At I/O 2023 this year, Google announced it is partnering with Apple to make detecting unknown AirTags following you easier. This was an important step as the popularity of AirTags has led to them being used for unwanted tracking and stalking, raising safety concerns. In late July, Google finally announced the rollout of unknown tracker alerts for Android 6.0+ users. Now, the feature has started going live for at least some Android users out there.
As the screenshots below show, Unknown tracker alerts will appear under your Android phone's Safety & emergency menu. From here, you can get an overview of unknown trackers detected near you in the last 48 hours. All alerts are automatically deleted after that.
There's also a manual scan option, which you can use to check if there are unwanted trackers near you right now. Manual scan results are not saved, though. If you get an automatic alert or find a tracker near you through a manual scan, your phone will show an option to ring the tag. This can help you pinpoint its exact location if it is hidden somewhere.
The Unknown tracker alerts detection system went live for one of our tipsters on a Pixel phone running Android 14 beta with Play services 23.26.55. With Google saying the rollout commenced at the end of July, unknown tracker alerts should go live for more users in the next few days and weeks.
For now, Android's unknown tracker alerts only work with AirTags. Google is working on expanding support to other tags in the coming months. The company is also working on a more powerful Find My Device network that third-party tracking tags can use. It was initially supposed to go live in the summer of 2023, but the company decided to delay its launch until Apple implements certain protections against unknown trackers in iOS.
Thanks: Hamzah and Anthony!