Google's improved Find My Device network is slowly rolling out globally to help Android fans find their lost belongings. And it looks like Google is already planning to add a key feature that the network lacks compared to Apple's AirTags: support for UWB (ultra wideband) technology.
UWB is one of the main technologies powering Apple AirTags' precision search feature (below). That feature gives you directions, up to a few feet, as to where your lost keys are. But Google's Find My Device network does not currently support this technology, even though many of the best Android phones now support ultrawideband.
While that oversight means the first wave of Find My Device trackers lack the feature, Google appears to have plans to fill the gap. As discovered by Android Authority, some code references in the latest version of the Find My Device app suggest that Google is working to add UWB to its new network.
That doesn't necessarily mean Google is planning to add the feature to Find My Device anytime soon, but it's a promising sign. And it may not be the only new feature in the works for the network: another code reference points to AR (augmented reality) features via the ARCore software development kit (SDK).
In theory, that could dovetail nicely with UWB support, with a camera UI that visually shows you how to locate your lost valuables. It would be a very Google integration with echoes of Google Lens, but for now, its Find My Device network lags behind rival Apple in a small but useful area.
A push in the right direction
The lack of UWB support on Google's Find My Device network is certainly not a deal-breaker for the early trackers that are available now from companies like Chipolo and Pebblebee.
Like Apple's Find My network, Google's new network anonymously taps into millions of phones around the world to help you locate lost items. You can attach the trackers, which come in tag and card form, to valuables and tap to “play sounds” in the app to activate a sound or make the tracker emit an LED flash.
Both of these things help make up for the lack of a precision visual search feature like you get with AirTags. But those visual cues can still be very helpful if you can't tell where the sound is coming from, and Apple's integration also gives you increasingly powerful vibrations along with UWB-driven directions.
On the other hand, UWB is only really useful at very close range, so it only becomes a benefit when you're in the same room as your lost item. So while it's certainly nice to have and will hopefully make its way to Find My Device, Google's rebooted network and the new trackers that support it are still a big upgrade from what was available before on Android.
