Apple is gearing up to launch AirTag 2 soon, but four years after the first AirTag debuted, a new test of competing options on Google’s ‘Find My Device’ network shows that Apple is still very much ahead in lost item tracking.New test compared AirTag to competing products on Google’s ‘Find My Device’ network It’s rare for Apple to go four years between product updates.But that’s exactly what it’s done with AirTag.
And a new piece at could explain why.Dominic Preston decided to put Google’s ‘Find My Device’ network to the test, pitting four of the newest trackers from Pebblebee, Chipolo, Motorola, and Tile against Apple’s AirTag.The test wasn’t just about comparing hardware, but also pitting Apple’s Find My network against Google’s Android alternative, which launched 1 year ago.
Here’s what Preston found: Is Google’s option actually more private than Apple’s? That judgment could certainly be argued.The claim specifically refers to Google’s decision to apply rate limiting to how often trackers’ locations can be pinged, and to only save a lost item’s location when multiple Android devices are detected nearby.This is very much by design.
”To avoid sharing the location data of individual nearby Android devices that have found a tracker — even anonymized, and encrypted — [Google’s] Find My Device network defaults to aggregating location data.” What does this mean for users who lose something important? Here’s Preston’s conclusion: The full comparison is well worth a read so you can see the strengths and weaknesses of each competing product.Overall though, this new report seems to show that Apple is well set up to widen its lead over the competition when AirTag 2 arrives soon.Do you think Google’s ‘Find My Device’ network is actually more privacy-friendly that Apple’s? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments.
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