AirTags are Apple’s disc-shaped solution to lost keys, purses, pets, and wallets. The problem is their shape makes them too bulky to fit in a traditional wallet – let alone a slim one. That’s where Ridge’s Tracker Card comes in. The credit card shape, thickness, and weight make it perfect for slipping into a wallet but without the AirTag’s ultra-wide band chip are they any good?
You can see in the video above I put them to the test and learned they have a significant limitation.
The Stolen Wallet Test
I had two friends take my wallet – one with an AirTag and the other a Ridge Tracker Card to see if I could find either of them within 20 minutes. Both devices use Apple’s Find My network and should give you a notification when they leave your (phone’s) vicinity. Unfortunately, in both cases, it took over 10 minutes to get that notification. That cut my search time in half and while the Ridge Tracker Card did ping more often than the AirTag, the updates were minutes apart.
Getting Lost
Yes, in both cases I was not able to track down my wallet. Both the Ridge Tracker Card and AirTag simply weren’t updating frequently enough – in a large and crowded part of a European capital city – so I would expect in less densely populated areas it would be even worse. My pickpockets were always one step (or three) ahead of me.
Of course in an actual pickpocketing, the thieves would likely ditch and AirTag immediately. A Ridge Tracker Card is less conspicuous so there’s a chance it wouldn’t get discarded quite as quickly. Still, the most likely scenario is someone stealing a wallet, walking a few blocks away somewhere quiet to unload the money and cards, and leave everything else behind.
Not All Is Lost
Both the Ridge Tracker Card and AirTag have a number of uses but these are not GPS devices. They don’t update frequently enough to actively track someone in most cases. For lost items though, they can be useful to get a location, be notified you left your wallet at home, or that a kind barista is safeguarding the wallet you forgot at the cafe.
Where time is critical, an AirTag and Ridge Tracker Card might just be a bit too slow for you to keep up with a crook.
