is enabled (which is default), it works for everyone. If you had to opt in (which really you should be asked to do after being told what are the risks/benefits), I suspect it wouldn't work as well.

Every tech-savvy person I know disables it, but there are enough people who aren't to keep it going.

There's little to no market (as far as profit) there. They get their money by forcing people into the entire ecosystem.

Normally I would as well, but I have a few airtags in use at the moment... but all my Apple products are limited to around the house and possibly the neighbourhood (my dog). I don't use any for anything else (although I'll have to pick a solution when I start flying again. Seeing pictures of the piles of luggage in the airports is just scary.

Apple has such a critical mass by integrating it into iOS that nothing can compete. The closest equivalent I'm aware of is Tile, but the crowdsourced detection is limited to Tile users, not nearly the entire Android base. If Google were to buy Tile it might be able to compete.

However, Tile doesn't have the anti-stalking provisions of Air Tags--something that's both good and bad. Personally, I feel Apple went too far with the anti-stalking.

Tile’s crowdsourced network appears not to be limited to Tile/Tile app users. It partnered with Amazon in a way:

How to use Amazon Sidewalk to find your Tile tracker devices

I was under the — perhaps false — impression that iOS devices with Bluetooth on can also flag down Tile trackers that happen to be tagging along. They did have some kind of talk about an anti-stalking scan for those with the Tile app.

I disabled Sidewalk on my Alexa account. I see no benefit of letting my neighbors use my internet or helping out Tile users. However, I kept "Find My" on for all of our iPhones and iPads. How else am I am going to do Find my Friends at the mall or fairground? I know there are people who would turn off "Find My", but I think for every one device that has it off, there would be 10,000 iDevices that left it on as default. I am sure a lot of people left Sidewalk on as well definitely much more than people who would turn it off. But you are still limited to area that has Amazon devices which is mostly homes. If you drop your keys with Tiles in a parking lot, you are still on the mercy of another person with Tile app installed on their phone walked by it. Even if you drop your key with Tile on the sidewalk (haha) outside of a home that has Sidewalk turned on, it would still heavily depends on the distance between the object to the Alexa device inside the house in order to locate it.

I ran games where the Tile trackers are “lost” in the woods and in fields and no Amazon Sidewalk devices could reasonably be expected to be around for probably at least one-fifth of a mile. I also ran the same games with AirTags. The TilePro trackers got “found” much faster and more easily than the AirTags even when using teams of 2 or 3 for Tile vs teams of 20+ for AirTags. In much higher trafficked areas with greater population density, AirTags’ advantages from the crowdsourcing network make up more for AirTags’ more limited broadcast/connectivity range than for the TilePro. Out in the boonies and no one else around except for me looking for the tracker? I would chose the TilePro each time over AirTag.

Apple’s AirTag anti-stalking thing is annoying some recipients of the anti-stalking alerts but even then people don’t seem to adjust their settings because of it on the iPhones. I would assume that Amazon Sidewalk devices also tend to have their settings set and then left at whichever setting was first in use or selected.

I wonder how many people have some sort of tracker (AirTag or Tile) in their luggage and if it actually helps in today's chaos.... all the luggage being left behind.... if you have a tag, would they let you claim it?

I bought a Tile Pro today to put in a checked golf bag for a trip to the UK in August. I'm figuring that at a minimum, I'll learn whether the bag makes my flights from JFK to LHR and then LHR to Edinburgh. Although I understand that Tile's crowd sourcing is not as comprehensive as Apple's for the Air Tags (with all the good and bad that accompanies that), the best case scenario is that I learn where my bag has been misdirected before my airline does.

We'll see.

If the various manufacturers would like more exposure, I'd recommend (to them) to create some beacon hardware.... just to place in specific places like airport luggage pick up areas and possibly bus/train depots. They would connect to wired endpoints near strategic places so they could help with tracking luggage. Think about it this way. If they put a beacon at various points in the luggage lifecycle (say check-in point, at the exit point before the luggage is sent to the planes, at the entry point to the airport and just before it hits the carousel... for a small investment, it gets more people to actually buy the trackers. Sure, you might miss one touchpoint, but two or three? And if you're lucky, you might be able to reach your tracker if it's on the plane with you.

I don't have any travel plans in the near future (well, I have them, but with the chaos and waves hitting, they're on hold), but I plan on buying trackers of some sort for when I do. Also considering it for a few other items due to a spate of issues where these could be used (like car theft).