Rumors emerged back in 2019 that Apple was working on a tracker system that would compete with Tile’s products. The standoff between Apple and Tile has been years in the making. He also said during the hearing that AirTags would bring something that’s “extremely different than anything else in the marketplace.” Mike Lee, the ranking Republican on the Senate subcommittee that deals with antitrust and consumer rights, asked Apple’s chief compliance officer, Kyle Andeer, to release Daru, Tile’s general counsel, from a nondisclosure agreement so that she could to speak about the terms of Apple’s Find My system. “We have always embraced competition as the best way to drive great experiences for our customers, and we have worked hard to build a platform in iOS that enables third-party developers to thrive.”īut Apple was hesitant to let Tile expound on its allegations of anti-competitive behavior. “Apple created Find My over a decade ago to help users locate and manage lost devices in a private and secure way,” the company told Recode in a statement. Tile did not respond to Recode’s request for comment ahead of Wednesday’s hearing.Īpple, for its part, has pushed back against this criticism. Tile has long argued that Apple unfairly designed its mobile operating system, iOS, and the Find My app to favor its own location-tracking tools. One big difference between the new AirTags and Tile trackers: Tile relies on Apple to keep its location-tracking tools running smoothly in the Apple App Store and iOS, but not the other way around. Tile also uses Bluetooth to locate objects, and the company is in the midst of launching ultra wideband capabilities (along with an augmented reality feature) on its trackers. This approach - and even the physical design of the trackers - is very similar to what Tile’s been doing for years. AirTags also feature the U1 chip, which uses ultra wideband technology for more precise object location. The new trackers use Bluetooth technology to locate these lost items. “Unfortunately, given Apple’s well-documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical.”Īpple AirTags, which go on sale at the end of April, do what Tile’s products have done for a while: keep track of things. “We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition,” he said. This sentiment echoed that of Tile CEO CJ Prober, who issued a statement soon after Apple’s AirTag announcement on Tuesday. “Apple launched this product, and its competing app, with a knowledge of a lot of information about our business,” Daru told senators on Wednesday. Tile says that Apple is not only creating hardware that’s similar to its own, but is also designing Apple software in a way that favors its own products and disadvantages Tile’s products. The hearing came as Apple has repeatedly been accused of anti-competitive behavior due to its requirement for all iOS apps to be distributed through Apple’s App Store, where Apple takes a commission for sales.īut in the case of the new AirTags, the criticism goes further. Tile once again encouraged Congress to take a closer look at Apple in a Senate antitrust hearing, where Tile’s general counsel, Kirsten Daru, testified alongside executives from Spotify, Match, Google, and Apple. But for Tile, the maker of a similar tracker, the long-awaited announcement is another sign of Apple’s anti-competitive behavior. For Apple fans, it’s another handy product. On Tuesday, Apple announced the release of AirTag, a small, electronic tracker people can attach to keys, a piece of luggage, or anything, really, and then use Apple’s Find My system to find that item.
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