Photo: Apple
Technology has once again come in handy to the police, this time as a simple set of wireless earbuds helped the law enforcement find a stolen vehicle.
Not a long time ago, we told you how Apple’s tracking device, officially known as the AirTag, has become a big concern not only for car owners but for the police as well. As it turns out, modern thieves out there turn to the AirTag to keep track of their targets and monitor the location of a car as it’s being driven across the city.
The AirTag is most often placed behind the bumper, and in some cases, the driver misses the warnings sent by the tracker, with their car, therefore, becoming a sitting duck for thieves.
But on the other hand, it looks like the GPS integration in some of Apple’s products also works the other way around, helping car owners fight against criminals out there.
A recent report highlights the story of a 2014 Nissan Frontier owner who discovered his vehicle was stolen shortly after parking it on the side of the road. Fortunately, the thief drove away with the man’s AirPods inside, so together with the police, the owner located the wireless earbuds using a dedicated iPhone application and therefore determined the location of the car as well.
The Nissan Frontier was eventually found undamaged and completely empty, so the thief was mostly interested in the belongings inside rather than driving away with the car.
In case you’re wondering how the whole thing works with the AirPods, it’s all powered by the Find My app that comes pre-loaded on your iPhone. Once you lose the AirPods, just launch the Find My app on the mobile device, make sure you are signed in with the same Apple ID, and then use the built-in features to see the location of the earbuds on the map.
You can also play a sound on your AirPods remotely, but of course, this might not be necessarily helpful given you could make the thief aware they’re being tracked.
The AirTag is most often placed behind the bumper, and in some cases, the driver misses the warnings sent by the tracker, with their car, therefore, becoming a sitting duck for thieves.
But on the other hand, it looks like the GPS integration in some of Apple’s products also works the other way around, helping car owners fight against criminals out there.
A recent report highlights the story of a 2014 Nissan Frontier owner who discovered his vehicle was stolen shortly after parking it on the side of the road. Fortunately, the thief drove away with the man’s AirPods inside, so together with the police, the owner located the wireless earbuds using a dedicated iPhone application and therefore determined the location of the car as well.
The Nissan Frontier was eventually found undamaged and completely empty, so the thief was mostly interested in the belongings inside rather than driving away with the car.
In case you’re wondering how the whole thing works with the AirPods, it’s all powered by the Find My app that comes pre-loaded on your iPhone. Once you lose the AirPods, just launch the Find My app on the mobile device, make sure you are signed in with the same Apple ID, and then use the built-in features to see the location of the earbuds on the map.
You can also play a sound on your AirPods remotely, but of course, this might not be necessarily helpful given you could make the thief aware they’re being tracked.
Google News