DON’T BE FOOLED - WORTHLESS BIKE SECURITY: Why Apple AirTags Won't Help Find Your Stolen Bike!
Last year I had two bikes stolen. Many viewers commented that they hide an Apple AirTag on their bike so they could locate it if stolen. Sadly, the Air Tag has been crippled by Apple to not work for locate a stolen items and in most cases it might actually benefit the bike thief!
Do you use an Apple Air Tag on your bike and/or did you know about the removal of the tracking function for the device? Comment Below!
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You can easily open the air tag up and remove the speaker unit. Yes, it will still show up on the thief's phone but it won't make a sound anymore, which at least makes it a bit longer for them to pinpoint where it is. What I like it for is that it can alert when the air tag moves out of bluetooth range so that if you park it outside a coffee shop, you can at least know if someone is taking your bike that minute. Other than that, it's not really a good way to guarantee finding something stolen. Like any security solutions, it's better to have more than 1. Use an air tag, use bike locks, use a movement sensor alarm etc.
@@niteblaster1 That's thinking ahead!
assuming the thief is an iphone user.
@maxheadroom1506 just has to be within 30 feet of an apple user. Eventually it'll update
The point I was making is the thief and accomplice needs to be an iphone user to be notified by their iphone of an airtag presence otherwise they will not know that an airtag with a disabled speaker is with them.@@PaulWeezy50
Not if they find it and scrape it out of the frame and crush it with a ball pein hamner , disabling the speaker and battery . Having it in the frame can be problematic when the battery needs changing .
I work in law enforcement and airtags work great as antitheft devices. Sure if your bike is stolen in the middle of the night and you give the crook a 12 hour head start they will find it, but with a 10 minute head start you may have time to track them down before they figure it out. I recommend using a samsung galaxy tag as well to double your chances, also if you imbed them in the frame they will not be able to get it out, have to make it difficult to remove and find. To claim they are "worthless" is sad.
Ha, Police rarely find stolen bikes. In my 50 plus years as a rider I've had 5 stolen. Last one had a airtag. Useless device for security.
@@michaelmartin2276 Your case was useless but its a huge help for the majority. You seem negligent if you have had 5 stolen bikes.
@@FriarPop No need to be a jerk. Fact is as a a rider for over 50 years and being a very active rider who took every available precautions thief's will still steal. Face it law enforcement officers would rather be harassing homeless, commiting crime or killing innocent people. Sure there are plenty of good cops. But then you are likely not part of that group since you seem to want to make the theft of my bikes something other than the fault of thieves.
@@michaelmartin2276 ah the good old im a victim card , blame the cops instead of the criminals card lol.
@@FriarPop Showing respect and empathy for others who have been victimized no matter if it's from a bike theft or family of a murder victim is part of being a cop. Actually I sincerely feel sorry for you.
I’m sure you know there’s a way to remove a speaker from an AirTag. Also very good chance that a bike thief wouldn’t own an Apple product that would let them know that they are being tracked. Helped me recovere my precious Cannondale track last week.
ah--- lots of people use Apple iPhones... even thieves. There is a VERY GOOD CHANCE you are clueless.
@@lynskyrdit’s true most thieves I’ve met are android users
it found our stolen luggage - 1 man arrested, we got everything back except a hairbrush
It’s a win right?
@@BlackBeardedDuck huge win
Apple just doesn’t want to get sued for helping stalkers.
Exactly I don’t think you can blame Apple. Stalking is serious matter, they were under pressure to notify users if they were being tracked.
stalkers can be identified via apple id if the tracker is found speaker or no speaker. Once you are alerted to a tracker you will be able to find the airtag and then identify the stalker.
1 trillion dollar company scared of stalking, but they'll happily bend over backwards when selling your data 😂
@@_Circus_Clapped_ I think you’re confusing Apple with android.
@@gtc4692 android is an operating system like IOS. it's the manufacturers that sell the data, huawei, samsung, etc
Astute video. Your viewers might want to know about Project 529, aka, 'National Bike Registry'. ...but yea, that only works if the thief sells the bike to an establishment that knows to check the registry. In some jurisdictions, pawn shops are required to report certain things to the local police.
