A pair of AirTag failures

So, after buying my wife Airtags to replace her aging Tiles, I started using a couple myself. Thankfully, I never needed them to find anything – not just because I hadn’t lost anything, but because, when I finally tried to use Airtag features, I discovered their true value. For me, that proved to be … nothing.

Perhaps someone here has experienced same, and found a solution.

Bad experience No. 1: I put an Airtag in one of my camera bags – the one we take on vacations, which seemed the most likely to be lost. Two weeks ago, I got a notice that the battery was dying. After struggling to open it, I replaced the battery. Brand new one. In a sealed packaged. Aaaand, it’s still telling me the battery is dying.

Bad experience No. 2: I had an Airtag keyfob on my keyring. Seemed smart. Still have the keys – but the Airtag fell off. Well, should be easy to find, right? Wrong! Find My insists the Airtag is at my office. Tells me here and there that I’m in range (which, apparently, is about 4 feet, which I also find less than satisfying). Tells me it’s playing a sound (neither I nor others hear it). Tells me I’m right on top of it. Nope – no Airtag. So, in my eyes, it can’t even find itself!

Seems to me there’s something wrong when I can use an Airtag to stalk someone, but can’t use one to find something right under my nose.

2 Likes

I got my first Airtag the day they came out here in the UK. About 2 months back I got that message that the battery was low so I replaced it.
Message said battery is low! New Battery, Energiser.

Put the original back in.
Now it says battery is about half done!
So today, still on the original battery, says its about two thirds full!
Modern technology is baffling.

PS I can hear it when it plays a sound. Like little fairy wind-chimes.

1 Like

I can try a different battery in the Airtag that got the replacement, but I tossed the old one assuming, as the Airtag indicated, it was bad.

I’ve heard the sound; I do know what to listen for. In this case, the phone app says it’s playing but it’s not audible anywhere nearby.

1 Like

Well, I guess it’s a case of YMMV. I have two, purchased just about a year ago. Just tested, both working as expected. It is odd that one says it has a full battery, and the other about 1/3.

AirTags are all receiving a firmware update to v1.0.301 between now and May 13, so perhaps it has a fix for this.

2 Likes