Apple’s highly anticipated new iPad Pro could be the company’s first foray into generative AI. The rumored upcoming tablet, which we’re expecting to see on May 7, is tipped to be powered by an all-new M4 chip that’s optimized to support AI features.
This rumor comes via Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who has a solid reputation when it comes to Apple leaks. He claims Apple’s Let Loose event on May 7 will showcase a new iPad Pro and iPad Air, and accessories, including a new Magic Keyboard and Apple Pencil.
According to Gurman, the new iPad Pro will be Apple’s first generative AI-enabled device thanks to a new, more powerful AI-driven M4 chip featuring an enhanced Neural Engine. If this is the case, the new iPad would skip Apple’s current M3 silicon, which is used in the latest and most powerful MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac models.
The rumored AI-focused M4 chip would significantly increase the new tablet’s computing power compared to the current iPad Pro, which uses the older M2 chip.
Apple usually wouldn’t abandon its latest chip after just six months, and the iPad seems like an odd choice to introduce new AI tech compared to iPhones or MacBooks with wider user bases. So if Apple does launch a generative AI-focused iPad Pro with an M4 chip it would be a big surprise, as most Apple watchers weren’t expecting to see any AI devices announced until at least June, at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC 2024).
Gurman claims a generative AI focus isn’t the only notable upgrade to the iPad series; he says the iPad Pro could feature an upgraded OLED display, similar to those on iPhone models since the iPhone X, which, if correct, should mean the screen is sharper, has better color accuracy, and is easier to use in bright sunshine. He also speculates that Apple will announce a new 12.9-inch iPad Air.
While Apple won’t be the first to jump on the generative AI train, as shown by the Google Pixel 8 series and Samsung Galaxy S24 line-up it could implement AI technology in a new, unique, or interesting way. For example, Gurman speculates that Apple aims to incorporate more AI into applications to do things such as auto-writing text and summarizing articles in Safari.
We could also see AI-generated wallpapers, and image manipulation tools similar to Google Pixel’s Magic Eraser. It also says those features will use Apple’s internal large language model exclusive to them named Ajax which Apple believes is more powerful than ChatGPT.
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This matches previous reports that Apple has been in talks with OpenAI and Google about implementing Chat GPT or Gemini AI into an upcoming iOS 18 update that could include an AI chatbot and new features.
The new iMazing 3 app redesign brings a fresh user interface and Vision Pro connectivity support to the software, developer DigiDNA said Wednesday. The widely used software helps you manage iPhone, iPad and iPod content and functionality from a Mac.
“In the eight year since we released iMazing 2, regular updates have improved functionality and expanded device and OS support,” said DigiDNA CEO Jerome Bedat.
“To achieve our vision for iMazing 3, we had to redevelop our approach, with a modern user interface and new codebase that will allow us to deliver features in the future that no one else can offer,” he added.
DigiDNA iMazing 3 app redesign
At the heart of the overhauled iMazing 3 lies its Discover section. It’s a dedicated space that streamlines access to commonly used tools for transferring photos, downloading messages, managing music libraries and creating backups.
The intuitive interface ensures you can easily locate and use desired functions. And DigiDNA emphasized the fact that all iMazing 3 functionality is local, meaning no data leaves the computer. That’s a boon to privacy and security.
Notably, iMazing 3 extends its compatibility beyond iPhones, iPads and iPods. It now supports Apple’s Vision Pro AR/VR headset. Remote pairing allows connection and management of the device from a distance.
But the software’s main use is still dealing with iPhone and iPad functions and content from your Mac desktop.
Updated features of iMazing 3
Check out the various updates to iMazing 3. Photo: DigiDNA
A standout addition is the Device Overview section. It provides a slew of details about connected devices, including serial numbers, model numbers, device IDs and the date of the latest backup. The feature simplifies the process of managing multiple devices, ensuring users have a centralized hub for monitoring and maintaining devices.
Battery management also got an overhaul. It now resides in a dedicated section that offers insights into current temperature, design max charge, effective max charge and charge cycles. Furthermore, users can now easily manage storage capacity, ensuring optimal performance and efficient use of their devices’ resources.
Enhancing the overall user experience, iMazing 3 introduces a Dark Mode option, improved Backup and snapshot management tools, plus a redesigned settings interface.
You can download iMazing 3 for Mac or PC from the developer website. That particular version does not yet appear on App Store. Prices start at $40. Existing users who purchased the software after October 20, 2020, can upgrade for free. Folks holding older licenses can get a a 50% discount.
