Google had announced it at the end of July, and its deployment was still pending. The detection of trackers connected is now integrated into the parameters of the terminals via an extensive update now on Android smartphones (from version 6). For the time being, it only detects AirTags, i.e. Apple-signed location trackers. But that’s the main thing, since it was these little accessories that were in the sights of users, since only iPhone holders, or more broadly apple-scratched devices, could easily detect their presence. near.
THE trackers, such as AirTags, are of course designed to allow their owner to locate objects. It is possible to attach them to keys, luggage or even a bicycle, to better locate them in the event of loss or theft. But, last spring, various facts involving AirTags slipped without their knowledge into the bags of young women by strangers, to better locate them later, had recalled an essential point: Apple trackers went unnoticed by people which were not equipped with iPhone. Remember here that the AirTags do not have GPS, but rely on Bluetooth connectivity and the Find My network, created from iPhones in circulation.
On our Pixel, the option to detect trackers strangers hides in the settings of the smartphone. See you in the section Security and emergencies then, at the very bottom of the panel which then opens, in Unknown tracer alerts. Then select, if it is not already done, Allow alerts. If in doubt, you can launch a manual search by clicking on the button To research.
If an AirTag is detected, your smartphone will prompt you to react appropriately, by doing “a screenshot of the unknown tracer alert and map of tracer locations for future reference” and by bringing “the tracker on the back of your phone. The available information is displayed on the screen”, in particular to check whether it is an AirTag whose loss has been reported by its owner. If this is not the case, Google links to the Apple support page, which explains how to disable a tracking : simply press the battery cover on the back of the AirTag, turn it to the left and then remove the battery from the device.