iPhone owners urged to update software immediately over safety risk

Apple is urging customers to download the latest version of its iOS software for iPhones to help prevent Bluetooth stalking.

Since the creation of its AirTags – small, Bluetooth-enabled trackers designed to help locate keys and bags – there have been numerous cases of the devices being used to track people.

In 2022, Apple released an update that allowed iPhone users to detect AirTags around them, but in a rare show of Big Tech unity, the latest software can also alert users to trackers using Android software.

The capability is installed in its latest update, iOS 17.5, while Google will enable alerts for unknown AirTags in the latest Android 6.0+ devices. 

The new industry specification, known as ‘detecting unwanted location trackers (DULT), is a cross-platform project designed to prevent Bluetooth trackers like Apple Airtags from being misused to track people without their knowledge.

This will allow both iOS and Android software to alert users when a tracker from any platform that conforms to the standard is travelling with you – but the owner of it is not. 

Apple users will get an ‘Item Found Moving With You’ alert on their phone if an unknown Bluetooth tracking device is moving with them ‘over time, regardless of the platform the device is paired with’.

Apple said: ‘If a user gets such an alert on their iOS device, it means that someone else’s AirTag, Find My accessory, or other industry specification-compatible Bluetooth tracker is moving with them.’

If users get the alert, they will be able to view the tracker’s identifier, make a tracker play a sound to help find it, and be given instructions on how to disable it.

Google said: ‘With this new capability, Android users will now get a “Tracker travelling with you” alert on their device if an unknown Bluetooth tracking device is seen moving with them over time, regardless of the platform the device is paired with.’

The companies have said Bluetooth tag manufacturers including Chipolo, eufy, Jio, Motorola, and Pebblebee have committed that future tags will be compatible.

When Apple first released the AirTag, it was intended to allow users to track items that could be easily lost, such as wallets and keys, but it became associated with unwanted tracking. 

At first, to help prevent this, Apple added a Tracking Notifications option in Find My App, found in iOS 14.5 or later. Android added in a similar unknown tracker alert to find trackers placed near people or in their belongings without their knowledge or consent.