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.
The Find My Stuff application automatically recognizes all of the most popular models of beacons. See the list below:
If your iBeacon is not in the list - it can be added manually.
Find My Stuff can work with almost all bluetooth devices like fitness trackers for example.
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.
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.
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.
Every iBeacon consists of an identifier - UUID, a major and a minor value only. For example:
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.
Select the stuff item for which the notifications need to be configured and tap Edit>When. Select one of these possible cases:
Open the application and select the specific item from the list. You will receive the following information about the selected item:
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.
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.
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.
You can also select the Map provider: Google Maps or Apple Maps, depending which is better covering your region.