GPS Review: Apple AirTag

Not actually GPS, but useful for tracking in certain scenarios.

Apple AirTag is not technically a GPS tracker. It works off of a Bluetooth connection, so the range is very limited. About 40 feet is the farthest I’ve ever detected it from. You might think a tracker with a range of 40 feet would be useless, but the Apple AirTag is helpful in several respects. It is very small and lightweight, the battery can last for a year, and it can be detected by other iPhones if you report it lost.

Fozzie used to be a flight risk. In the first year of his life with us, he ran off 8 times, looking for adventure. He didn’t want to get away from his family, whom he loved, but he just liked to run around like a maniac. After the first escape, I got him a GPS tracker, and on the next seven escapes, I used it to track him down fairly quickly, within 10 minutes. In the past 9 years, Fozzie has not tried to run off for a big adventure. Every day, three times a day, I let him off leash for about 3 minutes or less so he can go a little way into the bushes to do his business. Because of my work, I know that these are the kinds of situations where coyotes can attack. I watch over the area. If it’s after dark, Fozzie is wearing his coyote vest, with spikes all over it. I use the Apple AirTag to keep track of his location in the bushes, and to make sure he comes back safe. It is very useful for that.

Fozzie is about 13 pounds. When he would wear a full GPS tracking unit, he didn’t mind, but it was a bit bulky. The AirTag is very lightweight and compact. The holder that keeps it on his collar is much bulkier than the tracker itself, and the tracker and holder are still small and light, and unnoticed by Fozzie. If I had an outdoor cat, I would make him an indoor cat. If I had an outdoor cat that was impossible to keep indoors, I would get him a breakaway collar and an Apple AirTag. When cats go missing, they generally are hiding fairly close, and an AirTag could be used to find him. You would do it like a mine sweeper, doing a grid search of the area until the AirTag pinged. Several lost cats have been found this way.

If you can’t find your pet’s AirTag just using your phone, you can report it lost. Then, any time it comes near someone’s iPhone, it will register with them and then be reported to you. On a recent search for a lost dog, the dog had an AirTag. Tino and I were following the scent trail of the dog, but we kept hitting private property. It slowed us down, and the dog was getting farther away as we had to stop and ask permission in so many places where the lost dog just waltzed right through people’s yards. After about an hour of this, the owner got a ping from the AirTag, a mile away, on the other side of the lake. Because we were able to go to the location of the last ping, Tino was able to start on a fresher scent, closer to the dog. Tino tracked her down in the woods where her leash was stuck. She was out of range of any iPhones, so her AirTag wasn’t registering at the moment we found her, but the recent detection of her signal got us close enough so the search dog could do the last leg of the search. For this particular dog, Copper, if she had had a regular GPS tracker, perhaps they would have found her sooner. There is also the possibility that her GPS unit would have run out of battery before they caught up to her. You know, if you have a GPS unit with a two week battery life, do you charge it every day so you always have the maximum time in which to find your dog? Also, the full battery life is only when the unit is near home. Once a dog runs away from the home WiFi, the battery drains much faster. The AirTag battery can last up to a year.

If I had a dog that was a high flight risk, I would use a GPS tracker and also an AirTag. The AirTag would just be a backup, in case the GPS unit died. The AirTag is relatively cheap, at $29, with no monthly fees. The battery lasts a year. It is lightweight and compact, so you can put it on a small dog. For an outdoor cat, it would also be nice to have and AirTag and also GPS, but that could be a bit bulky. If your cat would wear a harness, you could do both. If the cat was bothered by a bulky GPS unit, an Apple AirTag is nearly as small as a pet license. If you choose a holder that keeps it close to the collar, it would be unnoticeable. The AirTag is not the perfect tracking unit, but it does have some advantages over other units, especially for small dogs and for cats of all sizes. I would highly recommend an AirTag in conjunction with a good GPS tracker.