SmartTag on Android's new Find My Device network?

[new23d]

Does anybody know if Samsung has plans to integrate their UWB SmartTag trackers with the new Find My Device global network [1] of Android devices?

It'd be cool if we could have global search and UWB together.

[1] https://9to5google.com/2024/04/04/google-android-find-my-device-network-launch-date/

[ShadowWw]

https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-smarttag-2-find-my-device-network/

[SimonDK]

This is not the question.

The question is if samsung will include their tags into the Find My Device network. If they did that, the Smarttag would actually get spotted.

No one with a Samsung phone has this feature enabled, unless they have some tag themselves, so it is very seldom that the Smarttag actually gets detected by other phones. Airtag works much better, because it is enabled on default on the iPhones.

[new23d]

Seems like Motorola got there first. 'Moto Tag' has this apparently.

[aarick]

Many video on YouTube have compared Samsung smarttag and Apple airtag and have shown that Samsung smarttag tracking is superior or on par to Apple airtag. At least the videos in Australia definitely shows that. I think Samsung smartthings find network is enabled by default on device that supports it unlike Google find my device network and there are usually more Samsung devices around. Google find my network tracker have been shown to be useless so far since it's disabled by default. 

Here is one from Australia: https://youtu.be/61_L4lO4cUI

[okrich]

According to their latest email, this is not true. accessories will be tracked. "Find My Device can already help you locate your devices and accessories when they’re online. You recently received an email that your device would soon join the Find My Device network. This feature is now on for xxxxxxxxxxxx.

Get help finding your offline devices

Your Android devices will securely send their most recent online locations to Find My Device to help locate them when they’re offline.

If you set a screen lock for your Android device, such as a PIN, pattern, or password, Find My Device can also use the network of over a billion devices in the Android community to help locate your items when they’re offline.

Help others find their lost items

Your Android device and others in the network use Bluetooth to scan for nearby items. Your devices will securely send the locations where nearby items were detected to Find My Device, so their owners can see them in the app. If you keep the default option where the network is used to locate devices in high-traffic areas only, location info sent by your device is only used if others in the network also detect the item."

[FredW2]

I think the usefulness of either is determined to a large extent by the phones in use.  In a few countries, Apple outsells Samsung.  In those countries (like the US), Apple would have an edge.  In the countries where Samsung outsell Apple (a lot of countries), Samsung would probably have the edge.  And now that Google has introduced tracker support to all Android devices, they may take the advantage (except in the US, where Apple outsells all Android).

[FredW2]

I am not sure about the rest of the world, but in the US (and a few other countries I have looked at) all radio frequencies are legal to be recieved, but not neccessarily transmitted on.  And the frequencies of these devices are public domain.  I would thing it would be legal, if Google, Apple, and Samsung could figure out the formats, to use the trackers of each other.  That being said, I wouldn't want to have the headaches involved in the lawsuits would probably be filed.

[new23d]

They already do but not for utilitarian functionality. Only for safety: https://security.googleblog.com/2024/05/google-and-apple-deliver-support-for.html