As part of Apple’s anti-stalking initiatives, AirTags now emit a louder tracking sound.
Another security improvement has been made to the Apple AirTag. If paperwork acquired by MacRumors is to be believed, Apple has improved its sound alert feature to make it easier to locate unauthorised or unwanted AirTags.
In the documentation, the firmware has “[adjusted] the unwelcome tracking sound to more readily find an unrecognised AirTag.” To utilise the functionality, you must have iOS 14.5 or later, which is the minimum iOS version to use AirTags.
Apple had promised a number of changes to the AirTag earlier this year, and this one is no exception. Despite Apple’s efforts to prevent the trackers from being used for unlawful or invasive reasons, the AirTag has been implicated in far too many stalking and harassment cases since its inception. Mark Spoonauer of The Guardian argues that Apple should stop selling AirTag until all of these fixes are implemented and Android customers are not left exposed.
Users who get an alert for an unfamiliar AirTag may ask the tag to emit a sound to make it simpler to locate. This was mentioned in Apple’s February roadmap When in this mode, the AirTag’s loudest noises will be played more often in an effort to speed up the process of finding the tracking tag.
In the Find My app, choose the AirTag from your Items list, and check to see whether it is running firmware version 1.0.301 if you have an AirTag. It should automatically update if the AirTag is within Bluetooth range of your iPhone (approximately 33 feet/10 metres according to Apple).
Keep in mind that Apple has said that the updated software will be released progressively over the following several weeks, with all devices expected to get it by May 13. It’s possible to discover whether an AirTag is tracking you right now by looking at the information below.