Lost your luggage? iOS 18.2 will let you share your Apple AirTag's info with airlines
The latest beta of iOS 18.2 adds a new location-sharing feature to help locate lost items with officials
💼 Apple is making it easier to find your luggage with iOS 18.2
🔖 It’s adding shareable links to your AirTag’s location in the Find My app
📍 This will allow third parties to see the location of your lost items for a few hours
📱 iOS 18.2 is currently in beta and is expected to launch in December
Apple is making it easier to find your lost luggage with AirTags in an upcoming iOS update. The company just dropped the second iOS 18.2 beta, and in it is a new feature that lets you share the location of your AirTag with a trusted person, airline, police officer, and more to help you find missing items.
This feature will undoubtedly come in handy for my fellow travelers who hate the risk of checking a bag as much as I do. I’m always worried it’ll get stuck behind somewhere when I get off my plane, so having a feature like this will be very reassuring.
The feature is easy to use. It works by letting you create a shareable link to an AirTag or other device you have on your Find My network. When you send it to someone, they can open it and see your device’s live location for a few hours before expiring. Apple advises sharing these links with trusted people and sources like airlines. When sharing a link, your email address and phone number will also be visible, and you’ll be able to see everyone who viewed the link.
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If any of this is ringing a bell, it’s because you can already do this… kind of. You can share the location of your devices with others, but not as easily as sharing a link. It usually involves adding others as trusted people and connecting your AirTag with their Apple Account, which isn’t wise for quickly finding your lost luggage at the airport. But with iOS 18.2, finding your lost items will get a lot easier and more accessible.
In addition, Apple is adding the ability to view the email address and phone number associated with a lost AirTag so you can easily return it to its owner. The feature will work with any device on your Find My network that you mark as lost.
We expect iOS 18.2 to be released during the first week of December, as reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. The update will also include a handful of new Apple Intelligence features like Visual Intelligence, Genmoji, and a redesigned Mail app.
Max Buondonno is a writer at The Shortcut. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop.