That happened to my girlfriend’s friend once. She noticed an air tag had been following her around all night and started to freak out. Turns out it was my buddy who had an air tag he hadn’t activated yet, we were all going to the same bars and then came back to my apartment. Later we noticed we all had the same notification that an air tag had been nearby.
I keep mine in the spare tire. Also if he shares the AirTag with you (which you can now do in iOS 17) you won’t get that message. As for why it took so long is that it won’t always show that a tracker is with you, unless you go home (not 100% of the time, but that’s what happens to me). Also needs to be with you for ~15 minutes, then when it sees you’ve stopped and the tracker is still near, it knows to notify you (same reason why your apt neighbors AirPods won’t ping you, but your passengers AirPods would if you have a friend over).
My wife left her keys in my truck one day. I found out when I got to my destination 2 states away…
Auto dealer here.
Beware. Your car may be targeted for theft. Take it to a dealer to have it searched or if you can a security specialist.
This is a very serious issue and I have seen it a lot. Park your car in your garage if you have one. If you haven’t gone home yet it’s a good idea not to take the car to your home until you do this.
This is a growing problem.
Do you drive a luxury vehicle or a Toyota?
I got this when i was in the plane from nyc to Chicago. Was annoying getting that popup from multiple peoples airtags.
Update: mystery (somewhat) solved!
My 70+ year old dad put one in the car. I would have been less surprised if I was stalked rather than if he knew what an AirTag was. Apparently it was a gift to him. However, a few things still don’t add up:
- I drove to Michigan a few days before with that car (alone) and never got a notification. I also drove around Michigan for a few days and never received that notification.
- The AirTag was not popping up on any bluetooth device tracker
- I appreciate the comments stating that the speaker is easily removable, however my dad is not savvy enough for that. I still don’t understand why when I clicked “play sound” when in/around the car, nothing happened.
Thanks for all the help and concerns. Was getting a bit worried there!
Your dad is using an AirTag to keep tabs on his stash. Can’t have junior dipping into the honeypot.
Sheboygan, Joliet… GARY.
What is up the places names there?!
That’s not even that crazy. A couple hours north and east and you can go to Hell.
That’s amazing.
There’s Dansville nearby there to, I like the sound of that!
Please do not go home.
on the other side of that argument, please have someone check on your house, as there’s a possibility someone put it by you to know how much time they have in your home before you get back
All these comments saying one was placed on your car, definitely a possibility.
Here’s a question no one is asking though, were you driving with someone else? If your passenger had an AirTag in their purse or backpack, you would also be notified.
This! We have one in our stroller for Disney and my friend got the notification while driving to Disney with us and was confused.
I always get this notification when I walk my friend’s dog because it has an airtag on its leash. This dog is absolutely obsessed with pigeons and has almost ripped the leash right out of my hands a couple times when we came across some unexpectedly. Pretty smart use of an airtag imo
Yep - my fiance had a panic attack because I accidentally left my airtag in my golf clubs and left them in the back of her car. She drove all over, was about 40 miles from home and it started alerting her lol whoops…
It’s not supposed to give notifications if it’s nearby the owner. Like I have one in my wallet/car but it doesn’t notify people I’m with because I have my phone.
It does happen sometimes though. I’ve had AirTag alerts randomly during trips where it belonged to someone else on the trip.