If you have an Android smartphone, an old iPhone or just haven’t updated your software, you will still receive a warning about orphan AirTags in your vicinity. That’s because any AirTag that’s been out of range of its parent phone will start making a noise after three days of isolation.
Learn more about the ways Apple is tackling unwanted tracking on the company’s website.
How often does an AirTag update its location?
It depends! AirTags don’t broadcast their location directly to your phone. Instead, they relay their location information to nearby iPhones or other devices in Apple’s Find My network. Those devices then automatically and securely pass on that information to you.
If your AirTag is in a busy area where many iPhones come and go, its location may be updated as often as every minute or two. But if your AirTag is in a comparatively deserted area, you may stop getting location updates altogether, because the AirTag quite literally cannot reach you if there are no other Find My devices in its radius.
The “last seen” message indicates the most recent time that a given AirTag made contact with another Apple device that was able to relay its location to the broader network. If your AirTag’s “last seen” time was a long time ago, it means that AirTag is in a relatively isolated area, without many passing iPhones (or other devices) to report in on its location. It’s also possible that your AirTag is no longer where it was last seen and there just haven’t been any devices nearby that can provide an update on its new location.
Jessica Irvine is a tech enthusiast specializing in gadgets. From smart home devices to cutting-edge electronics, Jessica explores the world of consumer tech, offering readers comprehensive reviews, hands-on experiences, and expert insights into the coolest and most innovative gadgets on the market.
