Apple is making it even easier to use an AirTag to track down lost luggage by allowing users to temporarily share the location of their tag with a third party, such as an airline or airport.
Travelers have been packing Apple’s tracking devices into their luggage since the product launched in 2021, using them to keep tabs on checked baggage during air travel. In one notable case, a honeymooning couple used an AirTag to discover Air Canada had donated their missing bag to charity.
In another incident, a California man watched his AirTag travel to 37 cities after falling off his bag and getting stuck in the cargo hold of an Alaska Airlines Embraer 175.
Photo: Apple AirTag. Courtesy of Apple
But while travelers can pinpoint the location of bags with the devices, they’ve sometimes struggled to convey its exact location to airline and airport staff who can retrieve the bags from secure areas or distant airports.
The Canadian newlyweds discovered this when they zeroed in on their bag at an inaccessible storage facility in Toronto and couldn’t convince them to retrieve it despite sending screenshots of the location to Air Canada. They eventually turned to the police to get their bag back.
Recognizing this now-common use of their Bluetooth-enabled tracking devices, Apple is rolling out a new “Share Item Location” feature on the iOS Find My app, MacRumors has revealed.
The option, now in beta testing with developers, generates a link that can be passed onto an “airline or other trusted person.”
Apple already allows users to share AirTagged locations with five contacts, but the shareable link means airlines, airports, and others on non-Apple devices can be kept in the loop as well.
Photo: Apple AirTag. Courtesy of Apple
If the recipient is using an Apple device, the link opens the Find My app, showing the last known location of the designated AirTag.
On non-Apple devices, the link directs to a webpage with a map highlighting the item’s location.
The link automatically expires after seven days or when the item is returned to you.
The new feature is being rolled out as part of the iOS 18.2 beta 2 update, currently being tested by developers. The wider public will get access to the feature when the update is to sent devices worldwide in the future.