What is a beacon?

Beacons are tiny transmitters that can be adhered to any object that you are afraid may be lost or stolen. Beacons communicate with smartphones via Bluetooth Low Energy, which consumes very little battery life. Beacons broadcast their proximity to the smartphone and their identity. The Find My Stuff app can interpret this information and notify you when it’s necessary. Some of beacons are working through iBeacon protocol, which has been standardized by Apple Inc. Find My Stuff supports iBeacon technology as well. Read more about beacons here.


Is my beacon compatible with the Find My Stuff app?

The Find My Stuff application automatically recognizes all of the most popular models of beacons. See the list below:

iBeacons
  • Radius Networks
  • Estimote
  • Jaalee
  • Kontakt.io
  • XY Find It
  • Roximity
  • TwoCanoes
  • BlueUp
  • BlueCats
  • Blue Station
  • Glimworm
  • Gem Tot
  • Red Bear B1

If your iBeacon is not in the list - it can be added manually.

Bluetooth Beacons
  • Trackr
  • GTag
  • HTC
  • Nokia
  • xPlay
  • Gear4
  • Motorola
  • Any Other

Find My Stuff can work with almost all bluetooth devices like fitness trackers for example.


Which beacon is the best for me?

Beacons can be separated into 2 groups: stickers and breloques. The sticker can be stuck on any object such as a wallet, notebook, clothes, equipment etc. The breloque is useful for keys, pets or USB drives. The range of signal is different for each model, so please read the specifications of your beacon before purchasing. The battery life of beacons varies by model as well. See the list of recommended beacons here.


Why must Bluetooth always be on?

The Beacon communicates with smartphones via the Bluetooth low energy mode only. If the Bluetooth is turned off, the smartphone will not able to locate the Beacon.


Why must location services always be on?

Location Services Data allows to determine the beacon coordinates and to estimate your proximity to a beacon. Based on this information, Find My Stuff will send you notifications and create history log. Go to iOS Settings > Privacy > Location Services to determine if the Find My Stuff app has access.


How to add or edit stuff items?

  • To add your first stuff item, please tap +.
  • Enter the title for it.
  • You can make the item a photo by using the camera, or select it from the Photo Library.
  • Place an beacon near your iPhone or iPad as close as possible, and the application will scan and detect it automatically. Select the beacon that appears in the list. Please note that the first beacon in the list will be the one which will be the most near to the phone. If you have an iBeacon but it was not detected, please use Manual Setup.
  • Tap Add. The beacon is assigned to the stuff item, and the task is completed.
  • If you want to edit the information about your stuff item, go to the list of your stuff items, select one and tap Edit.

How to add an iBeacon manually?

Every iBeacon consists of an identifier - UUID, a major and a minor value only. For example:

  • UUID: B9407F30-F5F8-466E-AFF9-25556B57FE6D
  • Major ID: 1
  • Minor ID: 2

You can find these values in specifications of your beacon, if not - please contact beacon manufacturer if you are unsure of these values.

Tap Manual Setup, then enter the needed UUID, Major and Minor Value. The application will detect the iBeacon, and assign it to the stuff item.


How to configure notifications?

Select the stuff item for which the notifications need to be configured and tap Edit>When. Select one of these possible cases:

  • When the stuff item is nearing you, or when you are getting close to the stuff item. This means the distance between you and stuff item is being reduced, and you want to be alerted if this happens.
  • When you or the stuff item is moving away, the distance between you and the stuff item is increasing. For example, if you forget your keys at home, you will receive a notification in this case.
  • Do not notify. Select this option when you want to track the geo-position of your stuff item manually. For example, you are attempting to track the location of your vehicle in a parking lot.
  • Always. Select this option if you want to be notified in all cases.

How to find the location of your stuff item?

Open the application and select the specific item from the list. You will receive the following information about the selected item:

  • Status: In range or Out of range.
  • Distance: Near, Far or Immediate.
  • Latest geo-location and the address if possible.
  • Time when it was seen last time by your device.
  • Change history of location.

You can tap “Show on map” to receive additional details about current location of your stuff item. If you click Edit, you will be able to change the notification type and proximity range.


How to set up Safe Zones?

Safe Zone is a zone covered by known Wi-fi network in which all notifications are disabled when you are connected to this network. For example, you don’t want receive notifications when you are at home or at office.

Tap Settings > Safe Zones and then select the current Wi-Fi network.

You also can disable all notifications by switching on Silent Mode.


How to disable Move tracking?

If Move Tracking is switched on, the Find My Stuff will track locations of all beacons constantly. If you disable Move tracking, the Find My Stuff app will register the location of the beacon when it only appears/disappears in the range. Please note that the locations determination is the most battery consuming operation, so by disabling Move Tracking, you can improve the battery life significantly.

Move tracking option is situated in Settings of Find My Stuff app.


How to change Map Provider?

You can also select the Map provider: Google Maps or Apple Maps, depending which is better covering your region.


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