US basketball star LeBron James has long been part of Beats’ history, during which time he’s also been known to leak upcoming products – and it looks like he may have done it again. The NBA legend was captured with what appears to be a brand new and unreleased Bluetooth speaker in a reel posted to Instagram (see below) by the LA Lakers. In it, you can clearly see the Pill-shaped speaker has a Beats logo – and it’s on a lanyard, which is something the most recent Beats Pill speaker didn’t have.
The Beats Pill Plus was killed off in January 2022, but it wouldn’t be up for consideration as one of the best Bluetooth speakers if it were still being sold today. It dated back to Apple‘s acquisition of Beats – it was the first Beats speaker to come with a Lightning port, which was Apple’s connector of choice at the time – and was considered by many to be overpriced at launch in 2015, never mind years later when Apple finally stopped selling it.
What we’d like to see in a new Beats Pill speaker
The Beats Pill Plus had a decent 12-hour battery life, but modern models go much better. One of our current picks, the Tribit Stormbox Flow, is good for 30 hours. But that’s not the biggest bit of the Beats speaker we’d expect to be upgraded. The Bluetooth of 2015 wasn’t a patch on the Bluetooth of today, and the best such speakers now deliver vastly improved sound quality through the use of newer, better codecs.
One of the best illustrations of how Bluetooth speakers have changed is when you compare our current favorite, the Sonos Roam, with the most recent Beats. The price is the same, because Sonos is another more premium brand. But that has up-to-date Bluetooth, Wi-Fi for even better streaming, multi-room audio support, Google Assistant and Alexa. It automatically switches between Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, it has automatic room tuning and it sounds fantastic.
And that’s a model that’s about to be replaced: we’re expecting to see the Sonos Roam 2 this summer with even better Bluetooth and improved voice control. That’s likely to arrive this June – so for a new Beats to be a Sonos killer it needs to be something as awe-inspiring the legend currently carrying it. We’ll find out soon enough, because if this is indeed a bit of celebrity product placement then the actual product launch can’t be too far away.
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Tech. Tech never changes. Well… okay… tech does a lot of changing – there’s exciting new gadgets released everyday – but one constant in the space is the unrelenting speed with which hardware and software updates roll out (and we really wanted to make a Fallout reference because the new show is fantastic, more on that below).
It’s a flurry that we know can be a struggle to keep up with. So if you feel a little out of the loop on this week’s biggest news, and want to get back up to speed, we’ve collected the seven most important tech stories of the last seven days in this one article to help you out.
Below you’ll find quickfire recaps on all of the latest goings on in the technology space including major Google Photos AI updates, our Fallout thoughts, and which phone is best for eclipse photography. Let’s get into it.
7. We launched a new podcast!
(Image credit: Future)
Of course the biggest tech news story of the week is we have a new podcast – very creatively called the TechRadar Podcast. We’ve taken all the tech chats we’d have on Zoom, Slack and at our desks and put them into a microphone – so you can expect more of the insightful, first-person experiential content we give you on the site in a new audio-and-video-based format.
In our first episode we give you a recap of the year in tech so far – discussing CES 2024 and AI highlights – and show off a demo of the Apple Vision Pro. The show is hosted by our Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff, with Josephine Watson (Managing Editor, Lifestyle), Alex Walker-Todd (Senior Phones Editor) and Matt Evans (Fitness, Wellness, and Wearables Editor) lending their expertise, too. And as a futher bonus we were joined by Tom, The Tech Chap.
It’s available to listen to right now on YouTube and Spotify, and it should be appearing in other podcast feeds over the next few days!
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These include the Photos app getting a version of Google’s AI-powered Magic Eraser, and Nearby Share getting speed and reliability upgrades. Copilot also got some improvements you try out now, such as plug-in support for third-party services.
That said, Copilot also got a downgrade for some users, as Windows Insiders are saying the AI helper now launches on startup automatically in Windows 11 preview builds – which many have said they find frustrating.
5. We saw how well smartphones captured the eclipse
(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)
Everyone thinks their flagship smartphone is best and they especially have opinions about the cameras. Editor at Large Lance Ulanoff has tried and tested a lot of these phones and their camera arrays, so he decided to put them to the ultimate celestial test: The US Solar Eclipse.
It was an amazing show – even if New York City didn’t get totality – and a great showcase for the optical zoom capabilities of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, Google Pixel 8 Pro, and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. The only rule was no digital zoom.
