News: 0175452025

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Apple Will Let You Share AirTag Locations With a Link (theverge.com)

(Monday November 11, 2024 @10:30PM (BeauHD) from the lost-and-found dept.)


With iOS 18.2, Apple will [1]allow you to share the location of a lost AirTag with other people and with more than 15 different airlines. The Verge reports:

> When using the feature, you can generate a Share Item Location link within the Find My app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Once you share the link with someone, they can click on it to view an interactive map with the location of your lost item. Apple will update the website automatically when the lost item moves, and it will also display a timestamp when it moved last. Apple will turn off the feature once you find your lost item. You can also manually stop sharing the location of an AirTag at any time, or the link will "automatically expire after seven days." [...]

>

> As part of the rollout, Apple is partnering with over 15 airlines, including Delta, United, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Air Canada, and more. All of these airlines will be able to "privately and securely" accept links to lost items, as "access to each link will be limited to a small number of people, and recipients will be required to authenticate in order to view the link through either their Apple Account or partner email address." This feature will be available to airlines in the "coming months." Additionally, SITA, a baggage tracing solution, will also implement Share Item Location into its luggage tracker.



[1] https://www.theverge.com/2024/11/11/24293654/apple-ios-18-2-share-airtag-locations



Hmmm still missing the obvious (Score:2, Interesting)

by ZERO1ZERO ( 948669 )

Why cant they make it so an airtag location can be viewed by more than one person permanently, without link bs? Example- work assets such as tool boxes, equipment, key sets, these should be assignable to the managers or the teams. The airtag is focussed the wrong way imo. Its designed for a single person to find multiple things (with multiple airtags) make it so that multiple people can find a single thing with a single airtag shared. This family grouping stuff where a owner can have other decices un

Not the target market (Score:2)

by khchung ( 462899 )

> Why cant they make it so an airtag location can be viewed by more than one person permanently, without link bs? Example- work assets such as tool boxes, equipment, key sets, these should be assignable to the managers or the teams.

Because Apple's target market is not businesses, which might only buy a few iPads and dozens of Airtags over 5-10 years. Apple's target is people who don't mind paying $1000 every 1-3 years to upgrade their phones, Airtags is just one more thing to lock them into the Apple ecosystem.

It is a good thing that Apple stay focused on the right target.

While it might be nice to perma-share Airtag locations within the family, it is rarely needed for more than a week (e.g. during a family vacation). Unless maybe if

Perma-tracker (Score:2)

by cstacy ( 534252 )

Is the user able to invalidate the link?

Otherwise, does anyone who knows the link have persistent access to whatever the airtag is attached to? (Which, right after your luggage is found, a link to your house. And after that, a link to YOU because it's on your house keys or the keys to the minivan?)

Re: (Score:2)

by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 )

Did you not make it through the entire summary?

A new Apple feature! (Score:2)

by Applehu Akbar ( 2968043 )

Now we have to`figure out why this is totally evil...

I know! Elon Musk probably use this feature.

Re: (Score:2)

by Powercntrl ( 458442 )

> Now we have to`figure out why this is totally evil...

Well, from my perspective it's still quite "evil" that AirTags are pretty much useless for anti-theft purposes.

"Oh hi Mr. Thief, just so you know, you might want to go digging through that thing you've stolen and remove the AirTag, because we wouldn't want the rightful owner to recover their stuff."

AirTags are for scatterbrained folks who are always misplacing their stuff, and apparently they're also a substitute for airlines actually taking some sort of real responsibility when they lose your luggage. Des

Re: (Score:2)

by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 )

Well, from my perspective it's still quite "evil" that AirTags are pretty much useless for anti-theft purposes.

What about when the airline steals your luggage?

Re: (Score:2)

by DesertNomad ( 885798 )

He certainly doesn't like it when we track his plane.

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The most common X generation subgroup and the only subgroup
given to breeding. Squires exist almost exclusively in couples and
are recognizable by their frantic attempts to create a semblance of
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-- Douglas Coupland, "Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated
Culture"