If you’re an iPhone user not throwing an AirTag tracker in your checked luggage, you’re doing travel wrong. And, in iOS 18.2, the ability to track down your misplaced suitcase is set to improve.
The iOS 18.2 Beta 2 arrived today with a new feature within the Find My app, enabling you to share the tracker information with the airline that was supposed to be a trustworthy custodian.
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The new “Share Item Location” tool will make is easier to “get help finding a lost item by sharing its location with an airline or trusted person. They will be able to see the location of your item, for a limited time,” Apple explains to users.
That limited time ends when the AirTag is reunited with the owner, MacRumors reports, or when a pre-set sharing date expires AirTag owners will also have the option to allow others to get in touch via the phone number or email address the AirTag is registered to.
In practice, this might be a good way to safeguard your luggage which, more often than not, will have been loaded onto the wrong plane and hence comes out on the wrong baggage carousel in the wrong city or country.
The ability to share with an airline employee (either through Find My app on an iPhone or via a weblink) could enable airline employees to instruct a colleague in another airport to physically go and secure the bag.
The new feature, likely to become available within the main iOS 18.2 release scheduled for early next month, builds on the existing capabilities to share with a trusted contact.
You can put a price on peace of mind – it’s £29
Sometimes you can’t put a price on peace of mind, and the £29 Apple charges for an AirTag to plop in your luggage and forget about has always been a no brainer. However, it’s one thing to know where your case is, it’s another thing to have it secured and returned to you. The extension of this feature in iOS 18.2 will empower the people who can provide tangible help to actually do so. In an ideal world the representative you speak with either in person or on the phone should be able to set the wheels in motion to put safe hands on your case.
