Forget Apple Find My device! This man got his lost Airpods back courtesy ‘X sleuths’

07.01.2024 - 06:56 / tech.hindustantimes.com

Far from depending on Apple Find My device feature, this Mumbaikar got onto X to find his lost Airpods. Lost in Kerala, found in Goa! Yes, you read that right, this ''crusade' took the man across state borders too, but as far as social media is concerned, it was all in a day's play! However, first things first: While Apple Find My feature is very valuable to locate lost gadgets, users should know that there are alternatives available if only they think about. So, if you really think out of the box, you can find a cheap and successful solution.

The Mumbaikar in question is Nikhil Jain, a social media marketing professional,  and he lost his Airpods while on a vacation in Kerala. Believing that all may not be lost if he turned to social media sleuths too. His faith was not misplaced.

In just a day, with the help of X (formerly Twitter) members, Jain managed to track down the person who took the expensive earphones to his house in Goa and convinced him to give them back. Now, two weeks later, he finally managed to collect his device from a Goan police station.

“The incident happened inside a national park in Kerala, I left my Airpod in a bus there. I waited for the bus to come back and realised that someone took them. There was no signal inside, so I had to leave the area to track the device. And when I finally did, it was already on the move, and was in another national park about 40km from where I was. But the next day I could track it to a hotel nearby,” Jain told PTI.

We are now on WhatsApp. Click to join.

Fortunately, Apple  knew that these expensive little earpieces can be easily lost and therefore, it has the Find My feature to locate it.  

Firstly, Find My can display AirPods on a map, play a sound to help find them and even help discover their precise location when they're nearby. How? This way: 

So, what happens if your AirPods are “Offline” or show “No location found”? Then do this:

All this will help you better understand the manner in which this tale unfolded.

Jain said he then approached the hotel along with the Kerala police, but they could not do much as the location did not pinpoint to any exact room and the hotel authorities refused to help further citing client privilege.

“So, I watched my device travel through Mangalore to Goa. When it stayed put in Goa, I figured the person is from there,” said Jain, co-founder of Stonks Studio, a social media content agency.

On December 21, 2023 Jain (@niquotein) posted on X along with location coordinates: “I recently lost my new airpods in kerala and this ** person is travelling with it. the person is in south goa since 2 days, so I'm guessing they live there. does anyone here live around dr. alvaro de loyola furtado road in south goa? rt for reach, etc