The photos, which only worked because we used three tripods and an eclipse glasses lens as a filter, were way better than we expected. You might, though, be surprised by which phone did best.
4. Spotify’s playlist-making AI brought the party
(Image credit: Spotify)
Spotify has been steadily integrating more AI into its music streaming platform, and it’s now released a playlist-making bot for all Premium subscribers in the UK and Australia.
It’s in beta, currently – read: it’s a little rough around the edges – but the idea is you give the AI a prompt like “hard hitting beats that’ll help me ace my next workout” or “relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season” and it’ll spit out a selection of tracks.
There are some prompt restrictions, for instance you can’t make playlists for current events, for brands or use offensive language – but you can have a lot of fun with the tool. And if it doesn’t get things quite right you can add follow up prompts such as “more death metal” or “less upbeat” to fine-tune the selection. And of course you can also straight up delete tracks you hate.
3. Google gave away its Magic Editor – kinda
(Image credit: Google)
Google’s impressive AI image editing software, Magic Editor, is currently exclusive to paying Google One subscribers and Google Pixel 8 – or Pixel 8 Pro – phone owners, but this week Google announced that come May 15 all Google Photos users will have access to the tool for free.
Thanks to Magic Editor you can erase annoyances in your shot, reposition your subjects, cleverly adjust the lighting, and unblur your snaps to help make your favorite shots look even better – all you need is Google Photos and a smartphone with at least 3GB RAM and that’s running Android 8.0 / iOS 15 or higher.
Unfortunately, the free version only allows you to save 10 edited images a month but if you like the service you can pay for Google One or buy a Pixel phone to remove the restriction.
2. Fallout blew us away
(Image credit: JoJo Whilden/Prime Video)
Prime Video’s hotly anticipated Fallout show released this week, and it continues the golden age of video game adaptations we’ve seen in recent years through Netflix‘s Castlevania and Arcane, HBO’s The Last of Us, and even the big-screen takes on Sonic and Mario.
We watched the first four episodes, and found the ambitious adaptation is nothing less than “atomically entertaining” with a “satisfying blend of source material devotion and narrative originality.” Sure, there’s odd bump in the road, but these blemishes do little to spoil the luster of what is yet another fantastic video-game-to-TV adaption.
If you want to watch it yourself then you can binge the whole eight-episode first season on Prime Video right now.
1. Google launched its take on Apple’s Find My network
(Image credit: Google)
Android fans have been waiting for more than a year for Google’s rebooted Find My Device network – and this week it finally arrived. The feature, which is rolling out worldwide starting in the US and Canada, works in much the same way as Apple’s Find My network. Because it anonymously piggybacks millions of Android devices around the world, the network can show you precisely where your lost phone is – even if it’s offline.
If you have a Google Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro, the network even helps you find your phone when it’s powered off. We’ve also just seen the arrival of the first Find My Device-compatible trackers, courtesy of Chipolo and Pebblebee, which attach to your wallet, keys or luggage. We might attach one to our cat too, just to foil its hide-and-seek plans.
It took a while, but Google has released the long-awaited upgrade to its Find My Device network. This may come as a surprise. The update was originally announced back in May 2023, but was soon delayed with apparent launch date. Then, out of nowhere, Google decided to release the software on April 8 without major fanfare. As a result, you may feel lost, but we can help you find your way.
Here’s a list of the seven most important things you need to know about the Find My Device update. We cover what’s new in the update as well as the devices that are compatible with the network, because not everything works and there’s still work to be done.
1. It’s a big upgrade for Google’s old Find My Device network
(Image credit: Google)
The previous network was very limited in what it could do. It was only able to detect the odd Android smartphone or Wear OS smartwatch. However, that limitation is now gone as Find My Device can sniff other devices; most notably Bluetooth location trackers.
Gadgets also don’t need to be connected to the internet or have location services turned on, since the software can detect them so long as they’re within Bluetooth range. However, Find My Device won’t tell you exactly where the devices are. You’ll instead be given an approximate location on your on-screen map. You’ll ultimately have to do the legwork yourself.
Find My Device functions similarly to Apple’s Find My network, so “location data is end-to-end encrypted,” meaning no one, not even Google, can take a peek.
2. Google was waiting for Apple to add support to iPhones
(Image credit: Future)
The update was supposed to launch in July 2023, but it had to be delayed because of Apple. Google was worried about unwanted location trackers, and wanted Apple to introduce “similar protections for iOS.” Unfortunately, the iPhone manufacturer decided to drag its feet when it came to adding unknown tracker alerts to its own iPhone devices.
