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Using AirTags or Tile to Track an Elderly Parent's or Spouse's Location and Keep Them Safe
The Problem
Have you ever wished you could locate your misplaced (or stolen) keys, luggage, pets, car, bicycle, and more? Are you concerned about your children’s safety, or an elderly parent or spouse wandering off?
If you also have an iPhone or Android smartphone, I suggest you consider trying some “Bluetooth trackers.” These small, inexpensive (currently $10 to $50), portable, battery-powered devices can help find your missing items (or people, regardless of whether they carry a smartphone), but they also have many pros and cons.
As of this writing, AirTags (from Apple), Tile (from Tile Inc., acquired by Life360 in 2021), and SmartTag (from Samsung) are very popular Bluetooth trackers, among others. They are available in different sizes and shapes and have a variety of features.
Read on for my advice on the basic features and trade-offs. You can also find more detailed information online.
How does a Bluetooth tracker work?
An iPhone or Android smartphone uses a sophisticated combination of information from GPS satellites, the cell phone network, and nearby Wifi networks to calculate its location.
After buying a Bluetooth tracker, you prepare it for use by first creating an account (for AirTags you would simply use your existing Apple account), and then “adding” the tracker to that account using your smartphone. You can then add additional trackers to that same account if needed.
Then, every few minutes your Bluetooth tracker sends out a radio beacon in an attempt to find a nearby smartphone or tablet. If that works, that smartphone in turn reports its location to the tracker company’s server (Apple, Tile, etc.) without revealing any information about you to the owner of that smartphone. The location of that tracker then becomes visible to you in your account. If your tracker is any distance away from you, that smartphone will likely be a stranger’s, not yours.
There are a number of conditions that are required for this to work:
- The tracker’s battery has to have enough of a charge to operate.
- A smartphone has to be close enough to detect the tracker’s beacon, which can be anywhere from 30 to 500 feet, depending various factors.
- The smartphone has to have Bluetooth turned on, and be able to calculate its own location.
- AirTags are only detected by modern iPhones and iPads, no extra software is needed.
- Tile trackers can be detected by iPhones and Androids, but only if they have the Tile app installed.
- SmartTag trackers are only detected by Samsung Galaxy phones.
Things to consider before purchase
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Your goal: What is the problem you’re trying to solve? What features do you need?
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Purchase cost: You can lower the cost per tracker if you buy multiple units together, especially if you expect that some of them will get lost permanently or you want to have spares for other reasons.
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Premium subscription cost: Some trackers offer additional features if you subscribe to a premium plan.
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Size of network: Bluetooth trackers work best in densely populated areas where people carrying smartphones are more likely to be nearby or passing by, for example in urban vs. rural areas.
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Battery type: The 3 most common types are replaceable, rechargeable, and ones that cannot be replaced nor recharged. For the latter, don’t buy them until you’re ready to use them. For ones with replaceable batteries (CR2032 button or coin batteries are common), if you’re not planning on using them right away, take the batteries out to extend their lifespan.
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Battery life: This determines how often you may need to replace the battery, recharge it, or replace the tracker. Trackers don’t typically have on/off switches, so they run continuously.
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Range: How far can your tracker be from the nearest smartphone and still be detected?
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Reporting time: How long does it take for the tracker to report its current location--Seconds? Minutes? Hours?
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Location accuracy: How accurately can the tracker report its location? How frequently? Compared to tracking the location of a smartphone, Bluetooth trackers are not as precise, and given the time between the reports of their location, they may not do as well in an emergency or when the tracker is moving rapidly.
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Size and shape: Some trackers are round and thicker, others are rectangular and thinner. Some have a hole for a key ring or lanyard, others are designed to fit in a wallet or stick to a flat surface.
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Sound: Some trackers can emit a sound, which you can trigger to locate them if they’re nearby. Others can emit a sound if they get moved too far away from your smartphone, others when they get closer.
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Button: Some trackers have a button you can press to trigger certain actions, for example, to make your smartphone emit a sound, which turns the tracker into a “phone finder.”
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Accessories: There are a wide variety of cases and holders, especially for AirTags, which don’t have holes for key rings.
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Monitoring: Can you only monitor the tracker’s location using a smartphone, or can you also use a computer?
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Sharing: Can multiple people monitor the same tracker’s location, each using their own smartphone?
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Test carefully: I recommend that you test any tracker before relying on it. You might find that it works well for your purpose, or it might perform poorly.
Additional things to consider if you’re thinking about tracking a person
You may be considering using this technology to track an elderly family member or your children. If you want to track a loved one for their safety, consider the following issues:
- Do you want them to know that you’re tracking them, or would it be less upsetting not to tell them?
- Is it legal in your state to track their location without their knowledge? Your local laws may prohibit this in general, but they may also have exceptions for parents, guardians, employers, etc.
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Where will you place the tracker--On their key ring? In their purse or backpack or coat? What if they leave the house without any of those things? What if they misplace those things, or drop them on the sidewalk?
If that loved one lives alone and may wander off at any time, carrying nothing that can be tracked, you might instead consider setting up security cameras in their residence that monitor the doors that lead outside, and then configure them to send you proximity alerts (motion detection) if they appear to be leaving. “Doorbell cameras” might also work for this purpose. You may then have to deal with false alarms.
Thieves and stalkers
A growing number of malicious people are using trackers to follow people without their knowledge and consent. Some smartphones and tracker apps now have anti-stalking features that can, for example, alert you if they detect a nearby tracker that is not one of yours.
However, such a live warning might not be cause for concern. The detected tracker might simply be one of your own spares that you haven’t set up yet, or it may be attached to something that you’ve borrowed, or if you’re traveling with a friend who put a tracker on one of the items that they’re carrying.
GPS Trackers
If a Bluetooth tracker is not accurate enough for your needs, consider these alternatives:
- If your goal is to track a person’s location and they reliably carry a smartphone, then you could simply track its location using “Find My” for an iPhone or “Find My Device” for an Android. Note that (with access to the right Apple or Google account, and some preparation and practice in advance) you can track the location of an iPhone or an Android using an iPhone, an Android, or a computer.
- To track expensive items (or important people) you could buy a GPS Tracker, which will probably also require an ongoing monthly subscription. GPS Trackers for cars are very popular.
Where to go from here
In the following, replace “X” with the brand name of the tracker that you’re interested in, e.g., AirTag, Tile, SmartTag, etc.
- google: AirTag Tile review OR compare
- google: X tracker models
- google: X tracker subscription
- google: X child OR elderly
- google: Bluetooth tracker stalking
- google: track iphone location with android OR computer
- google: track android location with iphone OR computer
- google: location tracking legal
- google: GPS Tracker
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