In what may very well be one of many slowest burns in tech historical past, Google lastly launched the Google Pixel Tag at Made by Google 2026 this week.
It is just about what we anticipated — however the jury’s nonetheless out on whether or not that is a very good factor in mid-2026.
I as soon as thought it was exhausting following the rumor mill main as much as Apple’s AirTag, however the Pixel Tag took that to a brand new degree.
In any case, Apple was arguably breaking new floor in 2021. No matter Google was constructing over the previous three years might solely refine the artwork. That grew to become much more obvious as we watched its Android companions whizz previous it.
That is to not say that the Pixel Tag is not a very good product — it certainly is. The query is whether or not it has a cause to exist in any respect.
The tech world’s worst-kept secret
From Grogu to the Nest Locator Tag
We noticed the primary trace that Google was actively engaged on its reply to the AirTag in January 2023, when code sleuths found evidence of a new locator product named Grogu.
With the second birthday of the AirTag approaching, hopes ran high that we’d see a reveal at Google I/O 2023.
As a substitute, Google laid the plumbing with its revamped Discover My Gadget community. That was an vital first step that echoed what Apple had achieved two years earlier.
The important thing distinction is that Apple had the AirTag able to go. Its early Discover My community rollout was a calculated technique to point out it embracing appropriate third-party equipment earlier than sweeping in with its personal.
In Might 2023, I briefly hoped Google is likely to be doing the identical factor, and its new “Nest Locator Tag” (because the rumor mill had pivoted to by then) was simply across the nook. Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.
As a substitute, Google appeared to be happy to offer different corporations a three-year head begin earlier than providing its answer. However there might have additionally been a technique to this seeming insanity.
The price of doing the fitting factor
Studying from Apple’s errors
By letting Apple take a wholesome lead in private merchandise trackers, Google sat again and watched because the iPhone maker bore the brunt of dangerous press that got here from individuals abusing its know-how.
Apple was pilloried by home security advocates for not doing sufficient to forestall stalking, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than horror stories of people finding AirTags planted on them began appearing.
A number of states additionally started passing legislation against AirTag stalking, displaying how widespread the issue was changing into.
Satirically, it was the recognition of AirTags that grew to become their very own undoing. Monitoring units had already been round for years. Apple’s downside was that the AirTag primarily commoditized stalking.
One of many largest criticisms leveled towards Apple was the gaping blind spot in its protections. Whereas iPhone customers can be alerted to an unknown AirTag, Android customers have been left at midnight.
Apple was pressured to make several course corrections by firmware updates and new alerts. It additionally released Tracker Detect, an Android app that might scan for close by AirTags.
Nonetheless, that was a stop-gap at greatest. It required customers to know the app existed, set up it, after which open it manually in the event that they thought an AirTag might need been planted on them.
By the point I/O rolled round with the brand new Discover My Gadget community, Google and Apple had teamed up to construct monitoring detection into their units at a core OS degree.
By August 2023, Android devices were detecting unwanted AirTags, however this cross-platform answer labored each methods.
Apple took a bit longer to get with this system. It did not add Android tag detection until May 2024, nevertheless it’s additionally truthful to say it had the luxurious of time.
The ‘Kleenex’ downside
Whereas Google took child steps, ‘AirTag’ grew to become a family phrase
To say Apple had a large head begin on platform-level trackers can be an understatement.
Positive, Tile had gotten there years earlier, nevertheless it was a silo. Trackers might solely be picked up by units working the corporate’s app — a crowdsourced community within the tens of hundreds of thousands.
In contrast, Apple had over a billion units able to find close by AirTags, vastly growing the possibilities of discovering your misplaced gadgets.
Google had a equally large dwelling subject benefit on Android. However, maybe from watching how Apple had been burned, the company chose to play it safe.
Consequently, when third-party producers like Pebblebee and Chipolo embraced Android, they discovered their trackers held back through no fault of their own.
Google’s Discover My Gadget community might simply have leapfrogged Apple’s to change into the most important crowdsourced item-tracking community on the planet, however its overabundance of warning squandered that.
In any case, there are a lot of extra Android units on the market than iPhones, and Discover My Gadget labored all the best way again to Android 9, giving it a retroactive three-year lead on Apple’s community.
At the same time as different corporations dipped their toes into the Android pond, Apple’s answer grew to become entrenched because the gold customary for locating misplaced baggage or stolen bikes.
Pleasant hearth
Overwhelmed to the punch by their very own companions
Though early makes an attempt at Android monitoring tags lacked the precision discovering options that AirTags had change into well-known for, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than the Moto Tag filled that void.
Launching with extremely wideband (UWB) help and seamless integration with each Google’s community and Samsung’s competing SmartTag ecosystem, it instantly felt just like the product we might been ready for.
And it arrived two years earlier than Google would present up with the Pixel Tag in hand.
In the meantime, different corporations continued to enhance their tags. At this time, Android customers have a humiliation of choices to select from.
So, what compelling cause is there to hurry out and purchase a Pixel Tag?
Desk stakes for the ecosystem
The Pixel Tag is extra for Google than for us
The brief reply to that final query is: in all probability none.
The Pixel Tag distinguishes itself from the pack just because it is made by Google.
That and the design are the one causes to decide on it over anything. Whether or not these are compelling causes depends upon your preferences and model loyalty.
The Pixel Tag is an excellent product that ought to work flawlessly with the Discover My Gadget community and supply UWB precision discovering. However so many competing merchandise.
That brings up the apparent query: Why does the Pixel Tag have to exist?
One of the best reply I can provide you with is that it is a vital a part of the Pixel {hardware} puzzle.
In any case, Samsung has its SmartTags, Apple has AirTags, and it has been apparent for a number of years now that Google goes for a similar broad ecosystem.
The Pixel Tag has been the one piece lacking, nevertheless it’s removed from an thrilling new frontier. It is actually simply Google filling within the clean area on its ecosystem scorecard.
