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Comment by crims0n | Hacker News Reader

Is this demonstrably better that just... the devices already in your bag? My backpack would be a primary use case... and in it are my AirPods, iPad, and MacBook Air. I think any of these can use Find My already?

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Maybe not if one of those items is always in your backpack. A few other use cases that I think they're great for:

- Throw one in your checked bag when traveling

- Mount one in a relatively concealed location on your bike

- Keychain (depending on if you're prone to misplacing your keys)

In addition to your first use case, multiple airlines are now supporting AirTag for bag tracking.

As is noted on the linked article. Some airlines have specific software that can do it if you share the tag with them - and the sharing will automatically stop when you receive the bags.

For that one item, no not really. But an AirTag has a battery life of about a year and there's really no reason to frequently remove it. AirPods have a substantially shorter battery life and are not guaranteed to be in that bag all the time no matter what. Also AirTags are many times cheaper and smaller than your listed items and are moderately water and impact resistant. If there's something you want to track in addition to your backpack you likely don't want to buy spare AirPods (your cheapest item) just for that purpose.

The battery life of AirPods in a case (what GP is referring to) is quite long. I don't know how long, but I'd guess weeks/months if you're not using them. Obviously a single AirPod out of the case would last much less time (though still days, IME).

Airtags use Find My as well once you're out of bluetooth range. The tag offers more precision once you get into range, down to inches supposedly whereas Find My is more of a general 30 ft radius

I don’t know how many people have bought them, but I’m going to guess it’s in the millions since Apple are updating it. All those people presumably do find it useful separate from their devices.

Personally I don’t always have an Apple device in my backpack, and when traveling you can’t put devices in checked luggage, so I use them for those use cases at least.

I use AirTags on car keys and wallets.

I have them on my dogs' collars, because squirrels exist.

Cats collars here, as an insurance measure if they were ever to sneak outside. They're also handy to locate them around the house for various reasons.

They might not be for you.

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