Happy new year Kev! Another epic vid - recently these hidden/integrated Airtag trackers are going around, being said to track your bike for when it gets stolen. I know how Airtags work, for the most part, but thanks for shining a light on this subject for the masses! Will you be doing a vid on why you won't buy the Huffy Crassus, other then that turn-off price? I'm low-key curious how it rides Cheers! This is to another great year of bikes 🤘
I might make a quick reason video on the Crassus. Happy new year
@@KevCentral Cool! I'm also considering a Giant Talon 2 with an air fork upgrade; any thoughts on the Talon 2??
Giant makes good bikes. I always suggest buying the best bike you can afford to get
There are videos on how to remove the speaker off the airtag so it doesn’t make the sound, also there are way better mounts that can’t easily be removed or spotted by the thieves, like one that places the airtag inside the steer tube and you have to remove the front tire to reach it.
Installed one in my GoTrax electric scooter. Has to be disassembled basically to the point that it won’t operate properly in order to get the tag out. Pretty good chance I’ll find the scooter before they find the AirTag.
As a matter of fact I have not one but 2 airtags within my car that would take a thief a lot of different specific tools to locate. It’s not magnetically connected it’s connected by double sided tape. I have no doubt it will be useful. It’s likely overkill since I’ve also installed an anti theft tool that allows me to turn off the throttle response every time I leave my car and lock it. So even if they were able to get the rfid code from my key fob and make a new key, they could get in the car turn it on.. put it into drive and floor it.. the car wouldn’t move and the engine wouldn’t rev.
i put 6 airtag inside my bicycle ^_^
Around 5 months ago I was looking for track devices, and this come to my mind but yes, it is for lost items not for tracking stolen things. I read the manual and I didn´t buy it. The good ones need a sim card and needs coverage and a year suscription some of them for the service. They are a bit bulky to insert in the seat post or inside the frame and need rechage batteries so you cannot insert inside the frame if you cannot take out. Not easy, and not cheap.
When my bike goes missing, I just want it back. Even with its flaws, which a thief might eventually notice, it still represents my best chance of finding and retrieving it. I don't agree that it's worthless.
Thank you for the video. I was thinking about doing this but because of your video I will be looking for alternatives because even if the chime is disabled, the suspect will still be notified in their phone that there is an AirTag following them then they’ll look for it.
Same. Abandoned my Apple order
Here is a followup video with more info: AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
Yeah. I was even thinking to get my first iPhone because of the Airtags ... but seems after the update they are just useless against theft.
is there a way to mute the sound and does it have an app that shows where the bike is if your over a km away? or do u just try to follow the sound cuz if that's the case then this device is only good if u lose your keys in your room because there's no way you'll hear the sound if your far away.
Happy new year Kevin. I don’t think the air tag is designed for security. Helping others understand the difference is good of you.
It is designed for security, and locating your stuff. That is the whole point. They should probably protect against stalking, but they only care if the stalkee has an iphone.
I don't lock my bike to something and walk away, so I don't worry about that kind of theft. If I go into a coffee shop, it goes in with me. If they won't allow it, I find another coffee shop. I agree with you about the alert feature that shows thieves there's a tag on the bike. We should have the option to toggle that off. I think most of us are far more likely to have a bike stolen than to be stalked by anyone. But at least the tracker gives us a chance to find our bikes. After all, few thieves are the brightest bulbs in the box. Many are opportunists, just mindless drones that work for a bike theft ring. Where I live armed bike robberies are a growing problem. In that instance, given the right circumstances, at least an Air Tag could buy you a little time to chase down the bike before they have the chance to look for and find a tag.
and if you have to buy groceries? unless you mount panniers and bags to your bike and use it as a shopping cart. but yeah id only park it somewhere out of sight for short stops (like 15 min) but i use a blackstone 10mm chain lock with a 130db alarm, plus i have a litelok X1. im honestly more worried about getting robbed at knife/gun point while im stopped somewhere at a light or something, or ran off the road from behind and robbed
While it doesn’t solve both issues, there is a way to open the AirTag up and remove the chime. I’ve seen various videos showing how to do it. And I’ve seen quite a few people get inserts for AirTags that go into the area under star nut in fork. Makes it harder to find but would still lead them to the bike.
