this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2024
41 points (97.7% liked)

Android

28164 readers
524 users here now

DROID DOES

Welcome to the droidymcdroidface-iest, Lemmyest (Lemmiest), test, bestest, phoniest, pluckiest, snarkiest, and spiciest Android community on Lemmy (Do not respond)! Here you can participate in amazing discussions and events relating to all things Android.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules


1. All posts must be relevant to Android devices/operating system.


2. Posts cannot be illegal or NSFW material.


3. No spam, self promotion, or upvote farming. Sources engaging in these behavior will be added to the Blacklist.


4. Non-whitelisted bots will be banned.


5. Engage respectfully: Harassment, flamebaiting, bad faith engagement, or agenda posting will result in your posts being removed. Excessive violations will result in temporary or permanent ban, depending on severity.


6. Memes are not allowed to be posts, but are allowed in the comments.


7. Posts from clickbait sources are heavily discouraged. Please de-clickbait titles if it needs to be submitted.


8. Submission statements of any length composed of your own thoughts inside the post text field are mandatory for any microblog posts, and are optional but recommended for article/image/video posts.


Community Resources:


We are Android girls*,

In our Lemmy.world.

The back is plastic,

It's fantastic.

*Well, not just girls: people of all gender identities are welcomed here.


Our Partner Communities:

[email protected]


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I recently got a small keychain device for free as a cheap promotional item. It looks like one of these: https://powerstick.com/powertag/

It asks that you install this app: Spot 2.0 Bluetooth Finder

Some concerns right away:

  • It requires an account
  • It said that my password was too long
  • It seems that these apps will need 24/7 access to location in order to work properly, so I'm not comfortable making an account on some app I've never heard of

So my questions:

Q1: If someone is given a similar device, is there a FOSS app that they can use it with? So far I've found:

  • BLE Radar (FDroid, GitHub). It looks promising and I haven't played with all the custom profiles yet. While I was able to connect the device and see it on a map, I don't see an option to ring the device from the app. Since it's a key ring, I imagine most people would use it to find their keys in their home, for which the speaker would be helpful.

  • iTracing2 (FDroid, GitHub). This one is very minimalistic, and while I could get it connected, it seems to only work in the device > phone direction, where you can press a button on the keychain to initiate an action on the phone (ex. ring the phone)

Q2: If someone wanted to get a good quality version of this, which brands do you recommend? Ideally it would be accurate and be compatible with some FOSS app(s).

I remember seeing Chipolo mentioned in some other thread here, but I don't know if they meet those requirements

top 4 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

UWB looks very cool for finding things from the phone (without the tracker ringing). Samsung Smart tag 2 does this.

I've picked up a Moto tag that has UWB and works with Google's find my network - my understanding is that this will work like apple air tags which can use any iPhone to report and track it's location. Though it's not doing all of these things just yet!

These 2 videos, whilst slightly rambling, covered a lot.

https://youtu.be/G3HP6NVScJw

https://youtu.be/kPumuCbVVnk

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Very detailed review, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I know you said you're looking for an Android app but have you considered using Home Assistant? I've had success with cheap BLE tags I got off AliExpress. I use a few $5 ESP32 chips for various things including BLE tracking. The only thing is I'm not sure how straight forward sending an alarm signal would be. I track if I took my trashcan to the curb on Tuesdays.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

I'll look into that, thanks!