The wait may soon be over as the iOS 17.5 beta contains lines of code suggesting that the iPhone will soon get these anti-stalking measures. Soon, iOS devices might encourage users to disable unwanted Bluetooth trackers uncertified for Apple’s Find My network. It’s unknown when this feature will roll out as the features in the Beta don’t actually do anything when enabled.
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Given the presence of unwanted location tracker software within iOS 17.5, Apple’s release may be imminent. Apple may have given Google the green light to roll out the Find My Device upgrade ahead of time to prepare for their own software launch.
3. It will roll out globally
(Image credit: Future)
Google states the new Find My Device will roll out to all Android devices around the world, starting in the US and Canada. A company representative told us other countries will receive the same update within the coming months, although they couldn’t give us an exact date.
Android devices do need to meet a couple of requirements to support the network. Luckily, they’re not super strict. All you need is a smartphone running Android 9 with Bluetooth capabilities.
If you own either a Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro, you’ll be given an exclusive feature: the ability to find a phone through the network even if the phone is powered down. Google reps said these models have special hardware that allows them to pour power into their Bluetooth chip when they’re off. Google is working with other manufacturers in bringing this feature to other premium Android devices.
4. You’ll receive unwanted tracker alerts
(Image credit: Apple)
Apple AirTags are meant to be attached to frequently lost items like house keys or luggage so you can find them easily. Unfortunatley, several bad eggs have utilized them as an inexpensive way to stalk targets. Google would eventually update Android by giving users a way to detect unwanted AirTags.
For nearly a year, the OS could only seek out AirTags, but now with the upgrade, Android phones can locate Bluetooth trackers from other third-party brands such as Tile, Chipolo, and Pebblebee. It is, by far, the most single important feature in the update as it’ll ensure your privacy and safety.
You won’t be able to find out who placed a tracker on you. According to a post on the company’s Security blog, only the owner can view that information.
5. Chipolo and Pebblebee are launching new trackers for it soon
(Image credit: Chipolo)
Speaking of Chipolo and Pebblebee, the two brands have announced new products that will take full advantage of the revamped network. Google reps confirmed to us they’ll be “compatible with unknown tracker alerts across Android and iOS”.
On May 27th, we’ll see the introduction of the Chipolo ONE Point item tracker as well as the Chipolo CARD Point wallet finder. You’ll be able to find the location of whatever item they’re attached to via the Find My Device app. The pair will also sport speakers on them to ring out a loud noise letting you where they are. What’s more, Chipolo’s products have a long battery life: Chipolo says the CARD finder lasts as long as two years on a single charge.
Pebblebee is achieving something similar with their Tag, Card, and Clip trackers. They’re small and lightweight and attachable to larger items, Plus, the trio all have a loud buzzer for easy locating. These three are available for pre-order right now although no shipping date was given.
6. It’ll work nicely with your Nest products
(Image credit: Google)
For smart home users, you’ll be able to connect the Find My Device app to a Google Nest device to find lost items. An on-screen animation will show a sequence of images displaying all of the Nest hardware in your home as the network attempts to find said missing item. Be aware the tech won’t give you an exact location.
A short video on the official announcement shows there’ll be a message stating where it was last seen, at what time, and if there was another smart home device next to it. Next to the text will be a refresh option in case the lost item doesn’t show up.
Below the message will be a set of tools to help you locate it. You can either play a sound from the tracker’s speakers, share the device, or mark it as lost.
7. Headphones are invited to the tracking party too
(Image credit: Gerald Lynch/TechRadar/Future)
Believe it or not, some insidious individuals have used earbuds and headphones to stalk people. To help combat this, Google has equipped Find My Device with a way to detect a select number of earbuds. The list of supporting hardware is not large as it’ll only be able to locate three specific models. They are the JBL Tour Pro 2, the JBL Tour One M2, and the high-end Sony WH-1000XM5. Apple AirPods are not on the list, although support for these could come out at a later time.
Quite the extensive list as you can see but it’s all important information to know. Everything will work together to keep you safe.
Google today introduced the Find My Device network for Android-based products, mirroring the functionality of Apple’s Find My network that’s designed to locate Apple devices.