They would still get notifications on the phone. Plus, you wouldn’t be able to track it once they arrive at their home 😤
I guess you could crack the tag open and just snip the wires for the speaker...but the tag is still not helpful, as you said
I think the fact it alerts someone who is probably stealing it defeats using it for theft prevention. Even if cutting the beeper worked to remove the audio alert, it sucks you'd have to risk your investment in the device. That alone makes it not fit for this intended purpose.
@@KevCentral that's only true if they use an iPhone. Some location info is better than none.
Notification would only work on an iPhone, correct. But you still wouldn’t be able to see where it went
Apparently it takes 8-24hrs before the 'thief' is alerted so that's your window to find your lost item.
AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
Kevin, you can open up the airtag and remove the chime. So even if they know the airtag there, they can't find it since there no sound coming out of it when they play the chime.
If they have an iPhone they would receive a notification that an AirTag is present. It wouldn’t take them long to find it. There are only so many places to hide something on a bike. Plus, Apple will quit reporting the location to the rightful owner, so they don’t have much to worry about if they can get it home 🙃
@@KevCentral once they get it home, even if they find it and remove, you will know right where they live since its been pinged by criminals phone, then you just send the cops and its yours again.
Thank you for the heads up.
Kevin finally gets to the point @5:05
Thanks. Jesus I just can't listen to this guy for some reason, he talks too much.
Some airtag cases have proprietary screws that should bide you time to find your bike. There also mounts that's designed to be hidden. It is useful and its better than nothing. Your bike will be stolen regardless, might as well give yourself a chance to recover it.
I’m big fan of Apple AirTags. Hadn’t have my bike stolen thankfully. But had a bag missing. At the airport they told me that they had to check in my carry on donde the flight was full. We landed and my bag never showed up. In the find me it showed up like it was back there I even got updates every half an hour. Told the guys from the airline and they told me that the bag was missing and lost and handed some paperwork. Probably the AirTag was worth more than the bag itself just had some old cloths and the smart idea would have taken the money. Insisted that I could see the bag in my app, that it seemed to be back there, somewhat reluctantly they went there looking for a duffel bag with an “Italian flag” it was a Mexican but the eagle was erased a long time ago They found it in about 20 minutes. In my bike and cars I put a drop of supper glue inside the AirTag speaker so it won’t make noise. It was also a game changer for my wife that has lost her keys a dozen times, I just wish tv controls had an easy way to put one too
The sad thing is that had someone taken the bag it would have told them an AirTag was inside and eventually block your ability to track it 🙁
Ken I just bought a Griffen Vulcan BNC TT bike was wondering what you think of them. 👍😊
Not familiar with them. Congrats on the new bike
Also have a Schwinn AL COMP with the micro shift.. and a trek 1500 road bike.
The Griffen lists new in 2002 over 6000.00.$$
btw people hide these in carbon fiber frames and you can disable the speaker. A thief if they happen to have an iphone vs android 50% chance will get notified yes but not knowing where to look will probably ditch the bike vs try to find the airtag. And you will have heads up your bike has gone out of range. So these things are still very useful and are another level of security.
I think it's been this way since quite early on - and they've always been for lost rather than stolen items. Appreciate some didn't know that though. It still takes a few days before the thief is alerted, and who knows perhaps the audio signal will encourage them to ditch the bike. I guess you could also hide the tag in frame which could make it harder to find and remove?
Hiding in frame will frick with the signal a bit, have my in fork tube.
It does not take a few days, it takes a couple of hours at max before you get an alert that you have an AirTag following you.
Crappy people...this is why we can't have nice things.
