I used Apple AirTags to track an interstate courier delivery – and it worked!

Not that I don’t trust couriers, but – when you’re sending $3,000 worth of the latest high-tech toys from one city to another, from one state to another – there’s a level of worry that comes with it.

This week’s winner of our LG OLED & Xbox giveaway was Peter from the Gold Coast, and with lockdowns in place here in Sydney, there was no chance of a road trip!

So, I opted to use the startup “gig economy” delivery service Zoom 2 U. I’ve used them before to deliver our awards to companies all over the city and country – so why would this be any different?

Main reason – the TV is big! It’s a 120cm long, 74cm tall box.

The Zoom2U service is great, it all happens online, you get an instant quote, and off you go!

But then I thought – man, this is a risk – the TV isn’t wrapped up, it’s clearly an OLED TV – I’m putting a lot of trust in a driver, freight handlers, everyone involved.

So, I cut the box open, dropped an AirTag inside.

For the Xbox, I did the same thing.

Let the journey begin.

Our driver arrived to collect the TV at 9am on Tuesday morning. I asked him where he was taking it, and he said Virgin Freight.

15 minutes later and I could see the items were en route. The driver had an iPhone, so I knew it would have picked up their signal, and would be relaying that to the Apple “Find my” network, and thus, I’ll get a location update.

Critically, because I knew it wouldn’t be with the driver for longer than an hour or so, he wouldn’t get or need to be worried about the notification that “An Airtag is travelling with you”.

That notification protects people from being tracked with AirTags, but for this purpose, I’m testing the Apple Find My network generally. In principal, ever AirTag is “seen” via Bluetooth by any iPhone running the latest software and that phone anonymously records the location of the AirTag which is only visible to the owner of the AirTag. Neither Apple, or the person who’s phone detected the AirTag can see the location, or even know the tag is there.

Gotta tell you, this worked well.

The Sydney Airport drop off happened just after 10am, and the items stayed there the rest of the day.

Next morning, Wednesday, and the items were quickly moved over to the terminal which we assume means they were getting loaded on a flight.

As an aviation nerd, I quickly checked that gate number, and then worked out which flight my items were likely to be on.

A nervous hour or so with no updates had me assuming the items were certainly on board the plane.

Then, bingo. Brisbane Airport!

Yep, it worked. One of the ground crew might have an iPhone, perhaps they all do – no matter what, it was picked up, and the location updated.

Even when the items were transferred to what I can assume is the Brisbane Freight terminal I got an update.

Later that afternoon, the items made their move, and when I checked Zoom2U indeed the driver had them on board.

He stopped for fuel or a snack about 20 mins from the destination, then not too long later, Peter send me a message – Delivery received!!

Honestly, this worked better than I would have hoped!

Important to note, You don’t and can’t get a tracking history, so it does require you to open the “Find My” app and check the location manually.

Pretty stupid thing to do with a $45 AirTag, but in this case, I also included a return postage envelope, so Peter can send them back to me:)