It is easy to lose your valuable items like keys, bags, and wallets when traveling or running errands. Apple launched AirTag, a Bluetooth device aimed at helping people track their items. When using AirTag to track your items, you might see an error telling you that AirTag is not reachable, and you might wonder why.
So, why is AirTag not reachable? An AirTag is not reachable:
- when the Airtag is out of range, as it uses Bluetooth technology to communicate with nearby devices.
- when the AirTag battery is dead so it won’t be able to communicate with nearby devices and will show as not reachable
- when the AirTag is not paired with an Apple ID therefore it won’t be able to communicate with any device and will show as not reachable.
- when the AirTag is being blocked or jammed preventing it from communicating with nearby devices.
When the AirTag is out of its Bluetooth range, it will disconnect from a phone and an error message “AirTag Not Available, Move Around to Connect” will be displayed. To solve the issue, moving around until your phone reconnects with the AirTag can help. The AirTag will also not be reachable if you are using an incompatible device or trying to play music on it.
AirTag has 800 feet outdoors and 130 feet indoors Bluetooth range. If you attach an AirTag to your bag and you move more than 800 feet away from it outdoors or 130 feet indoors, your phone will disconnect from it.
This means you have to move your device within range to reconnect to the AirTag and locate your valuable items. Sometimes the error might appear even if you are within your AirTags Bluetooth range. This might occur if you are trying to connect your AirTag to an incompatible device, if your AirTag has a low battery, or if you are trying to play music through it.
The range will vary depending on where you have attached the AirTag on your item. If you have attached the AirTag on the outside of your bag or keys, it could be easier to track it than having it buried in the bag under many items like clothes or books.
Sometimes the issues is not caused by you moving out of your AirTags Bluetooth range. You might see the “AirTag Not Available, Move Around to Connect” even if the AirTag is five feet away.
Your AirTag could have a low battery charge, hence failing to connect properly with your phone. If you try to play music through your AirTag, you could also see the not reachable error on your phone.
Another reason your AirTag is not reachable is that you might be using a phone incompatible with the AirTag. When you see the AirTag is not reachable error message on your phone, you can fix the issue by restarting your phone. Turn off your phone and turn it back on. Go to the Find My app and play the sound to locate the AirTag.
If that does not work, check the battery status of your AirTag. If the AirTag is running out of battery, you need to find it and replace the batteries as soon as possible. If the batteries are not the issue, try removing AirTag from your Apple ID and reconnecting it to your phone.
You can opt for a hard reset if removing it from your Apple ID does not work. If you hard reset your AirTag and still see the not reachable error message on your phone, you should contact the Apple Support team and request a replacement or repair.
If you lose items like bags and keys easily, using an AirTag is one of the best methods to keep track of your items. It is easy to connect and use an AirTag, but sometimes you might receive error messages on your device while using it.
Apple began the development of AirTag in 2019, and many people were excited when AirTag was finally launched in April 2021. It is easy to use the AirTag to track your valuable items, but sometimes you might see the error message telling you AirTag is not reachable. If you see the error message on your phone and try to locate your item with the AirTag, you might be wondering why your AirTag is not reachable.
Notify When Found AirTag?
The introduction of AirTag allowed people to find their belongings using their iPhones or iPads easily. You can easily use your phone to get the last known location of your items. If you want to use AirTag to notify you when you leave one of your valuable items behind, here is how you do it.
You can use the “Notify When Left Behind” feature to enable your AirTag to send you notifications when it is moved away from your phone.
- Open the “Find My” app on your iPhone or iPad and
- Tap “Item”
- Tap the “AirTag” or the name you have assigned to your AirTag
- Scroll down and
- Select “Notify When Left Behind”
- Tap or slide the toggle next to “Notify When Left Behind” to enable it
When the toggle turns green, it means you have enabled the “Notify When Left Behind” feature. An alert will be made on your iPhone or iPad whenever you move away from your items with the AirTag.
The “Notify When Left Behind” feature is very important because it gives you a heads up before moving too far from your items. When you enable this feature, an alert will be sent to your phone whenever you leave your items behind. If someone is trying to steal your bag or wallet, you will be notified immediately the thief starts to move away from you.
This feature will reduce the time it takes for you to realize that one of your items is missing. You can also use the “Notify When Left Behind” feature on your Apple watch to display an alert if your iPhone or iPad is missing together with your AirTag.
Sometimes, you do not need the “Notify When Left Behind,” especially when you feel secure at home or somewhere. To avoid getting notifications every time you leave your AirTag attached to your bag at home as you run errands, use the “Notify Me, Except At” feature to receive alerts.
This feature will prevent AirTag from sending notifications to your iPhone or iPad when you leave in specific locations like at home or work. To select this feature, go to Find My app, locate “Notify Me, Except At,” and slide the toggle next to it to enable it. You can select safe locations such as your home.
You can also use the Find My app to set a designated fence on your AirTag. Your AirTag will not notify you if you leave it behind while within the designated fence. You can customize your designated fence by resizing the blue circle in the location you feel safe.
You can also select “Small,” “Medium,” or “Large” presets below the map, depending on how secure you feel the location is. Once you are done selecting your designated fence, you will be asked if the designated fence is for all devices connected to your phone or just the AirTag.