Love your videos! Hear me out, if you are going to bother with a tracker; double down and get a few tiles as well. Hide the tile in a different location. If you can’t recover the item before the AirTag starts yelling the tile is a fallback for longer term recovery. I hate that apple has forced the announcement of AirTags following you. My wife’s wallet AirTag freaks me out every once in a while when she leaves it in my car for a day or two when my phone claims and unknown AirTags has been following me
There are videos on how to remove the module that beeps. It's not too difficult.
That won’t stop the phone alert that an AirTag is present
@@KevCentral No, it won't. But, it handles his wife's beeping🤣
@@KevCentral I'm mostly with you thinking this product isn't good for security.
I put an AirTag on my bike. It was stolen last year, I put the AirTag in lost mode, filed a couple of police reports and followed the thieves from a distance until they sold it at a pawn shop for $300. It took over a year for the property hearing, and had to replace some components but I do have the bike back now. This was in 2022, before the update. The bike is worth thousands so this AirTag has more than paid for itself. It worked wonderfully. However, I do agree with you. This AirTag is for finding lost items, and not theft recovery.
You can modify them and disconnect speaker and make it harder to remove. It still better the nothing. A real GPS tracker are larger and typically requires charging more often, or external power plus subscription fee.
That’s why I remove the speaker so they can’t find it. It will tell them they are being tracked but they can’t find it they will just get rid of the bike some where also it takes like 4 hours to alert the person
Your idea of a “toggle” would make it so stalkers could track undetected again. Bad idea. Take out the speaker as others would say and if they know there’s a tag on it and can’t find it they will ditch it and it would be easier to recover. Good idea.
You can disable the speaker so they can’t find it easily. And you could hide it in a better spot.
This makes Apple Air Tag absolutely useless for bike security, luggage tracking, key tracking, wallet tracking……
all purposes the air tag is not meant to be used for, get a GPS tracker for security, not a device meant for locating your keys that both has to be within bluetooth range of a apple device to report its location and alerts every apple device within bluetooth range of its location
No it doesn't. Sheesh. You can track it just like before. The difference is that if a tracker 'follows' someone else with an iphone it will alert them. (They did this because stalkers and car thieves were using them to follow people.) But you can still find and track things the same as before the update.
Happy new year's Ken 👍👍🎇🙂
*What's worth more: A bike, or a human life?* I get the frustration since this is a very low cost way to prevent theft that even I've invested in, but understand that it's also a low cost way for people to stalk/human traffic people. Apple never advertised it as a theft recovery item, and even had safety features built in from day one that they have been adding to as a direct response to the abuse of these items. Even with the safety features, it's still worth putting on a bike because a well hidden tag that would be difficult to remove could possibly make the item too hot and they will ditch the bike and move on. And at the end of the day it's just an item that can be replaced (likely through a simple insurance claim). A human life can not be so easily replaced. (And before the comment section jumps in with: "There are other ways to track people! This is nothing new!". It's a cheap and dead simple tracker that allowed low effort ways to stalk people. It's a good thing to have one less tool that can be abused. If you really value an item, you'll either secure it, use a more reliable tracker, or have insurance on it. So don't @ me with that argument.)
We disagree here. I think Apple could have easily implemented a way to avoid stalking while still allowing the product to be used to the benefit of the consumer. Presuming that I will do evil with a product is casting guilt where none exists. Allow honest people to be honest by adding a toggle that can allow tracking on an AirTag the owner marks as stolen. Empower honest people!
@@KevCentral But how would you prevent that toggle from being used by someone wanting to abuse the tracker?
A database that logs all trackers marked as stolen and is available to the police
@@KevCentral But how would that prevent people from using the trackers to for stalking? The person being tracked has no way of knowing the device in on/near them and the person stalking would not volunteer any data that would out them.
