AirTag following you: how long until an alert?

Apple and Google publish no hour figure for the alert on your phone. Apple says you are notified when a tracker is "separated from its owner and seen moving with you over time," and Google says you must "physically move with the tracker over time." The numbers quoted online belong to something else. "8 to 24 hours" is when the tracker itself starts to beep, at a random time in that window, which is what Apple moved AirTag to in June 2021. "Three days" is the beep timer AirTag launched with, before that change. The one fixed early figure is 30 minutes: under the draft standard Apple and Google wrote together, a tag must count as separated once it has been away from its owner for more than 30 minutes.

What an unknown tracker alert is

A tracker is a small tag, like an AirTag, that someone clips to keys or drops in a bag. It has no GPS of its own. It sends out a short Bluetooth signal, nearby phones report where they heard it, and the owner sees it on a map.

The same signal can be used to follow a person, which is why both phone systems watch for tags that are not yours. An unknown tracker alert is the notice your phone shows when it decides such a tag is traveling with you. On an iPhone it reads "AirTag Found Moving With You," or a similar line for AirPods and other accessories. On Android it appears under Unknown tracker alerts.

One more word matters: separated. A tag is separated when its owner's phone is not nearby, and both the alert and the beep apply only to a separated tag. So there are two warnings, run by two different devices. Your phone sends the alert, and the tag makes the sound. Most of the confusion online comes from mixing them up.

The timeline in one table

No single page lays this out, so the table puts the draft standard's timers beside what Apple and Google say about their alerts. The standard is the Internet Engineering Task Force draft on detecting unwanted location trackers, version 01, dated 27 October 2026, and its authors work at Apple and Google. It sets rules for tag makers. It does not set the phone's alert timing, and its section on what phones should do still reads "TODO."

The address rule in the second row is what makes the alert possible. A tag near its owner changes its address every 15 minutes, which protects the owner's privacy. Once separated, it keeps one address for 24 hours, and the draft says that window lets a phone "detect that the same accessory is in proximity for some period of time, when the owner is not in physical proximity." In plain words, your phone has to hear the same tag again and again before it can tell that it is following you.

Why you read three different answers

"Three days." This was right in spring 2021 and has not been right since. On June 3, 2021, CNET reported that Apple was sending out AirTag updates. As MacStories summed it up, AirTags "were set to play a sound three days after they were separated from their owners," and now the tag "will play a warning beep somewhere between 8 and 24 hours." AirTags had launched only the month before, so the earliest warnings online describe the old timer.

"8 to 24 hours." This one is correct, but it is about the beep, not your phone. The draft standard uses the same window for every compliant tag: a random value between 8 and 24 hours, picked fresh each time, before the motion sensor switches on. Because the time is random, nobody, the owner included, can know in advance when a given tag will start.

"A few hours." This is usually someone describing when their own phone alert arrived. That may be true for them, but neither company gives a figure, and both tie the alert to moving with a tag over time rather than to a clock. Apple has also changed the timing on purpose: in February 2022 it said it planned to update its system "to notify users earlier." An alert time reported in 2021 may not match what your phone does today.

One bag walked through the clocks

Suppose someone drops an AirTag into your bag in a coffee shop at 9:00 in the morning, then walks out and goes home. Here is how the published timers would apply.

• By 9:30. The owner's phone has been gone for 30 minutes, so under the draft standard the tag must now count as separated. Its address changes, then stays the same for the next 24 hours.
• During the day. Your phone keeps hearing the same tag as you move around. At some point it may decide the tag is moving with you and show an alert, but no published rule says when.
• Between 5:30 in the evening and 9:30 the next morning. That is 8 to 24 hours after 9:30. Somewhere in that window the tag's motion sensor switches on, and the next time the bag moves, it beeps.
• After the beeps start. Once it has played ten sounds or sensed 20 seconds of motion, it goes quiet for 6 hours, then starts again if it is still separated.

On an Android phone, you would get at most one alert for that tag each day, and Google deletes it after 48 hours, so take a screenshot first. On an iPhone that is awake when the tag beeps, AirTag firmware 2.0.24 and later sends a notice that a separated AirTag is traveling with you and making a sound. That feature needs iOS 16.2 or later.

What your phone needs for the alert to work

iPhone and iPad. AirTag alerts need iOS 14.5 or iPadOS 14.5 or later, and alerts for other brands' compatible trackers need version 17.5 or later. Apple's safety guide lists four settings to turn on: Location Services, Bluetooth, Tracking Notifications under Notifications, and Find My iPhone under Location Services, System Services.

Android. Phones running Android 6 or later check on their own, and Google says the alerts work with Find Hub network tags, headphones and AirTags. Bluetooth and location must be on, so if Bluetooth keeps dropping or switching itself off, fix that first. For older Android phones, Apple's guide points to its Tracker Detect app. Old software leaves other gaps too, so check how long your phone will keep getting security updates.

Do not wait for the alert if you are worried. On Android you can scan by hand under Settings, Safety and emergency, Unknown tracker alerts, Scan now. Google says it takes about 10 seconds.

What this answer does not cover

The timers above are the published ones, and the phone side is not published, so this page cannot tell you how many minutes or miles your phone needs. The draft standard is a set of rules for tag makers, not a test of any tag, and it is still a draft. AirTag's 8 to 24 hour beep matches it, as reported in 2021, but a cheap tag from an unknown maker may not follow it at all, and Apple's and Google's alerts only cover the trackers they support. None of this helps against a tag whose owner is nearby, as the callout above explains. Tracking can also come from things that are not tags, such as a shared location setting, a family account or a home camera. Who else can see a home camera feed is one place to look, and how smart home devices connect explains what else in a house talks to the outside world. Tracking by websites is a different subject, covered in how web tracking works.

What to do if you get an alert

1. Think about your safety first. If you cannot find the tag and feel unsafe, Google's advice is to go to a public place and contact the police or someone you trust. Apple says that if your safety is at risk, contact local law enforcement, who can work with Apple to request information about the item.
2. Record it. Screenshot the alert and the map before it disappears, since Android deletes it after 48 hours.
3. Find the tag. Tap Play sound. Under the draft standard, a tag must then sound for 5 to 30 seconds, and 12 seconds is recommended, so listen closely and tap again if needed. On an iPhone with Ultra Wideband, Precision Finding shows the distance and direction.
4. Read it. Hold the top of an iPhone, or the back of an NFC capable Android phone, near the white side of an AirTag. A notice shows its details and the steps to disable it.
5. Get help with the bigger picture. If you think you know who planted it, a practical response to harassment covers keeping records and when to involve the police.