Apple and Google hardly agree on many things when it comes to their consumer offerings. When we say that they hardly agree, of course we do not mean that they are always on each other’s throats on every single issue. They offer two wildly different products that arrive at the same solution most of the time. Take Android and iOS for example, both highly successful smartphone platforms that offer an app ecosystem, smart integrations, and even machine learning based digital assistants. Both platforms look vastly different and function even more so in the hands of consumers though. There is a common denominator for both Google’s and Apple’s offerings though – privacy and security.
In this case though, while Apple and Google share the same concern over privacy and security, their approach can also be quite different. Android’s privacy and security layer has a slightly different depth compared to Apple’s. The Apple Play Store and Google Play Store ensure that app developers comply to certain practices and regulations to stay relevant, but both Apple and Google offer slightly different guidelines for their app marketplaces. Still, if developers want to have their app listed on both stores, their apps naturally must comply to both Apple’s and Google’s guidelines. Not so for location tracking devices so far though.
Apple introduced a clever Bluetooth based location-tracking tool we now know as AirTags. While the AirTags were intended as a sort of keychain or tool to keep track of your things at home or as a reminder for you not to leave things in your favourite café, the reality is a little different. A few weeks after AirTags were introduced, there were reports of the tiny pucks used for stalking purposes. To be fair, while AirTags was the center of attention in many of these cases, Apple’s solution was not the one being used in privacy invasion cases. Solutions from manufacturers like Samsung got involved shortly after they were introduced. To be fair though, thanks to the sophistication of the AirTags, offenders preferred Apple’s solution.
Over the years, Apple has introduced new measures as a stop gap solution to ensure that users are not being unwantedly tracked by other individuals. One of the solutions was a sort of notification when an AirTag device that your iPhone does not recognize comes in proximity via Find My app on the iOS. But this is only a solution for AirTags, what about others in the field? This is where Google also comes in.
Google does not make their own Bluetooth based location-tracking tool, but their partnering manufacturers do. Players like Samsung, Tile, and a few others make tracking devices that can easily pair to both Android and iOS devices. That also means there needs to be a standardized specification to ensure that all the trackers are as safe as one another to use. Yes, it is a beneficial thing for us the users.
Google and Apple’s partnership in the issue of standardizing Bluetooth based locating-tracking tools is a big step forward for this segment in the industry. In one way, it allows other players in the industry to catch up to what Apple has done with their AirTags. It ensures that industry players comply to a certain standard in making these little tracking devices, meaning there will be standardized parts produced by a single or multiple manufacturers creating economies of scale allowing the technology to be a lot more accessible. Standardized parts not only ensure that the industry can be policed at higher standards, but it also offers plenty more compatibility for users. It could allow Android users to use an AirTag to track their keys, for example and vice versa.
For now, standardized specifications for these trackers are not yet a reality. Google and Apple have submitted their draft proposal to the authorities for now, which means you can only expect to see some sort of results in the coming few months. Samsung, Tile, Chipolo, eufy Security, and Pebblebee have expressed their support in the program, which is a good sign for the proposal. Google and Apple expects to have some sort of production guideline and implementation by the end of 2023 with support for both iOS and Android in the same timeline.