If Apple were to keep the AirTag as-is: meaning no anonymous tracking, but allow toggling to enable a form of tracking if tagged as stolen - while informing the person choosing that toggle that the activity will be reported to a police database - everything is covered; easy anonymous tracking is gone, yet honest users can still utilize full functionality of the AirTag to track stolen items.
well, you can deactivate the microphone on the airtag and hide the airtag somewhere, where a thief will not find it. for example, if you have an ebike, somewhere under the battery. unless the thief is not the lockpicking lawyer, there is just no way for him to get to the airtag in a reasonable time. you could also place the airtag somewhere in the frame. without a alarming noise, the thief will have a very hard time finding it. for a 30$ security action, this is not bad at all. its better than nothing.
just imagine if someone slapped one of those with a piece of duct tape under the saddle of you expensive bike at a place you went to eat after a ride and then tracked it back to your house
Anything is possible. My beef with Apple is the way they assume all their customers would act in a criminal manner. Most traffic deaths are caused by drunk drivers. By Apple’s resolution logic nobody should be able to drive
@@KevCentral lol
@@KevCentral Unfortunately, our government feels the same way about firearms too, probably many people here as well.
@@KevCentral they marketed it as a device to find our misplaced keys, etc. At the end of the day they aren’t a security company. They don’t want to get slapped with a class action lawsuit. I’ve always had an AirTag on my bike, it’s really to alert me if my bike has been stolen. The notification to tell someone will not happen the moment they get home so theoretically you have sometime. It’s just something for a little extra peace of mind spontaneous checking if my bike is still where I left it. It’s still better than nothing
@tral your mistaken assumptions are legendary. Airtags were not designed or intended to be used as a security device or to track people or property that you don't have control over. I think it is ignorant for you to complain because the designer of a product makes efforts to reduce the opportunity to use it for purposes for which it was not intended. While Airtags might occasionally have limited utility for purposes to which they were not intended the position you have taken is nevertheless ridiculous.
Imagine you're Apple. You create a new product. You need to make a choice. Either your product will help located stolen items (prevent a crime) or it will be used to stalk people (enable criminals). Which one of these options would you pick? It's a tough one but I totally understand Apple.
I literally recovered my $2500 e-bike thanks to an AirTag 🤷♂️
I just saw a fat tire bike at Cabela’s yesterday that might warrant your review. It’s made by Ascend and is called a Mohar. It’s sold by Cabela’s, and Bass Pro Shops, and retails for $749. I haven’t found any reviews on it, or the other 2 MTB they sell(the Zion a hardtail for $599, and the Yungas, a full suspension bike for $999) Here’s what the description says on their website for the fat tire Mohar. Frame: Aluminum Fork: Aluminum, Rigid Rear Shock: None Chainring: 28T Cassette: 10-speed, 11-48T Shifters: Trigger style Chain: 10-speed Cranks: 2-piece, Length: 175mm, Axle: 24mm Rims: 100mm with oval rim holes Front Hub: 9mm x 135mm, 36 spoke holes Rear Hub: 10mm x 190mm, Quick release, 36 spoke holes Tires: 26" x 4.9", 60 threads per inch (TPI) Brakes: Mechanical disc Handlebars: Width: 785mm with 8° sweep, Rise: 15mm, 35mm clamp Grips: 130mm Stem: S - 60mm, M/L - 70mm, 31.8mm clamp Seat Post: Length: S - 300mm, M/L - 350mm, zero offset, Dia: 31.6mm Assembled Weight: 36.6 lbs. (16.6kg) It also has round dimples in the tread to install tire studs, and all 3 have tapered head tubes. I didn’t get a really good look at it because they were closing, but It seems to be well made from what I saw. I think I may have to get this in a couple of months!!!
We don’t have a Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops 🙁
According to the wiki page for AirTag, the "feature" to chirp after being separated by the owner was added into the first post-release firmware update. Seems like this product was really intended for keeping track of near-range items and not so much for asset tracking.
there was a converter among other things theft ring that was putting those on trucks to track where they would park and the thieves would go in and steal from that truck, this world is crazy
What I’ve seen online is that it takes around 24 hours before alerting the owner so if you can’t find the bike within 24 hours it’s most likely lost for good
AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
Does the Galaxy SmartTag have the alarm kind of feature?
