Apple debuts a cool new way to help airlines find your missing bag
Apple is giving travelers another reason to pack an AirTag in their checked bag.
The tech giant announced on Monday that it will enable a new feature, dubbed Share Item Location, for AirTags and other accessories that are connected to the Find My network. This feature will allow travelers to share the location of an item with a third party, including airlines.
You'll be able to share a link to a missing AirTag by clicking through the Find My app on your Apple device. Recipients of the link will be able to view "a website that shows a location of the item on an interactive map. The website will automatically update when a new location is available and will show a timestamp of the most recent update," says Apple.
The use case for travel is pretty compelling. If you pack an AirTag in your checked bag, you'll be able to temporarily share the location of your mishandled or delayed bag with an airline to help speed up the process of finding the bag.
Armed with additional location information, it should make it easier for airlines to reunite missing bags with their respective owners.
Share Item Location is currently being tested on Apple devices running the public beta iOS 18.2. In the coming weeks, this updated software will be available for free for all users with an iPhone XS and later.
To protect your privacy, Share Item Location will be disabled as soon as you're reunited with your missing item or after seven days have elapsed, whichever comes sooner. You can also disable Share Item Location from the Find My app at any time. Note that location information is end-to-end encrypted, meaning that Apple and Find My accessory manufacturers can't access a device's location or information.
Apple is initially partnering directly with 15 airlines on this integration, with the full list available below. Apple says that access to each Find My link will be limited to "a small number of people, and recipients will be required to authenticate to view the link through either an Apple Account or a partner email address" — another measure to boost privacy.
- Aer Lingus
- Air Canada
- Air New Zealand
- Austrian Airlines
- British Airways
- Brussels Airlines
- Delta Air Lines
- Eurowings
- Iberia
- KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Qantas
- Singapore Airlines
- Swiss International Air Lines
- Turkish Airlines
- United
- Virgin Atlantic
- Vueling
More airlines will be added over time, according to Apple.
"The Find My network and AirTag have proven to be a powerful combination for users while traveling, providing invaluable location information when bags have been misplaced or mishandled. With Share Item Location, we're excited to give users a new way to easily share this information directly with third parties like airlines, all while protecting their privacy," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of services, in a statement.
To further boost support for this new feature, Apple is in talks with airline baggage tracking technology provider SITA to build support for Share Item Location into WorldTracer (the software solution used by over 500 airlines across more than 2,800 worldwide airports to help find missing and mishandled bags).
"We know many of our customers are already traveling with AirTag in their checked bags, and this feature will soon make it easier for them to share location information with us safely and securely, helping our customer service agents work more efficiently and giving our customers added peace of mind. We plan to accept Find My item locations in select airports initially, with the goal of introducing the service systemwide in early 2025," said David Kinzelman, United's chief customer officer, in a statement.
AirTags retail for about $19 a pop or about $70 for a four-pack. They make a great holiday gift and are a must-have for travelers. But better yet, they often go on sale -- and right now, they are at the lowest prices we've seen in a long time.
For more about Apple's AirTags, be sure to check out TPG's guide to using them.
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