I guess what did you think airtags were? They emit out a uuid and other iOS devices will process it in the background to let the owner know where they are, but not random users.

I think in terms of actual security risks it’s not worse then anything else you have. If it’s only in your house then you never need to worry about it pinging another users iOS device.

It's not only in my house, I carry it everywhere. I just don't lose it except in my house.

I think the high majority of lost items intended for airtags is when they are lost in home. That’s the most common use case and what airtags are designed to be very effective to handle. But there’s the less common, but much worse outcome of losing something away from home. Airtags then provide a marginally better way of finding your items.

The privacy concerns feel so overblown.

" track down where I left it in my house, using some kind of local wireless transmission"

it does exactly that https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/ipha779f0c10/io...

But it doesn't do only that and I want something that does only that. I don't see why this is so hard for people here to wrap their head around.

That is the only thing what it does.

Except it does "only" local wireless transmission with _every_ iPhone, not just yours. It's exactly what Tile does, except just built into the OS.

I'm going to give up after one last try: I want something that only communicates with my phone with nothing contacting Apple.

People keep telling me "well yeah it only does that, except also this other stuff," right after I explicitly say I don't want that other stuff. This is the weirdest HN discussion I've had all year.

Maybe you can stick an Estimote UWB beacon on the back and build something yourself?

You probably won't lose your Kindle then, but not for technical reasons.

I put mine on a specific bookshelf when I'm done reading. Sometimes habits are more reliable and more practical than technology.

This is literally what AirTags are.

It's literally the opposite, if it can be tracked by the owner because it contacted another device miles away. I want a local ping to my own phone, nothing else.

The product does both.

Tile?

Just checked their website and they do collect information centrally, by having everyone with the app notice any nearby Tile. I don't want that, I want to find it with my own phone or not at all.