New Android feature will tell you if you're being stalked with a tracking device

02 August 2023 , 13:27

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Your Android device will be getting a new extra safety feature to help you keep tabs on any unwanted tracking devices

A new 'anti-stalking' Android feature will now let you know if someone has placed an unknown tracking device in your vicinity.

The tool, called 'Unknown tracker alerts', gives users notifications if an unknown Apple AirTag has been in their vicinity over a long period of time. Costing just £35, Apple AirTags are small, coin-sized devices intended to help you keep track of your luggage or other belongings using Apple's 'Find My' app.

READ MORE: Inside chilling rise of AirTag stalking as Apple device is branded 'gift to abusers'

However, following terrifying reports that AirTags have been misused as a 'stalking' device, Google announced a partnership with rivals Apple to tackle the issue.

Android phones will now warn you if an unknown AirTag has been moving with you for some time (Apple / AndroidPolice)

As a result, 'Unknown Tracker Alerts' will start appearing on Android 6.0+ devices over the coming months starting this week. According to AndroidPolice, you'll be able to access these via the 'Safety & emergency' page in the settings menu, where you'll also be able to see all the trackers that have been detected in the last 48 hours.

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The feature is almost identical to one introduced by Apple for the iPhone and iPad in December last year. This means that an iPhone will notify you if an AirTag has been separated from its owner and has been close by to you for between eight and 24 hours. iPhone users can also use the Precision Finding tool to locate any unknown AirTags that have been moving with them.

The partnership between Apple and Google to tackle misuse of AirTags was first announced in March of this year, after dozens of reports that the devices were being used to follow people, particularly women.

Apple has hit out against the misuse of AirTags - and introduced a number of features to make them safer

For example, in March, 'Love Island' star Montana Brown told the BBC that she found an AirTag hidden in her bag while at an airport and flushed it down the toilet.

She said: "It was only really when I came back home and I told a few of my friends... I realised that's so creepy."

This is just one example of many reports of women finding AirTags hidden in their cars, handbags, jackets or even children's backpacks.

Apple has repeatedly spoken out against the misuse of AirTags. Last February, it said that 'incidents of AirTag misuse are rare; however, each instance is too many'.

Apple said: "AirTag was designed to help people locate their personal belongings, not to track people or another person's property, and we condemn in the strongest possible terms any malicious use of our products."

The tech giant also explained that every AirTag can be tracked back to its owner, will play a loud sound alert, and that it works with law enforcement in cases where an AirTag has been misused.

Ciaran Daly