I use an on guard u lock and sometimes a cable and no quick release on the seat post ball bearings glued into some Allen bolts
You can disable the loudspeaker in AirTags.
For $30 I'm still slaping one on my scooter,
Best security device to buy for a bike, or anything valuable is a Tile. I bought one for my keys in 2019, and never not used them for my keys. I've always found my keys using my Tile, and am thinking about using one for my bike.
Thanks for sharing
I believe (like AirTags that use Apple devices to derive location), Tile relies on their own devices, which his many times smaller than Apple's. I'd be curious about data on Tile's network and how reliable tracking is over longer distances away from the owner.
Since I use wahoo sensors for speed and cadence it would be nice if they’d create new sensors to also include the tracking feature via their app
Easy to disable the speaker. Also, there's MUCH better places to hide the airtag. The hole in your front forks is one. There's a 3d print to hide it. Also, under your seat.
I don't see a way in which airtag works in thief's benefit. Worst case scenario: Thief is notified about airtag on bike and removes it. No benefit for thief. Intermediate case scenarios: Thief is notified and decides to leave the bike, you find it. Thief is not notified and leaves the bike hidden to check if there is tracking, you find it. Best case scenario: You catch the thief red handed while they don't know about airtag or try to remove it. They go to prison for life. Airtag in itself never works in thief's benefit, two of its functions do. But: There are airtag cases which make it silent or you can mod it to make it silent.
Better than my old Saris rack
30-second hack to remove the speaker. ANYTHING is better than nothing in helping you locate your bike.
AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
I still use one becuase its better than nothing for my bike. My wife and I use them for other items too. We have them on our car keys. When I take my wife's car somewhere it does notify me that someone else's air tag is tracking my location. It doesn't right away though, it usually takes 30 minutes to an hour for me to get notified. I figure if my bike gets stolen, that hour will give the person enough time to go to their home. I can see that last location before they find it and break it and it will give me a good idea of where to look. I know its not full proof, but its still better than walking out, seeing my bike gone, and having nothing.
Exactly, they are cheap and better than nothing and do work, we track them down all the time with airtags in LE. Not sure why this video claims they are "worthless".
I agree with your comment. Yes, it's only a $29 investment. So what if the thief knows there's a tag on the bike? Time is critical (first 30 minutes) but if you can get an idea of where the bike is, that's better than nothing at all. You can buy insurance if you'd like but that's expensive. A $100 lock is not foolproof either. Hopefully if the thief is stealing your bike, he may not be able to afford an iphone, unless he stole that too!!!
The key is to get a sealed air tag mount that is difficult to take off quickly so you have time to recover your bike
off course it works like that, and it's a great thing so the AirTag is not misused to track people. But it will play its role for the first minutes of the theft which is already better than nothing
Hide it in the hollow area of the fork. Even if they get the notification it would be hard to get.
It would be nothing more than an annoyance for them being that it will quit reporting to the true owner once they have it at their home 🙁
Alex, it would be likely the first place someone would look.
I have seen people mount these in the space where their fork is and just use one of the "muted" airtag cases.
You can pop it open and remove the chiper. They'll get the notification, but they won't be able to find it right away... Giving you more time to track them down.
Happy New Year Kev! I don’t use Apple air tags and probably never will. I guess you’d have to put the tag inside the tire so the thief wouldn’t be able to find it.
I just researched these around Christmas and saw that they communicate with the closest (and through, that’s prob the rub) iPhone; once they are away from the owner. That won’t work for thieves with iPhones
I will agree with other comments. 1) this is well known, remove the speaker of the tag. 2) thieves are lower socioeconomic group (why else a thief?) so more likely Android, even more likely burner phones. 3) if bike lost traveling there is a window of opportunity before notification. Just like no lock is perfect, neither is this, but a great lock PLUS an AirTag makes sense. Maybe a little more research and thought?
stalkers have operated earlier, before airtag, using other GPS tracking devices. so by blaming airtag tracking, we helped thieves steal our stuff instead of defending ourselves against stalkers.