You can select “For all Items and Devices” if you want to receive alerts for all items connected to your phone or “For this Item” and choose your AirTag to receive alerts for your AirTag only.
Why does AirTag Need Light?
Apple’s AirTag has been useful for a while now in helping people locate their valuable items. However, when you try to locate your items with the AirTag in the dark, the exercise might be a little difficult. You will see a message “More Light Needed,” and you might be wondering why AirTag needs light.
The AirTag needs light because ARKit requires the camera on your phone to work, and without enough light, it will not work as AirTag uses this in combination with a number of technologies such as LiDAR, U1, ARKit, an accelerometer, and Bluetooth signals to locate items. ARKit enables your iPhone or iPad to use “Precision Finding” technology to precisely locate where the AirTag is.
If you try to use your iPhone or iPad in the dark or a poorly lit room to locate the AirTag, the camera will not be able to capture the phone’s surroundings perfectly. If the camera does not get enough lighting, you will see the message “More Light Needed,” and you have to provide more light to ensure your device gets the exact location of your AirTag.
Many people usually get confused when they see the message “More Light Needed” when using their iPhone or iPad to locate their AirTag. When Apple released AirTag, it was marketed as a device using Bluetooth technology; hence most people know Bluetooth devices do not need light to work.
However, AirTag used a combination of technologies to ensure it provides the most accurate location. ARKit is one of the technologies used in AirTag, and it works when the camera on your iPhone or iPad works properly and has access to enough light.
To make the message “More Light Needed” disappear, you should find a light source or ensure that the camera is not obstructed. If you are indoors, you can turn on the light, and if you are outdoors in the dark, you can turn on the torch on your phone.
The message “More Light Needed” is also a good way of alerting you to pay more attention to your environment rather than concentrating on your phone’s screen. If you turn on the light in the room or use the torch, it will be easier to look for the AirTag without bumping into your furniture and hurting yourself.
When the iPhone displays the message “More Light Required” while trying to connect to an AirTag, it means that the iPhone’s camera needs more light to be able to read the AirTag’s unique code. The AirTag works by using Bluetooth signals to communicate with nearby Apple devices, but in order to initially pair the AirTag with an iPhone, the iPhone’s camera must scan the AirTag’s code.
To ensure that the iPhone camera can read the AirTag’s code, it’s recommended to hold the AirTag directly under a bright light source when trying to connect it to the iPhone. This allows the camera to capture the code more easily and establish the initial connection between the AirTag and the iPhone. Once the initial pairing is complete, the AirTag can be tracked by the iPhone even without direct light.
Do You Have To Charge AirTag?
Most people choose to attach AirTags to their bags, wallets, and car keys to keep track of them when traveling or running errands. Since an AirTag requires a battery to function, you might be wondering if you have to charge it.
AirTags do not need to be charged as they come with a replaceable battery that lasts for about a year, depending on usage. When the battery is running low, you will receive a notification on your iPhone, and you can easily replace the battery by twisting off the back cover and inserting a new CR2032 battery.
You do not have to charge an AirTag because they are designed to use a CR2032 battery and do not have a charging port. When your AirTags battery runs low, you need to buy a new one and replace the old one. The AirTag battery can last up to one year before you need to change it.
You can use your iPad or iPhone to check your AirTags battery level to ensure it does not deplete before you realize it. When you buy a new battery for your AirTag, ensure it does not have a bitterant. Bitterant is added to small batteries to prevent children from touching them, but Apple announced that AirTags would not work with batteries with bitterant.
The AirTag uses a CR2032 coin battery that you can easily find in electronic shops, drug stores, and online shopping sites like Amazon. AirTag does not have a charging port, and when it runs low on power, you need to replace the old battery with a new one.
To replace the AirTag battery, you need to press down on the steel battery cover and rotate it in a counterclockwise direction until this cover stops rotating. Remove the cover and the battery. Insert the new CR2032 battery, ensuring that the positive side is facing up. Place back the cover and rotate it clockwise until it stops.
It is important to regularly check your AirTags battery level to avoid using it without enough battery power. To check your AirTags battery level, go to your iPhone or iPad,
- Open the Find My app and
- Select the “Items” tab
- Tap on “AirTag” or the name you have assigned to your AirTag and
- Click on the battery icon under the name
If the charge is low, you will see the message “Low Battery,” meaning it is time to replace the battery.
Before you purchase the CR2032 battery, you should ensure the battery does not have a bitterant coating. CR2032 batteries are coin-shaped and small, hence easy for children to put in their mouths and try to eat them. The bitterant coatings give the batteries a bitter taste which is a method to deter kids from swallowing it.
However, Apple says that the CR2032 battery bitterant coating might not work with your AirTag. The battery packing has information if the battery is covered in bitterant; hence easy to know which one you should buy for your AirTag.
Wrap Up
There can be various reasons why your AirTag is not reachable; some of the most common ones include moving out of range, incompatibility with your device, low or dead battery, and trying to play music through the AirTag.
You can use the suggestions in this article to fix the issue if your AirTag is not reachable. You can use the Find My app to get notifications on your phone if you move away from your AirTag.
AirTag also requires light to locate items in certain situations. If you see the “Need More Light” message, ensure you provide it to make tracking much easier. Finally, you do not need to charge your AirTag. It does not use rechargeable batteries and does not have a charging port. You can buy a CR2032 battery and replace the old one once it runs out of power.
