Lost Your Keys? There’s an App for That
Ever lost your keys when you’re already late? Yep. Kids ever stuffed your iPhone in the black hole that is your sofa? Yup. Ever left your iPad/MAC/iPod God knows where, only to inexplicably discover it in the freezer 2 hours after you needed it? Yes, definitely (and I still can’t figure out how it got there.)
There’s hope yet, folks. If the new Tile App and Device delivers what it promises, America may never lose a single key ever again.
The App uses Bluetooth 4.0 technology (therefore only available for late-generation Apple products at the moment) and an adhesive tile roughly the size of a postage stamp. The Tile can be adhered to just about anything, or linked through a key ring. When the user is looking for the Tile, the App provides three modes of location:
- The App accesses Bluetooth technology that pings your tile and tracks it within a range of 150 feet, guiding you to the Tile and your lost item.
- Users can remotely trigger an alarm on the Tile, and simply follow the sound.
- Should the Tile be beyond the 150ft range and out of earshot, the Tile App has a rather ingenious ‘Community’ option. Users can mark their Tile as ‘Lost.’ When another Tile user passes within 150ft of the Tile, the location is pinged and sent to the owner of said missing Tile. The Tile-using passerby is never aware of the other Tile or its user.
The Community feature is really what pushes this App into excellence territory. Of course, the feature becomes obsolete if the Tile isn’t a widespread success. But with almost 50, 000 pre-ordered to date, we predict that you’ll be seeing these little guys everywhere very soon. You can pre-order here for $18.95.