They lost me at “after a year we will help you recycle your tile”.
(Actually, they lost me a year ago when they admitted the batteries weren’t user replaceable.
I’ve got a friend who has used Tiles to try and track his keys.
He said it basically doesn’t work unless the keys are very close by.
Even then, it will only tell you that the keys are close by, and even then doesn’t get more specific than bird’s-eye accuracy about their location.
Shame to see BB shilling for a rather poorly executed product.
Especially since Tile also seems to be pushing a Google Ad blitz on just about every site I’ve visited in the past week.
Still too big to be useful helping me find my glasses, which for some reason I apparently set down in a different random location every night.
as you get closer to them a chime plays louder and louder
Does the phone chime, or the tile? It seems like it would be useful if the tile chimed so that you could echo-locate the lost item (though I’m pretty sure that’s a misuse of that term). If the phone chimes… that just seems annoying.
They used to have these key chain dongles you could make beep by clapping four times or whistling a certain pitch. I’m disappointed to read these don’t do much more than those old tech things.
The phone, sorry!
Man that Boing-Utility-Belt just keeps gettin heavier and heavier. Lucky for me I have a special talent that allows me to find my wallet and keys without any visible tracking technology at all.
A GPS enabled tag would seem to be much more useful than a 20-30 foot bluetooth device. I would bet that most people can find their keys in a single room without much issue but I’d rather track my lost wallet or stolen purse in the wild instead.
For finding the remote control in the seat cushions however - it might just be worth the cost.
I got four in Washington, D.C. area and drove and walked around town for a week and didn’t get pinged once - I think they’re basically useless outside of San Francisco or NYC.
Tile should really let buyers know more about the density of the tile network in their area.
Really diggin this. I saw them a while back with a ton of preorders while they were working on bugs and mfg. It’s a great concept but obviously bugs will need to be worked out as it goes on. Looking forward to seeing them grow.
HTC, Motorola and others made similar “tiles” too. They have replaceable batteries (but are thicker). We picked up the HTC one on sale and it will even work as a remote button for your camera app.
I have a “Stick and find” bluetooth finder embedded in my wallet-- always forgetting where I put it, which caused me to be late several times.
Unfortunately, the range is hit or miss, and the beep is too muffled to be of much use. Instead of finding my stuff, it’s more along the lines of “my faulty memory, and my faulty bluetooth tag working together to find my wallet.” Maybe it’s because the bluetooth in my ipad is attenuated by it’s case, and the bluetooth in the tag is attenuated by my wallet, and (usually) a pile of clothing. But this sort of thing needs to be a panacea-- it’s not-- at least in my version.
I would bet that most people can find their keys in a single room without much issue
You’ve clearly never visited my house.
It seems you misunderstand the purpose of the product. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the middle of Manhattan or the Canadian wilderness. It’s about finding your keys, wallet, etc in a local area, using Bluetooth, which too is designed for local data transfers.
I can now find my wallet, keys and my Kindle Voyage.
So, Jason, just how did you manage to pay for and drive to the post office to get 'em? ;l
I suspect the density of the tile network may change over time…
A purse? Works for us lady-identified types.
@anon73192581 https://thetileapp.com/community-find was a pretty big selling point, even if they have updated their website to play it down and off their landing page.
@EricE: sure, but we’ve all got less than a year of battery power in these things before we have to decide whether to replace them. Fool me once…
Hook on the wall. Haven’t misplaced my keys in years.
