Apple will let you share lost AirTag info with an airline

Apple will be introducing a new feature to its Find My app that allows you to temporarily share the location of a lost AirTag with “an airline or a trusted person,” according to MacRumors, which is testing the second developer beta release of iOS 18.2. The feature could make it easier for airport staff to locate a missing piece of luggage if Find My indicates it’s nearby.

In iOS 18.2 the Find My app now has a “Share Item Location” option that creates a link that can be sent to anyone, not just your trusted contacts. On Apple devices, the link will open the Find My app, allowing someone else to see the location of the AirTagged item. On non-Apple devices, the link will instead open a web page with a map showing the item’s last known location.

The link automatically expires after a week, or when your missing item has been returned to you. You can also see how many people have visited the link you created, while an additional “Show Contact Info” option lets you share your phone number and email address so that the person who finds your missing item can contact you.

Apple introduced the option to continually share the location of an AirTag with up to five additional people in September 2023, so that an entire family can keep tabs on the locations of pets, vehicles, or other shared items. This latest feature expands that functionality, letting you temporarily enlist more people to help you find something, without requiring you to remember to later revoke their access to the AirTag’s location.