FamilyAtlasA manual check
You tap ‘Scan nearby’. It stops after about 30 seconds or when you leave the screen, and never runs in the background. Hearing nothing never means there is no tracker.
Tracker Safety
Check for unknown trackers near you, when you choose.
While FamilyAtlas is open, Tracker Safety listens for about 30 seconds for the broadcasts that Apple Find My accessories (such as AirTag or AirPods) and Google Find Hub trackers send. Each person turns it on for themselves, on their own phone.
Coming with FamilyAtlas early access. No tracker model has been certified or tested with FamilyAtlas on real hardware.
A private history
What was heard stays on your phone for 24 hours, under a key that changes when you clear it; older entries are removed the next time you open or use the check. It isn’t sent to FamilyAtlas or shared with your family: a parent can’t see a child’s.
Repeat and movement hints
A broadcast heard in several checks is marked. With the optional movement check, ‘May be moving with you’ needs three checks over at least 30 minutes, at places at least 300 m apart.
Play sound, if the device has one
After a check you can try a sound on a device from it. Support is only known by trying; FamilyAtlas sends a request, can’t confirm that a sound played, and many devices don’t support it.
How to use it, step by step
- Parent: open ‘Family location’ and tap ‘Items’. Child: on the ‘Family’ tab, below your items. Each person uses it on their own phone; a parent can’t turn it on, see it or clear it for a child.
- Turn on ‘Unwanted tracking checks’. That asks for no permission and starts nothing.
- Tap ‘Scan nearby’ and keep the screen open for about 30 seconds, or tap ‘Stop’. The first time, iPhone and iPad ask for Bluetooth; Android asks for Nearby devices and precise location. Leaving the screen or the app stops the check, and nothing from it is kept.
- Read the results: a kind of tracker broadcast with an unconfirmed type, a rough signal, and how often it was heard in your checks.
- Optional: turn on ‘Movement check (uses location)’ to see ‘May be moving with you’ when the same broadcast was heard in three checks, 30 minutes or more apart in total, at places at least 300 m apart.
- ‘Play sound’ tries a sound on a device from the check that just finished (for about two minutes). Whether it supports one is only known by trying; FamilyAtlas says when it can’t, and can’t confirm that a sound played. ‘Cancel sound’ ends the request and the connection, and asks the device to stop where its protocol has a stop command; the device may keep sounding for a while.
- ‘Mine or borrowed (24 h)’ hides a warning for 24 hours; ‘Undo’ brings it back. ‘Clear history’ starts the counts again; turning the switch off erases everything.
What it doesn’t do
- It doesn’t read Apple’s or Google’s location networks or find out whose a tracker is.
- It doesn’t block, turn off or pair with a tracker.
- It doesn’t warn you in the background: keep your phone’s own tracking alerts on.
- It shows a type of network, never a confirmed brand or model.
- It doesn’t contact the police or anyone else for you.
What a check can hear
| Android | iPhone and iPad | |
|---|---|---|
| Google Find Hub broadcasts | Manual check while the app is open | Manual check while the app is open |
| Apple Find My broadcasts | Manual check while the app is open | Limited: iOS doesn’t show apps every Apple broadcast |
| Warnings in the background | Android’s own unknown tracker alerts | iOS Tracking Notifications (iOS 17.5 or later) |
| Play sound | Some devices, on request | Some devices, on request |
Trackers change their broadcast identity from time to time, so a check can miss one or count it as new. FamilyAtlas never joins identities up by signal strength or timing.
Your phone’s own tracking alerts
These warn you in the background, which Tracker Safety doesn’t. FamilyAtlas can’t see or change them.
If a tracker may be moving with you
- It may be borrowed or belong to someone you’re with.
- Your phone’s own tracking alert can show details and play a sound. Look in bags, coats and the car.
- To turn off a tracker you find, follow its manufacturer’s official instructions.
- Turning off your phone’s Bluetooth doesn’t turn off a tracker.
- If you feel unsafe, contact someone you trust or local emergency services.
Questions
Does Tracker Safety protect me all the time?
No. It checks only when you tap ‘Scan nearby’, while FamilyAtlas is open. For background warnings, use your phone’s own tracking alerts.
If a check hears nothing, does that mean there is no tracker?
No. Some trackers aren’t broadcasting, some broadcasts aren’t visible to apps, and identities change. A check that hears nothing proves nothing.
Can a parent see what a child’s check found?
No. Each person’s checks and history stay on their own phone. Nothing is sent to FamilyAtlas or shared with the family.