Google is postponing an extensive Find My Device network that works with Bluetooth
Google’s improved Find My Device network will not be released this summer, as previously announced. The company wants to wait until Apple has implemented improved anti-stalking measures. The new Find My Device network must work with Bluetooth, not just WiFi.
The current Find My Device network allows users to find devices with an internet connection, but in May this year Google announced to work on an improved network. This network must be crowdsourced and work with Bluetooth, similar to what Apple and Samsung have been offering for some time. Bluetooth trackers from Tile, Chipolo and Pebblebee, among others, will receive support for this network, as will existing audio devices such as Pixel Buds and Sony headphones.
When introduced, Google indicated that this network would be released this summer, but… Google says now that this will be postponed. The company wants to prevent people from stalking others with Bluetooth trackers. Google and Apple previously announced that there will be a joint specification to detect unwanted third-party Bluetooth trackers and have them play a sound.
In May, when Google announced the renewed Find My Device network, it was already known that the specification for this system to detect unwanted trackers would not be ready until the end of this year. However, Google now says it wants to wait with the improved Find My Device network until Apple has built ‘improved security’ into iOS. The company is probably referring to the possibility of finding Google’s Find My Device products with iPhones. It is not clear when Google expects to be able to release the improved network.
Apart from the postponement of the improved Find My Device network, Google reports that Android phones from version 6.0 will be able to scan unwanted Bluetooth trackers from this month. Users receive a notification if they have an unknown Bluetooth tracker that is separated from its owner, which could therefore be used to stalk someone. The notification allows users to see a map of where the tracker has traveled and have the tracker play a sound. The owner of the tracker will then not know that the tracker has made a sound.
This system works with Apple AirTags, among other things. This feature allows users to manually scan for unknown trackers and get information on how to disable any trackers found.