Motorola’s stellar Moto Tag is now really the AirTag of the Android world

Motorola’s Moto Tag product, which competes head-on with Apple’s popular AirTag tracker, is about to take pleasure in a significant enhance in performance. Upon putting in the brand new software program model 01.00.073.10 of the Moto Tag app, in addition to model 2.0.93 of the tracker firmware itself, customers of the gadget might be greeted with a much more exact monitoring expertise than in months prior. This set of updates, which is rolling out now, provides official assist for the gadget’s preexisting ultra-wideband (UWB) radio (via The Verge).

For reference, when the Moto Tag itself was launched final yr, it shipped with built-in UWB expertise. UWB permits for exact distance measurement with directionality, a feat which Bluetooth alone is unable to achieve. Sadly, over on Google’s facet, UWB performance hadn’t been applied within the Android Discover Hub (previously Discover My Machine) app — till now.

With this server-side replace from Google, any and all third-party monitoring devices with UWB connectivity can replace their very own firmware so as to faucet into enhanced ranges of precision. Whereas different UWB-compatible Android trackers exist available on the market, Motorola is first out of the gate in pushing out a compatibility patch in response to Google’s ecosystem-wide Discover Hub improve.

It ought to be famous that so as to leverage exact post-update UWB monitoring by way of the Moto Tag, you may should be rocking an Android telephone with a corresponding UWB radio of its personal. Many flagship gadgets ship with UWB, together with the Galaxy S25 Ultra and the Pixel 9 Pro. In the interim, UWB is much less generally discovered on mid-range handsets.

Model

Motorola

Materials

Plastic

Connectivity

Bluetooth, Extremely-wideband

Battery

CR2032

Vary

100 meters

Water Resistance

IP67

The moto tag is Motorola’s new tracker gadget that works with Android’s Discover My Machine community. It comes with each Bluetooth and ultra-wideband radios, IP67 water and dirt resistance, and a full yr of battery life per cost.

The Moto Tag simply obtained leveled up

Motorola’s tracker is a a lot stronger Apple AirTag competitor now

When I reviewed the Moto Tag again in August of final yr, I praised the product for its strong construct high quality, its good-looking aesthetics, and its plug-and-play setup. In contrast to another tracker equipment inside the Android ecosystem, Motorola opted to create a product that’s straight analogous to the UWB-clad Apple AirTag by way of kind issue and specs. In consequence, I referred to as the Moto Tag the “quintessential AirTag equal for people on the Android facet of the smartphone duopoly.”

With the Moto Tag now capable of faucet into its true {hardware} potential with UWB up and operating, the product is an much more compelling peripheral for individuals who journey frequently or who are inclined to misplace their belongings. With Google having opened the UWB floodgates, I anticipate a rising variety of equipment and Android-based handsets to undertake the radio expertise within the coming months and years.

If there’s one gripe I’ve with the Moto Tag, it is that it is not cross-compatible with the iPhone. There’s an growing variety of trackers available on the market which might be suitable with each Google’s Discover Hub system and Apple’s Discover My community. I am not sure whether or not a future software program replace might handle this incompatibility difficulty, or if there are further {hardware} concerns that I am merely not aware of.

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How you can get UWB up and operating on the Moto Tag

The setup course of requires a few firmware updates

With the intention to activate the UWB connectivity already constructed into your Moto Tag tracker, comply with these steps:

1. Make sure you’re operating the newest model of Google’s Discover Hub utility from the Play Retailer.
2. Obtain and set up the newest model of Motorola’s Moto Tag utility from the Play Retailer (model 01.00.073.10).
3. From inside the Moto Tag app, navigate to My tags and choose the Moto Tag in query.
4. From right here, faucet on Extra > Firmware > and make sure that gadget firmware model 2.0.93 is put in.

As soon as you have gone forward and carried out the required updates, your Moto Tag might be trackable with precision, all the way down to a tough estimate of distance and an arrow pointing within the tracker’s path. It is a marked enchancment over the earlier non-UWB-compatible system, which visualized distance by a easy form that might regularly fill in as you approached the peripheral.

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