Like Apple Find My, the Android Find My Device network is able to use the millions of Android devices (running Android 9 or later) out in the wild to track down lost, stolen, and missing Android products. A lost Android smartphone is able to ping nearby Android devices using Bluetooth, relaying location information back to the owner.
Because the network uses Bluetooth, it works even when Android devices are offline and do not have a cellular or Wi-Fi connection. Some devices, such as the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro, will be locatable even when powered off or when the battery is dead. Find My offers the same feature set for iPhones.
Starting in May, the Find My Device network for Android smartphones will also work with Bluetooth trackers from companies like Chipolo and Pebblebee, allowing Android users to attach trackers to items to locate them with the Android network. While Google isn’t designing its own trackers, these third-party trackers will work in the same way that AirTags work.
To keep iPhone users from being tracked without their knowledge using this new network, Google worked with Apple to create an industry specification that lets both iPhone and Android users get alerts about nearby unknown item trackers regardless of the brand of the tracking device. Google waited until Apple implemented support for third-party tracker alerts to launch its network, based on code found in iOS 17.5.
iOS 17.5 appears to expand the “Found Moving With You” AirTag alerts to third-party item trackers, allowing the iPhone to recognize Android-based item trackers and those from other companies. “You can disable this item and stop it from sharing its location with the owner. To do this, follow the instructions provided on a website by the manufacturer of this item,” reads some of the iOS 17.5 code.
Google was able to learn from the criticism that Apple faced after launching AirTags. There have been numerous news stories and reports of criminals using AirTags for stalking, car thefts, and more, leading Apple to make multiple changes to unwanted tracker alerts. Apple upped the frequency of notifications and also designed a Tracker Detect app for Android devices, but Apple’s work with Google ensures a more permanent solution that keeps Android and iPhone users safe as another major tracking network launches.
Google has finally launched its long-awaited Find My Device network after . The technology leverages a crowdsourced network of over a billion Android devices to help people locate lost gadgets, with a basic functionality in line with similar offerings from Apple and Tile. It’s rolling out today to Android users in the US and Canada, with a global release coming soon.
Once installed, people can use the app to locate compatible Android phones and tablets. The tool will cause them to ring at your command and their location will pop up on a map. This map data works even if the items are offline. Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro smartphones will appear on the map if they’re powered off or if the battery is completely dead. That sounds pretty handy.
The technology isn’t yet available for everyday items, but that’s coming soon. Bluetooth tracker tags from Chipolo and Pebblebee will get integrated into the Find My Device app in May. This will let users locate just about anything, including car keys, purses, wallets and, hopefully, . The upcoming tags are being built specifically for the network.
Google
The Pebblebee offerings include tags, clips and slim cards for wallets. They hit store shelves in late May or early June. Chipolo is making versions of its One Point and Card Point trackers for Android devices, which will arrive in May. Google says more trackers are coming later this year, including products made by Motorola and eufy.
Google’s Find My Device service also integrates with Nest smart home gadgets. If you lose something in the home, the Find My Device app will show you the location of the item in relation to pre-existing Nest devices. This should help provide an “easy reference point” to snatch them back up.
Finally, there’s a nifty feature that lets you share the location of an item with other people, so friends and family can keep an eye on precious belongings. Google says it’ll let folks “easily divide and conquer if something goes missing.”
The new Find My Device tracking technology works on devices running Android 9 and above. That OS came out in 2018, so it means a whole lot of people will have access to this service. As for compatible products beyond Android devices and Bluetooth tags, the company says future software updates will allow integration with a full range of headphones from JBL and Sony.
Of course, there are the usual privacy concerns with this kind of thing. Google says that users can opt out of the service via a web portal if they feel uncomfortable, . Reports indicate that the technology has been ready for a while, but Google delayed it until Apple implemented tracking protections into iOS to . To that end, both companies to develop industry standards to fight the misuse of tracking devices. Apple applied updated protections against stalking in iOS 17.5, which is still in beta.
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Sam Altman, the CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, is reportedly seeking funding for an AI-powered, personal device – perhaps not unlike the Humane AI Pin – and ex-Apple design guru Jony Ive is apparently getting involved as well.
This is as per The Information (via MacRumors), and the rumor is that Altman and Ive have started a “mysterious company” together to make the device a reality. The report doesn’t mention much about the hardware, except to say it won’t look like a smartphone.
As we’ve seen with the Humane AI Pin and the Rabbit R1, having an AI assistant running on a device means you don’t necessarily need a display and traditional apps – the artificial intelligence engine can do everything for you, no tapping or scrolling required.