Useless for any use of theft. Nice video.
you need to get to the point quicker
Actually it is possible to create an AirTag clone tracker which will be not detectable by phones automatically (iPhone will not notify you). So it there are significant demand it is possible to start manufacturing.
Interesting 🤔 learn something new every day
My motorbike was stolen, I had an AirTag under the back seat. 10 hours after it was stolen it was recovered by the police due to me giving the location of the thief's house
How long ago was that? Likely before they enabled notification to consistently nearby phone
May 25, 2023 .. perhaps the thieving little lowlife was rocking an android phone ... serves him right 😞@@KevCentral
There is a solution to silence the AirTag There is a KZhead that shows you how to remove the speaker so that THIEFS cannot locate the AirTag since IT WILL NOT CHIRP, making it very difficult to find it if it is well hidden. Sure they will know there is an AirTag in the proximity, but good luck in finding it. In order to remove the speaker you have o take the AirTag appart, but it only takes about two minutes and it’s done!
It's the way of the world now, get used to it. When good things come along, someone will exploit it and use it for bad rather than good.
That happens, but companies making an assumption that all their customers will do bad is an entire other level of wrong.
@@KevCentral I partly agree, but the problem is that a product has to fit the needs of the masses. Unfortunately those products have weaknesses that can be exploited. Until the day comes when everything is made perfectly, these are the things that good people have to live with. Either that or make everyone behave with civility and respectfulness.....
Counterpoint: some people use Apple laptops for hacking or other illicit things. Why doesn’t Apple cripple those to account for the small percentage of users that choose to do bad? To me this is an Apple self-induced failure of what was otherwise a great product. I certainly won’t be buying any more
You can easily remove the speaker from an AirTag. Anyone can do it.
Depends on the thief, I think most bike thefts in LA where I live are unsophisticated. They're drug addicts looking for quick money, and aren't looking for airtags. I have a campagnolo crankset that can't be removed without proprietary tools, so I implant the airtag inside the frame, basically impossible to remove for the average junky LA thief.
Hi you could put the apple tag in that big hole i can see in the crank lol. people would think it was normal and part of the crank. have you thought doing a experiment leave bike exposed outside your house and wait by the window see who goes to it, and then give a scare. i remember i went into a petrol station once to get some gas and electric and had my bike in full view why i was at the cashiers desk. i then little boys running to bike so i went outside and they said was you thinking we was going to rob it, i was thinking yes but said no to show coolness. they then said nice bike and where get it from told them where and that was it. anyone will steal anything it could be a 100 year old phone and if not nailed down someone will take it. or that air tag might play noise to say low battery too.
You would enjoy hearing about my recent experience catching a Christmas decoration thief in the act. They were far less committed to taking the item than I was to defend my property 😎
You can disable the speaker
I was actually thinking about using a different brand Bluetooth tracker but maybe a more expensive tracker with a yearly service cost if the bike (or ebike) was expensive . I would choose to conceal it better too like hidden in the seat cover not seen at any angle visibly.
Obviously thieves don’t have iPhones!!!😂😂
Ah yes, the good old press here if you're not a bad guy button
It used to be 3 days before it alerted the thief of an AirTag, but might be sooner now. I’ll act to hunt my bike down faster than the thief is alerted. Also some folks are removing the speakers in them, so thief will not hear where it’s hidden. *Will still alert on iPhone AirTag in the vicinity though IMO $25 tag worth it for the slight advantage to rescue a $4k bike
AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
It would still shown you the location they took it too before they disabled it..most likely their home...as long as it shows last known location.
Happy New Year's
I removed the lil speaker inside, My dirtbike got stolen & I got the address then stole it back, If you don’t wanna lose your bikes tag em & buy locks
When I tested a theft scenario, the guy that took it was alerted that an airtag was with him within 45 mins - it would have been sooner if he had returned home faster. It gave him the option to disable it. If it had been a real theft, and I was asleep or too busy to constantly check my phone for notifications, a thief would get a free bike and a free (but disabled) airtag and I wouldn’t have any access to where it went
Thanks, I just received my Air tags today. The whole chime thing just ended it for me. Guess I'll send them back, Thanks.
