Elevation Lab has pulled its AirTag Silencer from sale. The accessory maker emailed customers today to say the product is gone, and that it plans to use its patent on the design to keep other companies from selling one.
The Silencer was blunt about what it did. You removed the AirTag's battery, lined the Silencer's pin up over the speaker, and tapped it with a hammer. The pin went through the plastic cover and wrecked the speaker, while tracking kept working.
Elevation Lab's pitch was theft recovery. In its email, the company said it built the tool for AirTags on its own bikes ("Some of us have bikes more valuable than our cars") but admitted that "in retrospect" it also helps "someone with bad intentions to track someone that wouldn't get phone notifications."
That's the problem in one sentence. The sound an AirTag plays when it's separated from its owner is the safeguard for people who don't own an iPhone and never get Apple's unknown-tracker alerts. Six Colors' Glenn Fleishman called the product "appalling" two weeks ago and urged a recall. MacRumors says it chose not to cover the launch at all, and notes Apple gave the AirTag 2 a louder speaker that's harder to remove.
Pulling it was the right call. Silenced AirTags are still easy to find online, but a polished version from a well-known Apple accessory brand is now off the market.
— via MacRumors, Six Colors