Finding your lost luggage and other items will now be easier with AirTag

The release of iOS 18.2 is just around the corner. Although it is scheduled for early December, Apple offers an interesting preview on its official website, this time starring the AirTag. Your popular disc-shaped tracker will be able to benefit from a utility that will make it even easier and faster to find lost items with the small connected device. The centerpiece is the application Find Mywhich will incorporate the function Share Item Locationalso open to third parties.

The function Share Item Location is based on Find My Networks, a collaborative network of more than one billion Apple devices that use Bluetooth wireless technology to detect nearby lost equipment or items, and report the approximate location to the owner. The Cupertino manufacturer ensures that the entire process is end-to-end encrypted and anonymous, so no one else, not even the accessory’s designers, can see a device’s location or information.

How does it work?

Now available to users in the iOS 18.2 beta, the feature implemented in Find My will allow sharing the location of the AirTag, and therefore the associated object, with other users or airlines. “Find My It is an essential tool for users around the world to track and find their belongings. “The AirTag has proven to be a powerful tool for travelers, providing invaluable information about the location of bags,” explains Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services.

To avoid problems with difficult tracking areas, Find Me will generate a unique link that will be shared with another user or company, will be active for 7 days and will be deactivated as soon as the owner is reunited with the object. The iPhone, iPad, or Mac app will show the item’s location on an interactive map, and the website will automatically update when a new location is available.

Check the list of iPhones that are compatible with iOS 18.2 beta 2 for more information. Likewise, you can learn more about the AI ​​features incorporated in beta 18.1 in our Apple Intelligence review.

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Search easier, find faster

Cue assures that Apple plans to work directly with airlines to implement systems that allow private and secure acceptance of the option of Share Item Locationtaking advantage of the hundreds of thousands of Apple devices that many airlines already use: “In the coming months, more than 15 airlines serving millions of people around the world will begin to accept the feature as part of the customer service process. With “Over time, more companies will join.”

Among the airlines considered are: Aer Lingus, Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Brussels Airlines; Delta Air Lines, Eurowings, Iberia, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, United, Virgin Atlantic and Vueling. Other options will be added soon thanks to the partnership with the leading air transport technology company SITA, which has 500 airlines and 2,800 airports worldwide.

“This collaboration with Apple will make it easier for airlines, who use our industry-leading WorldTracer solution, to implement more efficient baggage management, and will be a great benefit for passengers,” suggests Nicole Hogg, Director of Baggage at SITA.

Article originally published in WIRED Italy. Adapted by Alondra Flores.