Here’s a followup with more information: AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
You can remove the speaker on an AirTag. There are some videos available
also maybe Apple can log phones who did a lookup for that specific airtag (if stolen) based on the date and time, and provide the usera information to the police. I doubt they gonna do that AT ALL.
I'd rather the Airtag not be useful for theft protection and keep someone from possibly stalking another person with the intention of harming them or someone using it to track a car to a person's home with the intention of robbing them. The balance goes to personal safety. Instead use a lock that will keep someone from wanting to bother with your bike. I'm not saying everyone buy a LITELOK because if you have a $200 bike and you are spending as much or more that's overkill.
lots of other ways to track people. I'd rather use it to find my property. Stalkers can be identified by apple id linked to the airtag if found which is a deterrent in itself.
so let me get this straight $25/bike no monthly fees is too expensive for you for something that can help you find your bike like others already have done. No its not a guarantee and neither is a good lock such as the New Yorker which will probably cost you a lot more.
Phone of choice for a thief is an Apple iphone
The problem is that everyone new these sort of tracker and 90% of them is easy to find. And as a thief i would remove it or destroy it. It should install not visible but inside the frame is bad idea
I think it takes and hour before it alerts the thief so you have time to find your bike. And if they don't have an apple, they won't ever know
don't listen to that, I got my bike back solely because of my smarttag. Much-off has a valve to store the tag in your tubeless tyre
Only here as I’ve had my bike stolen yesterday and recovered it the same day due to having an airtag on it. I removed the speaker from my airtag so that the thief wouldn’t be able to know where exactly it is on the bike (he will still be notified if he has a IOS device) if i didn’t have the airtag the bike would’ve been long gone
Like the title says AirTag are useless for stolen stuff. Even if you have an AirTag and you call the police, they are more useless then the AirTag it’s self as police don’t do anything. I have an Apple watch on and my iPhone 14 Pro Max was stolen, I tracked my phone to the location and called the police and they said there’s nothing they can do! So if police aren’t going to do anything, what’s the point of having AirTags? I think companies like Apple and Samsung who have these tracking devices if the police denies services that Apple and Samsung sues the police department for not returning the product to the consumer!
Video starts at 4:50
This makes no sense. The bike has already been stolen. How does alerting the thief that they are being tracked a bad thing? Your bike is already gone. It's still nice having a chance to recover it. If the tag isn't easily accessible they will likely dump the bike. You can also set it to alert you if it's moved. The sooner you know your bike is gone the better.
Dude the anti stalker tech is absolutely necessary but ya you’re going to have to act quick if you’re using air tags for anti theft
There is a way to disable the alarm but Android also have a small device that work good but not as good as Apple that used other Apple products to help locate it
True, but that doesn’t keep the AirTag from alerting someone with an iPhone that the item they stole has an AirTag 🙃
Just remove speaker LOL and even if thief is alerted by app they will need time to find it and remove it! You will have enough time to take screenshots and even find them and alert police before its gone ;)
It would take the average thief less than 5 mins to find an air tag on a vehicle that is essentially an exposed series of tubes. Here’s my followup where I tested someone taking the bike - note that the average person realizes something is stolen HOURS after the fact…often overnight. AirTag for Bike Security - Update: What Happened When I Tracked a Stolen Bike! kzhead.info/sun/Z9GshpWebnZ5gI0/bejne.html
@@KevCentral that is true :) I saw the video and it seems that Air tags are not that great with reporting time so slow and reporting intervals are really long.... I hope that new Samsung Tags2 will be good as first one and maybe one could build them together with electronics or similar so that it is harder to remove and takes more time...
What you're talking about only happens 3 days after the airtag is stationary and its then suddenly moved. After three days, I would hope you can track your bike. If I'm at the bike park, taking a leak in the bathroom and someone snatches my bike I can quickly whip out my phone and track its location. I wouldn't say its useless.
A thief can hear it on the bike but how many thief's own a iPhone to alert them.??