Altman and Ive are said to be seeking around $1 billion in funding, so this is clearly a major undertaking we’re talking about. It’s not clear how much involvement OpenAI would have, but its ChatGPT bot would most likely be used on the new device.
Previous rumors
ChatGPT could find itself in a new device (Image credit: Shutterstock/Daniel Chetroni)
This hasn’t come completely out of the blue: back in September The Financial Times reported that Altman and Ive were “in talks” to get funding for a new project from SoftBank, a Japanese investment company.
SoftBank has a stake in CPU company Arm, which might be tapped to provide components for the hardware – which can’t run entirely on AI cloud magic of course. All this is speculation for the time being, however.
In January, Sam Altman was spotted touring around a Samsung chip factory, so all the indications are that he’s planning something in terms of physical hardware. It remains to be seen just how advanced this hardware is though.
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During his time with Apple, Jony Ive led the design teams responsible for the iPod, iPhone, iPad and MacBook, so whatever is in the pipeline, we can expect it to look stylish. We can also expect to hear more about this intriguing device in the years ahead.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former Apple design chief Jony Ive have officially teamed up to design an AI-powered personal device and are seeking funding, reports The Information.
Little is known about the AI device at this time, but it won’t look like a smartphone. Altman is a major investor in the Humane AI pin, a wearable AI device that does not have a screen, so it’s possible he will create a similar product with Ive.
News of a possible partnership between Ive and Altman first surfaced last fall, but talks were in the early stages and nothing was official then. Ive and Altman’s unnamed startup is now sourcing funds from major venture capitalists, with Ive aiming to raise up to $1 billion in funding.
OpenAI could own a piece of the business, and the duo has also been in talks with SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Potential investors include Thrive Capital, an OpenAI investor, and Emerson Collective, a venture capital firm and philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs.
Ive left his role as Apple design chief in 2019, and while he still worked with the Cupertino company as a consultant for several years after through his firm LoveFrom, Ive and Apple stopped working together entirely in 2022.
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Google‘s new Android Find My Device network has started slowly rolling out, according to some users – and that finally opens up the possibility of some Apple AirTags rivals landing on the platform for tracking your lost belongings.
As spotted by Android tipster @Assembledebug on X (formerly Twitter), Google has seemingly started rolling out its new Find My Device network on some devices in the latest Google Play Service beta (version 24.12.14, below).
So far, this rollout appears to be very limited and also isn’t a full release of the feature, which Google announced way back at Google IO 2023. While a new settings page for the Find My Device network has appeared for these early users, they don’t yet have the option of opting into the service.
(Image credit: @AssembleDebug)
But this is still a significant moment for anyone who’s been patiently waiting for AIrTags equivalents to arrive on Android. Like its Apple rival, Google’s new Find My Device network will anonymously leverage millions of Android devices around the world (assuming they’ve opted in) to help you track down offline devices and accessories.
Like on recent iPhones, this offline tracking works by keeping your phone’s Bluetooth beacon signal active even when the handset is shut down. But the offline tracking feature may not work on every Android device – earlier rumors have suggested that the full Find My Device network will start by rolling out on the Google Pixel 9 (and possibly the Pixel 8) with Android 15.
So, what happens next? This slow rollout will likely continue until Google IO 2024 on May 14, when we can expect to hear more about Android’s promising tracking network – and hopefully, some new third-party trackers from Tile and Chipolo.
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How will it work?
(Image credit: Google)
Your Android phone already has a limited Find My Device service, which lets you find your phone if it’s nearby and connected to the internet. Google’s new network promises to be a massive upgrade by anonymously leveraging millions of Android phones to help track down your lost devices – much like Apple’s Find My network.
Apple calls this its “crowdsourced network of hundreds of millions of Apple devices”, but Android’s network could potentially be even bigger. It’ll also benefit from the cross-platform alerts that Google and Apple announced to “combat the misuse of Bluetooth location-tracking devices”.
The question is when we’ll see Google AirTags, or at least Google’s first-party equivalent of the trackers that can be attached to your belongings. Given this apparent rollout of the Find My Device network, our money is on some news at Google IO 2024, as we’ve previously heard rumors about a Google tracking device codenamed ‘Grogu’.
Given that makers of third-party brands like Tile, Chipolo and Pebblebee are all supporting the industry standard partnership between Apple and Google on Bluetooth trackers, we may see some Android-flavored versions of their tracking devices at the same time, too.
