I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress

Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by pugworthy on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:13PM (#27122242)

I have bought 2 for our outside cats. I call them in every night around Midnight so they aren't out all night, and I want to use the tags to know if they are nearby. The challenge has been coming up with a good collar attachment that isn't too bulky. You can get away with a bit bulkier on a dog, but not on a cat.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by geoelectric on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:26PM (#27122383)

Yes, I was using a bluetooth based tracker I found on Amazon, but the slightly clunky medallion ended up leading to issues with her being able to clean her own chest, and she got tangles under it. It can be a real issue.

So I've also been looking for a way to use an airtag unobtrusively. My cat isn't outdoors, but I have a big house and she's very old and likes to hide. I'm afraid someday she'll be sick or worse and I won't be able to find her, so something like this would make me feel a lot better.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by pugworthy on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:55PM (#27122726)

I have a bunch of leather for various projects, and am thinking of just sewing up a tiny pouch that can tie the tag "flush" on the collar. Tried a few 3D printed case ideas, but they just add more bulk.

Worst case if it falls off the caller is you just go find it (and come up with a better system).

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by selectodude on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:37PM (#27122504)

I just used some tape and wrapped it around the collar and the airtag.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by goldenkey on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @06:19PM (#27124320)

Heavy duty gorilla tape. It's lightweight and even waterproof.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by pugworthy on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:53PM (#27122695)

Simple solution!

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by selectodude on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:57PM (#27122749)

It's one I'm happy with, though it's not all that elegant. Just spent $50 on a collar with a space for an airtag because I'm a single man with too much disposable income :|

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by spideymans on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @06:58PM (#27124683)

Heck, I'd love a less bulky AirTag attachment for humans as well. My AirTag key ring is by far the biggest thing on my keychain (even bigger than my car keys), and it's so stiff that it often gets caught on other things on my pocket when I'm pulling my keys out. That never used to happen before.

This is probably the one aspect where Tile has been superior (for my use case). I never noticed the bulk of the Tile tracker on my keyring.

I'm keeping an eye out for less bulky attachments online. Everything I've seen so far emulates Apple's bulky keyring design.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by eigen on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @09:37PM (#27125712)

Looks like Airtag [1] is 31.9⌀x8 (6,393.8 mm3). the Tile Mate with removable battery is 35x35x6.2 (7,595 mm3) and Tile Sticker is 27⌀x7.3 (4,179.6 mm3). do you stick it to your keyring or use the larger Mate with hole on the keyring?

[1] https://support.apple.com/kb/SP840?viewlocale=en_US&locale=e...

[2] https://www.thetileapp.com/en-us/store/tiles/mate

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by boatmansloth on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @08:47PM (#27125410)

I had the same problem, changing the 'keyring' bit to a smaller one I had laying around helped a lot but it is still bulky.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by ghaff on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:39PM (#27122531)

I suppose the answer is "Apple minimalism" but I wondered a bit why the tags don't have a tab with a small hole sticking out. It seems it would be easier (and cheaper) to come up with ways to attach to things. (Though I suppose it would also be more fragile than what they did for attaching to keychains.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by allenu on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:51PM (#27122676)

I think you’re on the right track about it being more fragile with a hole. Probably with wear and tear over time it might break apart. Much easier for Apple to “outsource” responsibility of attaching it to things and dealing with durability concerns.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by amelius on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:57PM (#27122752)

A few days ago on HN there was a video of someone drilling a hole in an airtag at precisely the right location.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by ghaff on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @04:27PM (#27123065)

Interesting! TBF, attaching to a keyring is the only obvious use case where I'd really need something like that and I've already ordered one of the (cheap) attach to keychain accessories. But love how people figure out this sort of thing.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by ttyprintk on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @09:31PM (#27125681)

I believe the Chipolo edition has a hole. Anyone know performance differences between Find My Chipolo versus AirTag?

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by andrewmunsell on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:17PM (#27122285)

This is where I'm wondering if 3rd party MFI accessories could come into play. I'd love to see a smaller version for cases like this (maybe without the U1, with a smaller battery) that still work on the Find My network.

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by novok on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @05:01PM (#27123468)

The tagvault seems fairly light and it protects the airtag more, which is important for outdoor animals:

https://www.elevationlab.com/products/tagvault

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by hadlock on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @09:19PM (#27125610)

This looks like an ideal use-case for a 3D printer

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by djitz on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @03:39PM (#27122535)

The belkin holders are the smallest I’ve seen, but I don’t believe they’re in stock anywhere :\

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by megablast on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @07:36PM (#27124969)

Does it help you track how many birds and small wildlife your cats kill each day?

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Re:I mailed an AirTag and tracked its progress by mahogany on Tuesday May 11, 2021 @09:20PM (#27125615)

Is contributing to overfishing and factory farming to make kibble that much better for wildlife?

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