A lost dog has been reunited with its owner thanks to an AirTag attached to its collar – but the story also serves as a reminder to monitor the battery levels of our tags.
The AirTag was out of power, but thankfully the dog chose to wander into the home of a tech writer who had some spare batteries to hand, ensuring that the owner could quickly locate the errant pet …
Arstechnica’s Kevin Purdy told the story.
I cracked open the door to look out. A dog, not my own, stuck its nose into the door gap, eager to sniff me out. “There’s a dog here?” my wife said, partly to herself. “She just ran up on the porch. I have no idea where she came from.”
I secured my dog inside, then headed out to meet this fast-moving but friendly interloper. She had a collar, but no leash, and looked well-groomed, healthy, and lightly frantic. The collar had a silicone band on it, holding one of Apple’s AirTags underneath. I pulled out the AirTag, tapped it against my phone, and nothing happened.
CR2032 batteries aren’t things everyone has immediately to hand, but you are likely to if you have multiple AirTags or one of a wide range of smart home devices that rely on them. Purdy did, so was able to swiftly replace the battery and restore the AirTag to life.
The dog’s owner hadn’t yet set the AirTag to lost mode, so contact details weren’t available, but Purdy at least knew that they would be able to locate their dog.
Sure enough, the owner turned up at their home, and was successfully reunited with their pet.
Purdy argues this is a good reason for Apple to stick to powering future models with replaceable batteries, rather than switching to a rechargeable battery as some have suggested. He says that rather than rely on a finder having the right cable to charge it, and then having to wait, it’s better that the battery can simply be replaced.
Non-techies might not have a replacement CR2032 battery to hand, but they are at least readily available at most convenience stores.
Battery levels for AirTags can be seen in the Find My app by tapping on the Devices tab.
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Photo: Swincho
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