After a year of additional development, Apple is opening its iPhone notifications to external Bluetooth trackers to prevent stalking. The feature is included in iOS 17.5, which is available now.
A month after enabling Bluetooth tracking on Android, Apple is now ready to scan external Bluetooth trackers with the iPhone. Google had originally planned to add the functionality in Android 13 last year following the success of Apple AirTags, but that plan was postponed after the risks of stalking with such Bluetooth trackers became clear.
After a year of fine-tuning, Google and Apple are ready to read each other’s tags to prevent stalking. Android has been ready for use since the beginning of April and has activated 3 billion devices to measure Bluetooth trackers in one fell swoop.
Apple continued to support AirTags throughout, but with iOS 17.5 it also reads external Bluetooth trackers to prevent stalking. According to the DULT (Detecting Unwanted Location Trackers) rule, users will now be notified when a Bluetooth tracker is following them even though it is not yours.
A notification will appear on your iPhone that an “object” is following you when you move. Later, you can see on your iPhone who owns the tracker, play a sound to find the tracker, and you can even turn it off remotely.