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I was reviewing Apple's documentation regarding security and unauthorized tracking devices, which included the following statement (mirror):

If any AirTag, AirPods, Find My network accessory, or compatible Bluetooth location-tracking device is separated from its owner and seen moving with you over time, you're notified in one of two ways: a notification on your device, or a sound emitted by the device.

This anti-stalking feature is triggered when the device is both separated from its owner and seen moving with another person over time. What are the distance and time criteria for an AirTag to emit an anti-stalking sound?

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Apple doesn‘t publish the details on this. According to a HowToGeek article, it‘s three days

When an AirTag is away from its owner for longer than three days, it will emit a sound in the hope that someone will find it. This duration is set by Apple and may be changed in the future via an over-the-air update.

but I also found comments indicating that it has been reduced to 24 hours by Apple.

The distance is defined by Bluetooth at the end which covers about 30 meters. If a tag moves out of Bluetooth range of its owner (and outside of the areas the owner has defined as „do not alert“), it is considered to be „away“ and may emit a sound.

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Empirically there is essentially no minimum distance/time, as the AirTag sound can be triggered by not being near a known device and moving and being near an unknown device as soon as this criteria is met.

Unfortunately I don't have citations for this, but I have regularly triggered this behaviour inadvertently, especially when the unknown device is an iPhone that pops the ‘AirTag moving with you’ notification, on a journey of only a few minutes/miles.

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