Apple has launched , a brand new Android app designed to assist these with out an iOS system to search out out if somebody is utilizing an AirTag or different Find My-compatible system to snoop their location. When the software program finds a close-by AirTag that’s been separated from its proprietor, it can flag it as an “Unknown AirTag.” If it then follows you for 10 minutes, you need to use the app to inform the tracker to play a sound, making it simpler to search out. At that time, you possibly can faucet the system together with your NFC-compatible cellphone and also you’ll get directions on easy methods to take away its battery or in any other case disable it.

You don’t want an Apple account to make use of the app. As talked about above, it might probably additionally detect Find My-compatible trackers just like the . “AirTag provides industry-leading privacy and security features and today we are extending new capabilities to Android devices. Tracker Detect gives Android users the ability to scan for an AirTag or supported Find My enabled item trackers that might be traveling with them without their knowledge,” an Apple spokesperson instructed Engadget. “We are raising the bar on privacy for our users and the industry, and hope others will follow.”

The launch of Tracker Detect comes following a number of incidents of dangerous actors abusing AirTags to stalk folks. In Canada, for instance, police lately warned of thieves utilizing the to . In June, Apple, in a separate effort to restrict abuse, up to date its trackers to play a sound between eight and 24 hours after they’re separated from their proprietor, as an alternative of after three days as was the case at launch.

How a lot good Tracker Detect does to guard folks will rely on how many individuals obtain it. Unlike with iOS, which sends proactive warnings when it detects errant AirTags, that is an app you should set up to your Android system. Its protections aren’t constructed into Android, no less than not but.