hi all,
i thought people would be interested in knowing that the new apple
airtags are extremely accessible despite first thinking they might not
be.
i received mine this morning and set about setting them up.
each tag has cellophane wrapped around which when unwrapped leaves a
small piece inside the back battery cover and pulling this out while the
tag is close to your iphone automatically launches the setup process on
the iphone.
first it asks if you want to connect to the tag.
next it asks you to select a name for the tag from a list or you can
select custom to give a name of your choice.
next you select an emoji to associate with the tag.
it then sets up the tag and then asks you if you want it paired with
your apple ID and contact details.
finally it shows a completion screen telling you can make the tag ring
or look for it on a map and such like and tapping on the done button
completes the setup.
once setup i then tried finding a tag which you can either do by asking
Siri to find it or by activating the play sound button associated with
the tag in the find my app.
this is where i was initially a bit disappointed as when you tell the
tag to ring it only rings for 5 seconds roughly and then stops, meaning
you have to keep reactivating the button to track down the tag.
apparently for people with enough sight there are pointers on the screen
showing which direction the tag is.
but then i fouhnd another button just below the play sound button called
"Find button" which was already telling me nearby.
i stood a few feet away from the tag and activated this button and
instantly VoiceOver told me the tag was 6 feet away, and as i moved closer it
counted down foot by foot until it got to 2 feet away and then counted down as
1.9
feet away, 1.8 feet away and so on until you got to less than 3 inches
away at which time VoiceOver said you are here, and you were vertually
touching the tag.
but then i found it is even better than this, i took the tag into the
kitchen and put it on the chopping board and then walked back out and
down the passage to the front door and tried again.
just to say when going into my kitchen it is a door off the passage on
the right hand side and when you enter the kitchen you take a couple of
steps forward and then turn to your left and the chopping board is a few
feet forward on the right hand side.
when i activated the find button while stood by the front door VoiceOver
told me i was 19 feet away from the tag, and as i stepped down the
passage as expected it started counting down how many feet it was away.
but where the supprise came was as i got level with the kitchen door it
said 9 feet to your right, i turned into the kitchen and took 2 steps
forward and it said 5 feet to your left, i turned left and as i stepped
forward it said 4 feet on your right and as i moved as before it counted
down until the iphone was vertually touching the tag and then announced
you are here.
so this has to be the most accessible location tag there is available to
give you spoken instructions as to the direction of the tag compared to
which way the iphone is facing.
what is even more clever about them although i'm not able to test it out
is that if you lost or had something stolen that has one of the airtags
attached to it you can tap on a lost button in the app which causes
every apple device on the planet to check if your tag is near them and
as soon as one of them see it the app will report exactly where it is.
i believe this is going to be extremely accurate as when i ask where my
tags are it reports they are at my exact address giving the correct door
number and street name.
pete.
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