Item trackers haven’t always been great on Android. While iOS has access to AirTags tracked by the iPhone’s Find My network, Android users have had to make do with less efficient solutions from companies like Tile. But thanks to Google’s new Find My Device network, we’re starting to see a new wave of item trackers that are supported by nearly every Android phone out there.
The Pebblebee Tag for Android is among the first trackers to use the Find My Device network. There’s a lot to like about it, but the way Find My Device works — combined with the network’s delayed rollout — means that, depending on where you use it, the Tag might not be a very reliable way to track down lost items.
Pebblebee for Android
The Pebblebee Tag app for Android is one of the first trackers to support Google’s Find My Device network. The Tag app is useful in many ways, but Find My Device may not be as useful to you.
- The rechargeable battery is beautiful.
- Includes ways to associate the tracker with items.
- Designed specifically for Google’s Find My Device network
- Find My Device mass tracking doesn’t always work
Price, availability and specifications
The Pebblebee Tag app for Android is a new version of the Pebblebee tag tracker. The old model works with Apple’s Find My network or the Pebblebee app to locate items; For Android devices The version uses the Pebblebee app or Google’s Find My Device network. (For simplicity’s sake, I won’t mention “for Android devices” throughout this review — if I say “Pebblebee Tag,” assume I mean the Android version.)
This version of the Pebblebee Tag costs $35, and as of this writing, it’s only available for pre-order directly from Pebblebee. You can get a two-pack for $65 (a $5 savings), or a four-pack for $120 (a $20 discount compared to the individual price). Pebblebee says orders placed today are expected to ship within two to four weeks.
If you’re looking to pick one, be careful: the tag version works with Apple Find My. He is This device is available at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy for $30, but this model does not support Android’s Find My Device network. Be sure to double-check which model you’re purchasing.
What’s good about Pebblebee Tag?
Multipurpose and rechargeable
The Pebblebee Tag is a small plastic rectangle about the width of a full-sized SD card, but slightly longer and twice as thick as an SD card. The small size makes it easy to stash away, and it comes with adhesive tape to attach the tracker to objects and a silicone sleeve designed to fit over a bag strap. It’s IPX6 certified, so while submerging it underwater could damage it, it should be able to withstand a rain shower without a problem. It all adds up to a tracker that you can use in a lot of different ways.
It’s also rechargeable, which makes it better than alternatives from companies like Tile or Chipolo. Pebblebee says the Tag’s battery can last up to eight months per charge. Rechargeable batteries tend to lose capacity over time, but I’m not really worried about that with the Tag. Even if the battery life does diminish over the years, I think charging it once every six or four months is still better than buying disposable batteries, which typically need to be replaced once a year in other trackers.
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The Tag is among the first trackers to work with Google’s Find My Device network. On the face of it, that’s great: Apple’s AirTag trackers are probably the thing I’m most jealous of as an Android user, and I was really excited about the idea of getting a similar location-tracking experience from the masses without having to buy an iPhone.
The Find My Device app can display your tracker’s last known location on a map and can make nearby trackers beep so you can find your wallet or keys in the couch cushions. There’s also the option to share the tag with others, giving them access to its location in the Find My Device app on their own phones. All of this is useful. But Find My Device’s main feature — group location tracking, which the vast majority of Android phones in use today support — won’t work very well in many situations. At least not yet.
What’s bad about Pebblebee Tag?
Find My Device is no longer useful at all today.
The Find My Device network uses anonymous location data from Android phones to help users locate their compatible devices, including trackers like the Pebblebee Tag. Participation in the network is the default on phones running Android 9 or higher — meaning all but the oldest devices will be participating.
But while every Android phone basically runs on Can While some smartphones aren’t participating in the Find My Device network, that won’t happen. Google told me that while the Find My Device network is set to launch in the US by the end of May, individual enrollment requires phones to have a screen lock and location services enabled. That means a significant portion of Android phones are participating in the network, but Google couldn’t give me specific numbers or timelines for device enrollment.
By default, for phones active on the Find My Device network, sharing is in aggregate only. According to Google, your tracker’s location is only updated once “several” Android phones connect to it. Once that happens, the locations of those devices are averaged across the times they connected to the tracker to give you the tracker’s approximate location.
This seems logical as a default behavior. You have an option, deep in your phone’s settings, to allow missing items to use Just You can enable your phone to update its location to Find My Device, but enabling this behavior may reveal your location to a stranger.
Because the Pebblebee and similar trackers only connect to nearby devices periodically, depending on where your tracker is located, people using the default Find My Device settings may not be near it long enough to help update its location in the Find My Device app.
To test the Find My Device feature on the card, I “lost” it in the middle of town in my small town, hiding it between a relatively busy sidewalk and an area with outdoor seating. I dropped the card around 9 a.m. and didn’t receive an update on its location all day.
At around 6pm that evening, I went back to get the device, leaving my regular phone behind. Before I picked it up, I sat near where I had left the device for about 10 minutes, with a different Android phone logged into a different Google account. There were several other people sitting within range as well. However, the device’s location didn’t update in the Find My Device app again until it was near my regular phone logged into my regular Google account for a few minutes.
Before I got the card back, its last location update was a few minutes before I dropped it, at a coffee shop about a block away from where it ended up sitting all day. If I lost something in that situation, Find My Device wouldn’t be able to get me close enough to it to find it. It’s possible, maybe even likely, that the location would update if I dropped the card on a busy day or left it there for a longer period.
Of course, the device is supposed to work best in densely populated areas. If I had left it in an airport, a bar, or a park in a big city, I imagine there would have been enough Android phones nearby long enough to get an update on its location within the nine-hour time frame I ran the test. However, I didn’t drop the device in the woods; it was between a busy pedestrian walkway and a cluster of benches and tables. There were half a dozen people sitting nearby when I retrieved the device.
But to reiterate: All of this could improve as Find My Device continues to roll out in phases. Find My Device officially completed its U.S. rollout by the end of May, but individual participation varies based on a number of factors, and as a result, many phones still aren’t contributing. Regardless, we’ll revisit this review later to reassess Find My Device’s performance.
Should you buy it?
The Pebblebee Tag is useful, despite my disappointing first experience with the Find My Device location tracking feature. It can make a noise on demand when clipped to something you tend to lose around the house, and as someone who constantly loses small items around the house, that’s a pretty attractive feature. However, Pebblebee’s Clip and Card trackers, designed for keychains and wallets, might be more useful in this regard.
Another benefit I don’t want to overlook is that the tag will give you a rough idea of the last time you were near whatever it is pinned to. Even if the location isn’t exactly specific, this could help you find a lost item.
But Find My Device is the reason this version of the Tag app exists. You can also use it with Pebblebee’s own app, but the older, less expensive model designed to work with Apple’s Find My Device also supports the Pebblebee app on iOS or Android. If you don’t want to use Find My Device, there’s no reason to buy the Pebblebee Tag app for Android.
I think the fact that Find My Device is still limited despite being rolled out to eligible devices should give me pause about pre-ordering trackers specifically for Find My Device. Google also couldn’t tell me when to expect the situation to improve.
However, if you’re primarily looking for an item tracker to help you find things around the house or as a safeguard against losing your carry-on luggage at the airport, the Pebblebee Tag might be for you. Just be aware that it’s too early to get excited about the Find My Device feature.
Pebblebee for Android
The Pebblebee Tag app for Android is one of the first trackers to support Google’s Find My Device network. The Tag app is useful in many ways, but Find My Device may not be as useful to you.
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