TECH
When you're a parent, it's easy to lose things: your keys, your wallet or your child's favorite stuffed animal.
I've been trying out AirTags for about a week, and for the most part, they are effective at keeping track of your items, stuffed or not.
The setup is pretty straightforward: Once you pull the plastic tab to activate the AirTags, you'll get a prompt on your iPhone to connect. Then you can label them, with options such as keys or backpacks.
There are a couple of ways to keep the AirTag attached to your stuff. For backpacks or a wallet, you can just slip the AirTag inside.
AirTags are tracked using the iPhone's Find My app. The display will show a map and location of where your AirTagged item can be found.
The nice addition here is AirTags include a Precision Finding option. Once you reached a certain distance from the item, the Find My app will shift from directions to Find.
In one test, I left a set of keys with AirTag outside and walked away. With Find in use, I was able to reach roughly 40 to 50 feet before it lost a connection.
If you do lose something like keys, you can go to Find My and place it into Lost Mode. Once it's active, you'll get notifications about the approximate location of the AirTagged item.
The AirTags also have features to prevent unwanted tracking, in the event an AirTag you don't own ends up in your possession.
If that happens, you get an alert saying an AirTag is traveling with you once you reach a significant location such as your home.
However, several reports, including one in The Washington Post, suggest the Airtags could be too easily used for undetected tracking or stalking.