How to Use Apple AirTags with Life360 and Apple’s ‘Find My’ App

Apple AirTags are small, lightweight devices designed to help users track and locate personal items like keys, bags, and wallets. Integrated with Apple’s “Find My” network, AirTags provide real-time location updates on a paired iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Life360 is a popular family tracking app that allows users to see the location of family members on a map in real-time.

In this article, we will explore how you can use Apple AirTags with Life360 and “Find My” to track your devices or personal belongings and integrate them into your family’s location-sharing system.

Understanding the Technology

Before diving into the integration, it’s important to understand the key elements involved:

Apple AirTags

• Find My Network: Apple’s “Find My” network is a crowdsourced service that helps you track lost devices and items. AirTags leverage this network, allowing you to locate them through the “Find My” app on your iPhone.
• Bluetooth Connectivity: AirTags communicate using Bluetooth, meaning they can connect to any iOS or macOS device that supports Bluetooth.
• Precision Finding: For iPhones equipped with U1 chips (iPhone 11 or later), the AirTag uses ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for more accurate location tracking.

Life360

• Family Location Sharing: Life360 allows you to create “circles” of people, typically family members, to track their locations in real-time. Life360 also offers location-based alerts, location history, and emergency assistance.
• Third-Party Device Tracking: Life360 is primarily designed to track the locations of people rather than physical objects like AirTags. However, there are ways to work around this limitation to incorporate AirTags into Life360’s system.

Apple “Find My” App

• Find My App: This app is used for locating Apple devices, including AirTags, iPhones, iPads, and Macs. AirTags are linked to your Apple ID, and their location can be tracked through this app.

Integrating Apple AirTags with “Find My”

The first step is to set up the AirTags in the Apple ecosystem. Here’s how to do it:

1. Unbox the AirTag: Remove the plastic tab to activate the AirTag.

2. Pair with your iPhone:

   • Bring your iPhone close to the AirTag.
   • A pop-up notification will appear on your phone, prompting you to connect the AirTag.
   • Follow the on-screen instructions to name the AirTag and assign it to your Apple ID.

3. Track the AirTag:

   • Once paired, open the “Find My” app on your iPhone.
   • The AirTag will appear in the “Items” section, showing its real-time location on the map.
   • If you need to locate the AirTag, select it from the list, and you’ll see its position along with an option to play a sound for easier identification.

Using Precision Finding for Accurate Tracking

If you have an iPhone with a U1 chip (iPhone 11 or later), the “Find My” app will offer Precision Finding. This provides precise directional instructions to the AirTag’s location, using arrows and distance indicators to guide you to it.

Integrating AirTags with Life360

While Life360 is primarily designed for tracking people, it doesn’t directly support tracking non-human objects such as AirTags. However, there are some creative workarounds to integrate AirTags with Life360’s family location-sharing features:

Option 1: Use the “Find My” App in Conjunction with Life360

You can manually switch between Life360 and the “Find My” app to track family members and AirTags separately.

1. Track Family Members in Life360:

   • Use Life360 to see your family’s real-time locations.
   • Receive location-based alerts, such as when someone arrives at or leaves a specific location.

2. Track AirTags in the “Find My” App:

   • Use the “Find My” app to locate your AirTags and get updates on their status.

While this requires switching between apps, it’s the most straightforward way to track both family members and AirTags.

Option 2: Share the “Find My” Location Using a Shortcut

Apple allows you to automate tasks using Siri Shortcuts. You can create a shortcut that shares the AirTag’s location from the “Find My” app with your family members through Life360.

Here’s how you can set this up:

1. Create a Shortcut:

   • Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone.
   • Create a new shortcut that pulls the location data of your AirTag from the “Find My” app.
   • Use the shortcut to send that location data to a messaging app that you can share with your Life360 circle.

2. Share the Location:

   • Once the shortcut is created, you can use it to send real-time AirTag locations to your Life360 circle, either via a shared message thread or by posting to a shared family calendar.

This method requires some manual steps but allows you to update your family members with the location of your AirTags.

Option 3: Use Notifications for AirTag Movement Alerts

In addition to tracking the AirTag manually, you can set up notifications within the “Find My” app for when the AirTag moves or leaves a designated area (geofencing). This feature works similarly to the alerts you can set in Life360.

1. Set up AirTag Notifications:

   • Open the “Find My” app and select your AirTag.
   • Tap Notify When Found and choose to receive notifications if the AirTag’s location changes.

2. Share Alerts:

   • You can then manually share these alerts with your family members through Life360, keeping everyone updated on the status of your AirTag.

Can You Use AirTags with Life360 for Automatic Tracking?

Unfortunately, automatic integration between AirTags and Life360 is not natively supported. Apple’s ecosystem for AirTags is designed to work through the “Find My” network, while Life360’s focus is on human location tracking. However, the workarounds mentioned above can help integrate these systems for manual tracking and notifications.

Conclusion

While Life360 and Apple’s “Find My” network serve different purposes—tracking people and personal items, respectively—they can be used together with a bit of creative setup. By leveraging the “Find My” app to locate your AirTags and using Life360 to track your family members, you can keep tabs on both people and personal items in real-time. Though integration is not fully seamless, workarounds like shortcuts and manual tracking can make the experience smoother.