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Most Versatile
Jiobit Smart Tag
Best for iOS
Apple AirTag
Best for Android
Chipolo One
Best for Kids
Apple Watch Series 8
“Systems!” My friends and Marie Kondo’s internet shout. “All you need is a system. As long as you always put your things down in the same place, you’ll never lose anything again,” they say, as I stagger in the door carrying children’s backpacks, a bag of dirty laundry, my waist pack, and a sack of dog food.
Like Elizabeth Bishop, I have developed losing into a fine art. I hid my Kindle from the 5-year-old, and now I can’t find it. My husband borrowed my wallet to grab the car insurance card; while I was looking for that, the dog got out of the yard. You may feel ambivalent about possibly stalking your friends or loved ones (please resist the urge to sew a tracker into your shady boyfriend’s coat), but without Bluetooth and GPS trackers, I would barely be able to function. I’ve listed my preferred uses for each of my favorite trackers, but many of these are multipurpose—if you can stick it on a dog, you can also stick it on a kid, and vice versa.
For more ideas, check out our roundups on kids travel gear and our many other buying guides, such as the Best Strollers.
Updated July 2023: We added Apple AirTags, updated information about several products, and updated links and pricing.
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Photograph: JioBit
Most Versatile
Jiobit Smart Tag
The most precious things to keep track of? Your people. The Jiobit smart tag (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is one of the most versatile ways I know to do that. It’s simply a small tracker, smaller than an Oreo, that connects to an app on your phone and uses a combination of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, cellular, and GPS data to keep track of your pet, child, or elderly parent with dementia wherever they go.
The app is incredibly easy to use. You can track your person in real time, geofence them, or make sure that they’re in the company of trusted people. It’s incredibly durable and waterproof and comes with a huge array of accessories—and if you don’t want to use those, I found that a little hair tie worked just as well to attach it to my daughter’s backpack. The most important part, however, is that Jiobit also has rigorous security protocols, like including a dedicated chip to access the Jiobit servers and burning away part of the circuit board, so you can’t steal it and physically reprogram it.
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Photograph: Apple
Best for iOS
Apple AirTag
If you have an iPhone, you probably have one, or several, AirTags. Apple’s long-awaited Tile competitor came out in 2021 and uses Bluetooth connectivity and Apple’s special U1 location finding chip to help you pinpoint its location via the Find My app. As long as you and your AirTag are near Apple products, you will find your lost keys.
AirTags are about the size of a quarter and have zillions of beautiful, if overpriced, accessories with which to attach them to your keychain or purse. You can also throw them into your luggage when you travel. The Find My network is giant, anonymous, and encrypted end-to-end, and in the app you can walk around with your phone and use the phone’s accelerometer, camera, and gyroscope to direct you towards your missing object. Of course, the downside here is that the ubiquity and ease of use of the AirTag means that evil people can use it to find you as well. Here’s how to check if you’re being tracked.
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Photograph: Chipolo
Best for Android
Chipolo One
In the competition between Tile and Chipolo for the most ubiquitous tracker, I would not have guessed that Chipolo would be the one to land exclusive collaborations with both Apple and Google (cough, antitrust congressional hearings, cough). Yet here we are. Now Chipolo has three separate product lines: the Chipolo One, card, and bundle that works with the Chipolo app; the ONE Spot, card, and bundle that works with Apple’s Find My; and most recently, the ONE Point, card, and bundle that works with Google’s Find My.
My colleague Julian Chokkattu and I have tested several of these lines, with the Android Find My coming soon. They’re a similar price point to Tile’s and come in a variety of cheerful colors. Setup is simple, especially if you use your phone’s native app. I currently have a CARD Spot in my wallet and it’s loud enough for me hear even when it’s in my wallet, inside my purse, and in another room. Like the Tile, you can choose to get alerts if you leave the house without your keys. As with many Bluetooth trackers, the connection can get wonky—I do sometimes have to walk around a bit—but it’s usually able to find an accurate last location.
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Photograph: Apple
Best for Kids
Apple Watch Series 8
I used the Jiobit when my children were smaller. Now that they’re in elementary school, however, I track them with Family Setup on two old Apple Watches. It’s more effective to strap an Apple Watch onto their tiny wrists than to pin a Jiobit onto their backpacks, as I did when they were much less mobile.
When her Apple Watch is on, I can track her location via Apple’s Find My app, which I have found to be pretty accurate; for example, I can see her walking around a corner, coming back from the playground, and time my head to face her so that she can bear witness to Mom’s All-Seeing Eye. The major benefits of an Apple Watch are that she can also text and call me and her other family members. We can also use Apple’s Walkie Talkie function to talk from Apple Watch to Apple Watch so that we can keep in touch with each other on a minute-to-minute basis, but this drains the battery within a few hours.
I would go with the smallest and lightest case size possible with the iPhone SE, but whichever old Apple Watch you have at home is clearly the best one. We also do not recommend smartwatches marketed exclusively for kids, as these tend to have glaring security holes.
