Good article about Air Tags new features and the best way to use them

The article says batteries with a child proof coating don't work with Air Tags. I found this out after buying the Costco size pack of button batteries. I then learned that using rubbing alcohol to clean off the coating allows them to work with Air Tags just fine.

That's good to know, Syd—thanks! Mine have always worked, but I usually buy them on Amazon. I should check Costco next time.

Thanks for sharing Mardee — and thanks for the rubbing alcohol trick, Syd.

Interesting note from the author that Apple doesn't provide a tracking history - so if your items starts making some interesting “stops,” you need to take screenshots to be able to have any kind of a history.

Another good tip! Thanks, Kim!

One thing that the article mentions, but doesn't go into, is the anti-stalking feature. If you have an iPhone, and someone sitting near you has an AirTag on their person or in a bag near you, after a period of time you're traveling in parallel, it will alert their phone that they are being followed by an AirTag. Good for anti-stalking, but it happened while I was on a coach with a tag on my carkeys, and the alerts kept annoying another nearby passenger by alerting them every ten minutes or so on their iPhone. Its hard to turn them off.

The other thing to keep in mind is to note the date/time stamp on the location of your bag. It tells you where your bag last was when someone with a iPhone was nearby. Not necessarily where it is presently. So it's not a foolproof indicator. Just requires some detective work to figure it out from there.

People may be interested in the new "extended time" Air Tag, but it's not from Apple. Replaces the coin cell with two AA batteries.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/12/10-year-airtag-battery-case-may-solve-annual-replacement-hassle/

New AA-powered AirTag case promises 10-year lifespan

Aluminum AirTag case replaces coin cell with 2 AA Lithium batteries for extended lifespan.

Mardee, thanks for sharing this. Even though I almost always carry on, I do occasionally check a bag on the way home. I put an Air Tag in both my suitcase and personal item. I always keep my personal item by my feet on the plane or train, but in the event that someone could possibly come by and snatch it I can track the whereabouts. There was recently a post about someone who had put their personal item with their passport, etc. above their seat on the train. Someone entered the train at a stop, walked by and took the bag, then got off the train. An Air Tag would have been convenient in that case.

Aluminum AirTag case replaces coin cell with 2 AA Lithium batteries for extended lifespan.

Lithium batteries in checked baggage?

Lithium batteries in checked baggage?

markcw, yes, lithium batteries are allowed in checked luggage (and carry-on) with a few restrictions. See https://www.delta.com/us/en/baggage/prohibited-or-restricted-items/battery-or-fuel-powered

stan, yes, that's definitely something to remember about the last night contact with an iPhone. :-)

Robert, that's an interesting innovation. Sounds like too much work for most travelers, but it would be good for places where it is impractical to change batteries yearly.

Andrea, I read that thread and I definitely agree! My goal is to keep my Airtags in a place where it can not be easily found by a thief.

lithium batteries are allowed in checked luggage (and carry-on) with a few restrictions

The Lufthansa specification for baggage trackers is rather strict:

Power restriction: max. 2.7 Wh or 0.3 g LC per lithium battery

My question was in regard to the extended powerpack linked to above, which uses two Ultimate Lithium AA cells to replace the button battery in the AirTag.

A single Ultimate Lithium AA is rated at 3500 mAh, which is equivalent to 5.25 Wh. There are two AA cells in the extended powerpack. Each AA cell contains less than 1.0 g of lithium, which could be more than the specified 0.3 g. So the powerpack technically exceeds the Lufthansa spec.

"...would be good for places where it is impractical to change batteries yearly."

Not only that. IIRC, there was a line in the article about it being created by a Photographer that lost expensive equipment because he forgot to change the battery. Just cheap memory insurance for those who don't-have/don't-want a good way of keeping track of such things. Depending on if someone made a mistake and the Airlines push back on these. Perhaps other niches as well.

Mardee, thank you for gifting the article! I love my AirTags but I hadn't seriously considered the placement…just that I didn’t want them easily found. And funny thing…I was sitting next to a woman on a domestic flight…we hadn’t taken off yet, and each of us was getting an alert that there could be an AirTag “stalking” us…apparently we were stalking each other!

cathy, that's so funny! What an interesting way to meet someone, lol!

If I recall, there was another post/comment that mentioned doing the same. But that time it was more confusing as it was on a Bus and they were separated by a seat row (or two). Took more time/effort to work out what was going on.