{"id":631087,"date":"2026-04-27T03:27:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T03:27:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/631087\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T03:27:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T03:27:43","slug":"dont-trust-androids-airtag-alternatives-before-google-fixes-these-5-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/631087\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t trust Android’s AirTag alternatives before Google fixes these 5 issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bluetooth<\/p>\n

Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s Find Hub network and AirTag alternative trackers<\/a> have been out for nearly two years now, and a lot has happened in this time. What started as a weak network with many bugs, inconsistencies, and unreliability issues is now a more solid, widespread, and reliable way to find your trackers \u2014 as well as your phone, buds, or smartwatch \u2014 nearly anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n

However, Google\u2019s network and trackers are still lagging behind the competition from Apple, Samsung, and Tile in a few key areas. I\u2019ve been testing and comparing these trackers long enough that all of their shortcomings have become very clear. Here are six areas where Google should focus its efforts to make its network and trackers the best out there, and the most trustworthy.<\/p>\n

What needs urgent fixing with Google’s Find Hub network and\/or trackers?<\/p>\n

154 votes<\/p>\n

Offline Bluetooth-only finding for nearby trackers<\/p>\n

23%<\/p>\n

More UWB options, or proper Bluetooth 6.0 support<\/p>\n

40%<\/p>\n

Left-behind alerts<\/p>\n

16%<\/p>\n

Better way to track a moving tracker<\/p>\n

10%<\/p>\n

Reverse phone finding<\/p>\n

4%<\/p>\n

Location history<\/p>\n

8%<\/p>\n

A Bluetooth tracker should work over Bluetooth. Period.<\/p>\n

\"google<\/p>\n

Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

OK, look, I know this sounds obvious to you and me. But it ain\u2019t obvious to Google. For some mindboggling mystery that historians will still be talking about in 2080, Google\u2019s Find Hub network does not work if you\u2019re in an area with a weak signal or completely offline. You get a \u201cCouldn\u2019t load devices\u201d error, and that\u2019s it. While I understand this limitation for finding lost devices and trackers at a distance (duh), I do not understand why the network doesn\u2019t flip over to just Bluetooth to locate nearby items.<\/p>\n

So, here we have a bunch of Bluetooth trackers that simply can not be located over Bluetooth. Yup. You read that right. If your tracker is in the luggage hold of a train and you\u2019re on an iffy connection, you can\u2019t check whether the bag is still there. If you lose an item while hiking in a remote area, you can\u2019t retrace your steps and ping your tracker til you find it. If you\u2019ve just landed in a foreign country and don\u2019t have a compatible SIM yet and want to check whether your luggage is nearby, you can\u2019t. Even at home, if you happen to disconnect for a bit, your wallet, keys, or other items are not findable.<\/p>\n

\"BluetoothApple AirTag airplane mode\"bluetoothSamsung Galaxy SmartTag2 offline nearby finding\"bluetoothTile Pro offline<\/p>\n

And in case you\u2019re wondering, Apple, Tile, and Samsung have all figured out a way to make their trackers findable offline over Bluetooth.\u00a0This was unforgivable in 2024. It\u2019s a tragedy in 2026. Fix it, Google. Yesterday.<\/p>\n

UWB, or at least Bluetooth 6.0\n<\/p>\n

\"samsungSmartTag 2 nearby find\"appleAirTag nearby find\"motoMoto Tag nearby find<\/p>\n

Ultra-wideband<\/a> is the technology that makes it possible to locate a nearby tracker with precision. Instead of getting a simple sign that your tracker is near, you see the exact distance and direction it\u2019s in, which makes it easier to locate a lost tracker in challenging conditions, whether it\u2019s between the couch cushions or in a big shrub. Right now, though, only one tracker supports UWB on Google\u2019s Find Hub \u2014 the Moto Tag. The others don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

From what I understand, all the other trackers are choosing to support both Apple\u2019s Find My and Google\u2019s Find Hub, and the UWB implementation between both networks isn\u2019t compatible. So they\u2019re choosing to skip UWB in favor of a universal product that appeals to more people. Google can circumvent this relatively easily, though.<\/p>\n

Trackers like the Chipolo POP<\/a>, CARD, and LOOP pack in Bluetooth 6.0<\/a> with Channel Sounding, which can potentially be used for more accurate distance measurement between phones and the tag. Channel Sounding can tell you exactly how far the tracker is with more accuracy than current trackers, but it doesn\u2019t do directions. I suppose once you move a bit and see the distance increase or decrease, you\u2019ll be able to deduce the right direction to move in. Either way, it\u2019s better than nothing, and Google should just implement it in the Find Hub API already. The trackers are here, Android 15 added support for Bluetooth 6.0<\/a>, so the stars are aligned for this to fill in the confusing gap of UWB.<\/p>\n

