Motorola’s stellar Moto Tag is now actually the AirTag of the Android world

Motorola’s Moto Tag product, which competes head-on with Apple’s popular AirTag tracker, is about to take pleasure in a serious increase in performance. Upon putting in the brand new software program model 01.00.073.10 of the Moto Tag app, in addition to model 2.0.93 of the tracker firmware itself, customers of the gadget can be greeted with a much more exact monitoring expertise than in months prior. This set of updates, which is rolling out now, provides official assist for the system’s preexisting ultra-wideband (UWB) radio (via The Verge).

For reference, when the Moto Tag itself was launched final 12 months, it shipped with built-in UWB know-how. UWB permits for exact distance measurement with directionality, a feat which Bluetooth alone is unable to achieve. Sadly, over on Google’s aspect, UWB performance hadn’t been applied within the Android Discover Hub (previously Discover My Machine) app — till now.

With this server-side replace from Google, any and all third-party monitoring devices with UWB connectivity can replace their very own firmware with the intention to faucet into enhanced ranges of precision. Whereas different UWB-compatible Android trackers exist in the marketplace, Motorola is first out of the gate in pushing out a compatibility patch in response to Google’s ecosystem-wide Discover Hub improve.

It needs to be famous that with the intention to leverage exact post-update UWB monitoring through the Moto Tag, you may must be rocking an Android cellphone with a corresponding UWB radio of its personal. Many flagship gadgets ship with UWB, together with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Pixel 9 Pro. In the interim, UWB is much less generally discovered on mid-range handsets.

Model

Motorola

Materials

Plastic

Connectivity

Bluetooth, Extremely-wideband

Battery

CR2032

Vary

100 meters

Water Resistance

IP67

The moto tag is Motorola’s new tracker system that works with Android’s Discover My Machine community. It comes with each Bluetooth and ultra-wideband radios, IP67 water and dirt resistance, and a full 12 months of battery life per cost.

The Moto Tag simply acquired leveled up

Motorola’s tracker is a a lot stronger Apple AirTag competitor now

When I reviewed the Moto Tag again in August of final 12 months, I praised the product for its strong construct high quality, its good-looking aesthetics, and its plug-and-play setup. In contrast to another tracker equipment inside the Android ecosystem, Motorola opted to create a product that’s instantly analogous to the UWB-clad Apple AirTag when it comes to kind issue and specs. Consequently, I known as the Moto Tag the “quintessential AirTag equal for folk on the Android aspect of the smartphone duopoly.”

With the Moto Tag now capable of faucet into its true {hardware} potential with UWB up and operating, the product is an much more compelling peripheral for many who journey regularly or who are inclined to misplace their belongings. With Google having opened the UWB floodgates, I count on a rising variety of equipment and Android-based handsets to undertake the radio know-how within the coming months and years.

If there’s one gripe I’ve with the Moto Tag, it is that it’s not cross-compatible with the iPhone. There’s an growing variety of trackers in the marketplace which might be suitable with each Google’s Discover Hub system and Apple’s Discover My community. I am not sure whether or not a future software program replace might tackle this incompatibility problem, or if there are further {hardware} concerns that I am merely not aware of.

Associated

Lost your luggage? These airlines are now using Apple Airtags to track it

Three airways have rolled out assist for Apple’s new Share Merchandise Location function to assist discover misplaced baggage.

How you can get UWB up and operating on the Moto Tag

The setup course of requires a few firmware updates

So as to activate the UWB connectivity already constructed into your Moto Tag tracker, observe these steps:

1. Make sure you’re operating the newest model of Google’s Discover Hub software from the Play Retailer.
2. Obtain and set up the newest model of Motorola’s Moto Tag software from the Play Retailer (model 01.00.073.10).
3. From inside the Moto Tag app, navigate to My tags and choose the Moto Tag in query.
4. From right here, faucet on Extra > Firmware > and ensure that system firmware model 2.0.93 is put in.

As soon as you have gone forward and carried out the required updates, your Moto Tag can be trackable with precision, right down to a tough estimate of distance and an arrow pointing within the tracker’s course. It is a marked enchancment over the earlier non-UWB-compatible system, which visualized distance by way of a easy form that may progressively fill in as you approached the peripheral.

Associated

What’s the difference between Bluetooth tracking and ultra-wideband?

They’re actually companions in the identical job.