Phones running iOS 17.5 and Android 6.0+ will automatically display ‘unknown tracker alerts’ if they spot an AirTag or other supported Bluetooth tracker separated from its owner nearby.
UPDATE 5/13/24: Apple is extending unwanted tracking alerts beyond AirTags to other Bluetooth trackers with today’s iOS 17.5 update.
« If a user gets such an alert on their iOS device, it means that someone else’s AirTag, Find My accessory, or other industry specification-compatible Bluetooth tracker is moving with them, » according to Apple, which says that « Bluetooth tag manufacturers including Chipolo, eufy, Jio, Motorola, and Pebblebee have committed that future tags will be compatible. »
If you get an alert on the iPhone, you can view the tracker’s identifier, have the tracker play a sound to help locate it, and access instructions to disable it.
Android users need to be running Android 6.0 or above to get the alerts.
Original Story 7/27/23:
Google is now rolling out an AirTag-detection system for Android.
Initially announced at Google I/O in May, these « Unknown tracker alerts » are arriving on phones running Android 6.
