Is the Find My Device Network Holding Back the Arrival of an ‘AirTag for Android’?
Item trackers for smartphones are not a new concept, but Apple changed the game with its AirTag by creating a network of all its devices to find the tracker. Finally, Android has the same functionality and hardware, but the Find My Device network seems to be lagging behind.
Google rolled out the Find My Device network for Android on April 8, starting in the US and Canada before expanding globally. However, it’s still not available to all users. A recent poll of 9to5Google readers showed that around half of users had the network active on their devices, with higher adoption rates in the US and Canada compared to the rest of the world.
The network’s slow rollout has limited its usefulness, especially since it defaults to working only in high-traffic areas. This setting restricts the benefits of the network to a limited number of users, making local connections slow and unreliable. Additionally, some Samsung Galaxy devices automatically disable apps that haven’t been used recently, potentially affecting the Find My Device network’s performance.
Despite these challenges, the Find My Device network has the potential to improve over time with more hardware options and UWB support. As more trackers are released and the network expands, its effectiveness may increase.
In other news, Samsung leaks continue as the Unpacked event approaches, revealing details about new foldables and watches. Additionally, the latest chips from Intel and AMD are taking on the Snapdragon X Elite in terms of AI performance, promising exciting developments for Windows laptops in 2024.
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