In the last conference for developers of Google, The Mountain View company announced an interesting function that would reach Android for the peace of mind of the most obsessed and concerned about their safety. We are referring to the possibility of being notified if a Bluetooth tracker follows us, something that has already been activated for user use. We explain exactly what it consists of and how it works.
Bluetooth trackers, in the spotlight
Apple didn’t invent the wheel, but as is often the case, it was their initiative that ended up putting Bluetooth trackers in the crosshairs. And it is that when the people of Cupertino launched their AirTag, many were those who looked askance at this new device, which allowed you to locate your belongings at all times, while others saw in this new solution a fantastic opportunity to perpetrate actions of dubious legality.
Thus, there have been cases of people who have discovered that they were being tracked by others with an AirTag, which had been introduced in a car or hidden in some place where the owner was unaware. Luckily, the iOS users they have a way of finding out if this has happened to them, because the system alerts you that you have one with you and that its owner may know your location.
However, for Android there was no such solution, at least officially. It is true that we have a solution from Apple itself, called Tracker Detector, in which you can do a “scan” to see if you have an unknown AirTag near you, but it was still not native to the system. Until today, of course.
AirTags alerts on your Android
As we pointed out, Google I/O 2023 served as a presentation framework for a new functionality introduced in Android that precisely pursues the notify you without a Bluetooth tracker is with you (without you having it registered and knowing of its existence).
If this happens, the owners of an Android smartphone will receive (without having to suspect anything or use a specific scanning app) a alert on their screen, indicating the existence of an unknown tracker that is moving with them and that it is far from its owner. If this happens to you, you can execute several actions:
- Force for the tracker to emit a sound, in order to know exactly where it is near you (and without the owner knowing that you have done it)
- Find out since when is he with you and what information does he have about your movements
- Follow a step by step with the help of the telephone to deactivate the tracker
The update has already started to move so it should not take long for it to be available on your phone (you will find the options and preferences related to this new feature in Settings => Security and emergency) and for now only works with AirTags, following an agreement reached between Google and Apple. Even so, the idea is that it will soon be able to detect other trackers beyond the popular apple tree so that no one ever has to find themselves in a situation like this without their knowledge.
