Google’s Find My app hints at an eventual UWB upgrade

Summary

• Google is working on adding UWB support to its Find My network, potentially expanding the tracker options.
• Android users can currently use on Samsung’s SmartTag 2 for UWB tracking, but only with Galaxy devices.
• The addition of UWB support in Android’s Find My app hints at future features like AR overlays for precise tracking.

Apple’s AirTags are undoubtedly one of the best smart trackers on the market. Although they don’t work with Android devices, their UWB functionality, which lets iPhone users precisely locate and pinpoint the AirTags and whatever they’re attached to, is a big boon. Regular Bluetooth trackers can never reach that level of precision tracking.

Android users have the option of using Samsung’s SmartTag 2, which does offer precise UWB finding, but the caveat is that the tracker needs to be used with a Galaxy device that supports UWB. When used with a non-Galaxy Android device, the tracker is limited to Bluetooth finding.

Google recently began rolling out its Find My network, which allows other Android devices part of the Find My Device network to ping a lost or stolen device’s location. Apple’s Find My, on the other hand, utilizes Apple devices to ping a lost item’s location. Undeniably, this gives Google’s network a much wider reach, considering that Android has a much bigger global market share than iOS devices. However, it all boils down to the lack of UWB-enabled precision finding, which makes Google’s offering inferior to Apple’s Find My network.

Devices like the Pixel 6 Pro, Pixel 7 Pro, Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel Fold, Xiaomi Mix 4, and the Motorola Edge 50 Ultra, all support UWB, but the lack of UWB support in Find My means that they must resort to using Bluetooth to find trackers. Most of Samsung’s Plus and Ultra models since the S21 series all support UWB too, and are limited to using the SmartTag 2 if they want to utilize UWB tracking. However, this might soon change.

As pointed out by Android Authority in an APK teardown, it looks like Google is finally working towards adding UWB support to its FInd My network. The Find My Device v3.1.078-1 app update (apk here) includes hidden codelines with several mentions of UWB.

com/google/android/libraries/precisionfinding/ranging/UwbAdapter

com/google/android/libraries/precisionfinding/ranging/UwbAdapter$1

com/google/android/libraries/precisionfinding/ranging/UwbAdapter$2

Local UWB address: %s

Local UWB capabilities: %

This is the first time mentions of UWB have popped up in the Android Find My app, which, in earnest, should have been supported since day one. It is still unclear when support might officially rollout, but when it does, we should see a wide variety of new trackers with UWB beginning to roll out.

Eventually, we might also get more Android phones with UWB support to take advantage of precise tracker finding, use their phones as car keys, and with smart home devices, which should all together help push Google’s Find My network over Apple’s current lead.

A live view for Find My might also be in the works

Elsewhere, the teardown also revealed code related to ARCore, Google’s augmented reality SDK. This could mean a feature like Google Maps’ Live View could be coming to Google’s Find My tracking, allowing users to hold up and point their phone’s camera around and see AR overlays of directions to locate a UWB-enabled tracker.

It’s worth noting that Samsung’s SmartTag 2 is already capable of this feature, albeit, as mentioned before, only with specific Galaxy devices. It’s worth noting that while the addition of codelines mentioning UWB is an interesting development, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Google is ready to rollout support. If support was anywhere close to ready, the tech giant would have mentioned it in one of its blog posts about Find My. However, Google has been radio silent in that department, which suggests that broad support might still be a ways out.