More details on Apple's new tracking tags leak out

Tile Pro
(Image credit: Tile)

We've already heard rumors that Apple is working on a personal item tracker – a lot like the Tile trackers you might be familiar with – and now more details have spilled out about how they're going to work.

According to some digging done by MacRumors into an internal build of iOS 13, the accessory will help you "tag your everyday items" and "never lose them again".

Everything you tag with one of these trackers – keys, wallets, backpacks and so on – will show up in the new Find My app that's coming with iOS 13. It'll be the place to go to track all your Apple products, from iPhones to MacBooks.

MacRumors even uncovered an image of the upcoming tracker in the iOS 13 code, though this may not exactly match what the finished product looks like.

Apple tag leak

(Image credit: MacRumors)

The idea is that once the app detects you've been separated from one of your Apple tags (and whatever it's attached to), it'll start beeping. You can set up "safe locations", like your home, where this doesn't happen.

Users will also be able to put tags into "lost mode", the code suggests, where you can enlist the help of other iPhone owners in tracking down the item (this sounds like the same system for finding lost MacBooks coming in iOS 13).

Finally, there's going to be an augmented reality aspect to the app as well, guiding you towards your lost items through an overlay on top of the camera display.

This all sounds very similar to what Tile trackers and other similar products can already do, but if you're keen to find out more about Apple's take on the technology, these tags should be unveiled with the new iPhones on September 10.

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

TOPICS