Left-behind alerts are a must<\/p>\n

\"chipolo<\/p>\n

Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

A reliable tracker shouldn\u2019t just let you find an item once you lose it; it should prevent you from losing it in the first place, as much as possible. That\u2019s where something like a left-behind alert comes into play. When your phone walks away from a tracker, you get an instant notification reminding you to go get it. It\u2019s excellent for wallets, keys, bags, and backpacks, and anyone with even a whiff of a forgetful tendency.<\/p>\n

\"Screenshot\"Left behind AirTag alert at 9:47 AM\"bluetoothLeft behind Samsung Galaxy SmartTag2 alert at 9:45 AM\"bluetoothLeft behind Tile Pro alert at 9:46 AM<\/p>\n

Apple, Samsung, and Tile all offer these notifications as part of their default experience. Even third-party trackers on Apple\u2019s Find My can add it because it\u2019s part of the API. Not on Google\u2019s Find Hub, though. It isn\u2019t part of the spec yet, so tracker makers have had to use their own apps to add the functionality. Chipolo, for example, asks you to download its own app on top of Find Hub to get these left-behind alerts, which requires giving the app a bunch of permissions and letting it run in the background at all times.<\/p>\n

The whole point of centralizing these trackers was to avoid unnecessary apps with extra permissions, but by skipping this feature, Google is forcing us to go back to the old way of doing things. It should be an easy fix, and by adding it to the API, Google remains in control of the location data and battery use through Find Hub. Plus, all trackers from all brands benefit, not just those who have the resources to implement this feature.<\/p>\n

Tracking a moving tracker shouldn\u2019t be this hard\n<\/p>\n

\"googleFind Hub’s default map view – Only current device\"googleFind Hub’s map view after checking several trackers\"bluetoothStatic Maps directions to the last-seen Pebblebee location<\/p>\n

When Find Hub first launched, Google had missed a very important step of tracking objects: your current location in relation to the lost or misplaced item. I spent months wondering why I couldn\u2019t see both my own location and where the tracker was on the map to orient myself, but this has been fixed since then.<\/p>\n

There are, however, many other missing bits still. I don\u2019t like that the default Find Hub map doesn\u2019t show any item\u2019s location. I have to tap on each device, accessory, or tracker once, then go back to the main map to see them appear on the main map. That\u2019s a waste of time. Trackers and devices should appear on the map from the get-go.<\/p>\n

The other failure point of these trackers is that the only way to navigate to them is through Maps, which \u2014 by design \u2014 takes their position at that particular moment and sticks to it. There\u2019s no way to know if the tracker has moved in the meantime or to live-update the directions as it does. The directions are static. So if someone steals your bag and runs away, you have to keep hopping between Maps and Find Hub to get an updated direction and updated directions. To be fair, no other competitor has solved this riddle yet, but if there\u2019s a company that should be able to make the proper link between trackers and changing map locations, it should be Google.<\/p>\n

Reverse phone finding is another essential<\/p>\n

\"chipolo<\/p>\n

Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

In the same register as left-behind alerts, there\u2019s the extra functionality of using your tracker\u2019s button to find and ring your phone. It just makes sense: You have two objects that are linked, so why can you only find one, but not the other way around? Imagine you misplace your phone at home or drop it on a plane \u2014 why can\u2019t you just simply ring it?<\/p>\n

Samsung and Tile already offer the function for their trackers, whereas Android-compatible brands like Chipolo, Pebblebee, and Motorola had to once again resort to their own apps to implement it. You will need to have another app installed and given permission to ring your phone to benefit from the feature. Otherwise, no dice. This should be relatively easy to add to the official Find Hub spec and API, dear Google.<\/p>\n

Bonus: Location history would be a very nice perk<\/p>\n

\"samsungSmartTag 2 location history\"samsungMore SmartTag 2 location history<\/p>\n

The previous five features are, in my opinion, essential in making Google\u2019s Find Hub network and its trackers more reliable, more easily recommendable, and more on par with their competition across all features and capabilities. But there\u2019s one extra I\u2019d still love to see Google implement: location history.<\/p>\n

Samsung and Tile already do this. They let you see the last 24 hours or so of the tracker\u2019s movement to see where it\u2019s been, which can be helpful in tracking any pattern or important information to recover a lost wallet, backpack, or luggage. I understand that there are privacy concerns around this kind of feature, but anyone with nefarious intent can already manually open Find Hub every hour or so, and manually note its location. It\u2019s not like location history provides invisible information.<\/p>\n

Plus, I think Google should be able to implement it in a less problematic way. It could require that the tracker be marked as lost before location tracking is enabled, for example, or automatically delete any location history each time the tracker comes back within range of your device. That should limit abuse, and it would be an excellent addition to Find Hub\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a> (Note: Add this at the end if the article is too long and has enough room to put the disclaimer in the middle and the newsletter widget at the end; otherwise, keep the disclosure box at the end.)<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rita El Khoury \/ Android Authority Google\u2019s Find Hub network and AirTag alternative trackers have been out for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97879,99198,45,49,48,44653,192],"class_list":["post-631087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-apple-airtag","tag-bluetooth-trackers","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-find-hub","tag-google"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}